More 60˚ Diamonds with Baby Blocks

Looking back at my old art files from the late 1990s when I was an editor with Quilt Magazine, I see that when I discovered I could rotary cut diamonds and not use templates, I really took off with my quilt designs. Last week I shared several quilts using 45 degree diamonds; today I'll share some using 60 degree. Some you've seen before.

Here's some art from 1997. This is the traditional way this pattern was created.

 And a beautiful, vintage quilt done in velvets and silks.

I try to avoid y-seams as much as possible. I love diamonds, but some of those diamonds can be split into two triangles and then it's all straight seam sewing! This is a traditional unit for Baby Blocks. There is a y-seam in the center. 

Baby Blocks unit

Don't believe me? Well, here it is from the back.

Baby Blocks unit from back

I was running out of fabric and had to seam some of the prints. Wanna see? Didn't keep me from using them in my little quilt!

I combined them with a few others - and some diamonds - for still another Baby Blocks quilt,  and donated it to my local quilt guild's charity endeavors in 2022. Isn't it lovely with those extra 4 print diamonds in the four corners? This surely lets the fabric do all the work.

Kaffe Fassett Baby Blocks

I decided to split some of the diamonds into triangles and eliminate the y-seams. It has been a popular workshop for several years. Here are the two I bring with me to my workshops. Here's my secret: the white fabric diamonds are composed of two triangles and - no y-seams! The diamonds are 3-1/2" from flat side to flat side. This is a quilt of illusion, for sure!

Easy Baby Blocks: 36" x 36"

I made a larger one using 4-1/2" diamonds. I cut into all my Kaffe Fassett blue prints.

4-1/2" diamonds (rotary cut - NO templates)

And the quilt I made (with the light blue background diamonds being made of two triangles each).

My Diamonds Have the Blues: 60" x 60"

I cut so many diamonds I had enough for another quilt. It's included as a bonus pattern with the blue one. I call it Floating Diamonds. These are sewn in horizontal rows, not diagonal rows. Again, a trick with triangles!

Floating Diamonds: 59" x 60"

I'll have a few more quilts using 60 degree diamonds later in the week. If you want to see more pictures, do a search here on my blog for "diamonds." I'm pretty sure you'll find more inspiration.