Crazy quilt stitch along Tumbling block 10

Tumbling block 10 sits on the third row down towards the right-hand side of the Diamonds are forever quilt.

You can download the patterns for the three diamonds that make up the block. Here are the light-tone diamond; the mid-tone diamond; and the dark-tone diamond.

Just to remind you that the pdfs are to scale, but have NO seam allowances. Be sure to set your printer to print to the actual size. Do not use the ‘fit to page’ option as it will reduce the diamonds by half an inch or so. When you print them out, they should have 6-inch sides. I advise you to use Adobe Acrobat™ as a PDF reader (it’s free).

Tips for making Tumbling Block 10

Remember when embellishing your diamonds, feel free to follow what I have done, or adapt my ideas to your liking. Embellish the blocks as you see fit and have fun and there are no rules in Crazy Quilting!

When foundation piecing your diamonds try and make sure that you don’t have a seam ending at one of the points of the diamond. When you come to piecing your diamonds into blocks you don’t want to be dealing with bulky diamond tips or corners.

If you need a tutorial on curved piecing take a look at this tutorial written by Allison Aller Curved Foundation Piecing

Make sure you keep beads, buttons, charms, and any hard items away from the edge of the diamond. When you piece the diamonds into blocks you will break your sewing machine needle if the needle hits anything hard.

The Light toned Diamond

The Pdf for the Light toned Diamond Tumbling block 10.

At first glance, the line of scallops on this block looks as if they are worked using Buttonhole stitch but they are Berwick stitch. If you look closely you can see a line of small knots running along the base of the stitches. Berwick stitch is very versatile — the texture of the ridge at the base of the spine can be very effective and as you can see, like Buttonhole stitch, it will follow curves easily. It is great for edges too!

To create the scallops along the edge of patch 5, I used my Stitchers templates. Following this, I traced the scallops using a water-dissolvable pen. I then worked them in Berwick stitch using cotton perle #5 thread. And I added Detached chain stitches and straight stitches with a couple of seed beads to the valley of each scallop. On the underside, I used an Oyster stitch in an apricot-coloured silk thread, straight stitches, and seed beads.

A visually dominating area is the organic floral jungle on Patch 3. I have marked out where I placed the Fargo roses on the pattern. Then basically filled the area with the silk ribbon roses then tucked silk ribbon Leaf stitch (page 133 of The Visual Guide to Crazy Quilting Design) Detached chain stitches for general greenery, French knots in an apricot silk thread, and I used Stem stitch for the odd stem you can see.

I covered the seam along the edge of patch 3 and then secured it with Chevron stitch worked in cotton perle #5 before adding straight stitches in the apricot thread topped with seed beads and novelty beads.

The Mid-toned Diamond

The pdf for the Mid toned Diamond on Tumbling block 10 is here.

I covered the seam along the edge of patch 4 with a hand-dyed lace. Using my stitchers templates I created the scallops along the edge of the lace. I traced the scallops using a water-dissolvable pen. I then worked then in Stem stitch using cotton perle #5 thread. Between each scallop, I placed the Fargo roses above the silk ribbon roses then arrange three silk ribbon Leaf stitches (page 133 of The Visual Guide to Crazy Quilting Design) before adding three straight stitches worked in a metallic thread. Below the silk roses are three Long TailChain stitch arranged in a fan shape. Between the Long-tailed Chain stitches are two straight stitches. All are worked in cotton perle #5 and topped with seed beads.

Fargo roses

A large 2-inch wide piece of hand-dyed cotton lace covers the seam of patch 6. After threading silk ribbon through holes in the lace I added the Fargo roses Before picking out the pattern on the lace with seed beads. Buttonhole stitch is worked along the edge of the lace. Using a metallic thread I topped the arms with 3 Detached chain stitches arranged in a fan before adding a seed bead at the base.

Covering the seam between patches 4 and 5 is some vintage ric-rac hand-dyed denim blue. Also, this came from the same dye pot as the lace in the photo above. I have secured it with Detached chain stitches worked in hand-dyed cotton Perle #5. I added straight stitches worked in a gold metallic thread on the hills tops of the ric-rac before adding a novelty bead.

The seam between pieces 1 and 2 is a simple treatment of quarter Buttonhole Wheels worked in hand-dyed cotton Perle #5. Along the edge of patch 3, I worked a line of Oyster stitches worked in hand-dyed cotton Perle #5. Using my stitchers templates I traced the scallops using a water-dissolvable pen. I then worked them in Stem stitch using cotton perle #5 thread. After this, I worked Detached chain stitches in the valleys of the scallops using silk ribbon before adding straight stitches and seed beads.

Dark-toned Diamond

The pdf for the Dark toned Diamond Tumbling block 10 is here.

Using my stitchers templates I traced the scallops along the side of patch 4 with a water-dissolvable pen. I then flipped the template and traced the second line of scallops before I worked them in Stem stitch using cotton perle #5 thread. In addition, straight stitches were added to the valleys before novelty beads were added. Vintage ric-rac is secured with Arrow stitches and seed beads.

Here, I covered the edge of the patch with a braid before using my stitchers templates to trace the scallops using a white chalk quilters pencil on the dark fabric. Stem stitch in cotton perle #5 thread covers the line. Then, in the valleys of the scallops, I added two Detached chain stitches before adding straight stitches and beads. In order to cover the seam along the edge of patch 3 I used Tied Herringbone stitch in cotton perle #5 thread. Afterward, I added the seed beads.

Finally, I threaded these Detached chain stitches with a fine braid before adding heart-shaped metal beads.

If you are stitching along please share what you do in either of the Crazy Quilt Divas and/or Crazy Quilt International groups on Facebook.

The quilt is on the front of two of my books: The Visual Guide to Crazy Quilting Design and my new book Crazy Quilting for Beginners Handy Pocket Guide. You do not need my books to join in on this stitch along, but I strongly recommend that you have at least the pocket guide, if not the full Visual Guide to Crazy Quilting Design.

Previous blocks in the series

Guidelines and general information about the series:

Tumbling Block 1;

Tumbling Block 2;

Tumbling Block 3;

Tumbling Block 4;

Tumbling Block 5;

Tumbling Block 6;

Tumbling Block 7;

Tumbling Block 8;

Tumbling Block 9:

Tumbling Block 10:

Tumbling Block 11:

Tumbling Block 12:

Tumbling Block 13:

Tumbling Block 14:

Tumbling Block 15:

Tumbling Block 16:

The next tumbling block in the series will be on November 16th.