Crazy quilt stitch along Tumbling Block 16

Tumbling block 16 sits on the fourth row down, just right of the centre on 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. Once again just to remind readers that the PDFs are to scale but have NO seam allowances. Set your printer to print to the actual size. Do NOT use the ‘fit to page’ option as it will reduce the pattern by half an inch or so. When you print them out, the diamonds should have 6-inch sides. I advise you to use Adobe Acrobat™ as a PDF reader (it’s free).

When embellishing, 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!

Tips for Tumbling Block 16

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 a tutorial written by Allison Aller. You can find Curved Foundation Piecing here

As you stitch keep beads away from the edge of the diamond and give yourself a generous seam allowance. When you piece the diamonds into blocks you will break your sewing machine needle if it hits anything hard.

As usual, stitches mentioned in the article I’ve linked to tutorials in my Stitch dictionary so people can know how to do them.

Light toned Diamond

The PDF for the Light toned Diamond Tumbling block it is here.

A large floral spray dominates this block and sprawls all over it. Using my stitchers templates, I traced off the main lines of the stems, with a water-dissolvable pen. So then I worked them in Feather stitch and Alternating Up and Down Buttonhole stitch in cotton perle #5 and Rayon Ribbon Floss. On the pdf pattern, I have marked the placement for the large silk ribbon flowers which I worked in leaf stitch. You can find instructions for this stitch on page 133 of The Visual Guide to Crazy Quilting Design. White acrylic novelty beads in the shape of flowers were stitched on next secured with a small gold bead in the middle. Fargo roses, leaves and the pink novelty flower-shaped beads were added last.

Along the edge of patch 4, I have stitched down some lace to hide the seam. I then worked a line of Buttonhole stitch in pale blue Rayon Ribbon Floss. I stitched on the clear star-shaped beads then added white bugle beads in the spaces between the arms of the Buttonhole stitches.

For the edge of patch 5, I also used some vintage lace. I stitched it down using small stitches then added the pearls before adding small white seed beads to the zig-zag part of the pattern.

Mid toned Diamond

The mid-toned diamond is far less complicated. You will find the Mid toned Diamond PDF is here.

The seam that joins Patch 4 and Patch 1 is embellished with a line of metal novelty beads in the shape of flowers. Next, I couched the red metal braid to the block before adding the black bugle beads. Additionally, I stitched seed beads across the seam where the couched red metallic braid touches the seam.

Blue ric-rac covers the seam between patches 1 and 2. Using a red cotton perle #5, I worked Zig Zag Chain stitch over the top of the ric-rac. The flowers were created by working Detached Chain stitches for the leaves and a straight stitch for the stem using a green cotton perle #5. The flower pattern alternates between a flower created by 4 French knots worked in a circle and a small Cast-on stitch flower. In addition, the flowers were worked in the same thread, a cotton perle #8. Chevron stitch runs along the edge of patch 3. In the V’s of the stitches, I added a blue novelty flower-shaped bead secured with a small gold seed bead.

Dark toned Diamond

The Dark-toned diamond is also fairly simple in contrast to the work on the light-toned diamond. Also, you can find the pattern for the Dark toned Diamond PDF here.

The embellishment of this seam started off with a line of Oyster stitches worked in cotton perle #5. After this, I then worked straight stitches on both sides of the line and topped them off with a seed bead.

Alternating Up and Down Buttonhole stitch covers the seam between patches 1 and 2 worked in a hand-dyed silk thread that is a similar thickness to cotton perle #8. Then Detached Chain stitches created the ears added to the arms of the stitches. In addition, I used a hand-dyed silk thread that is a similar thickness to cotton perle #8. Small seed beads at the end of each arm were added last.

The smallest embellished seam runs along the edge of patch 3 and consists of bugle beads over some black braid decorated with straight stitches.

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:

Tumbling Block 17:

Tumbling Block 18:

Tumbling Block 19:

Tumbling Block 20:

Tumbling Block 21:

The next tumbling block in the series will be on May 9th.

Have you seen my Stitchers Templates?

Create your own designs with Sharon’s easy-to-use stitchers templates. Combine shapes to create hundreds of patterns and designs to embroider. It is the ultimate mix-and-match fun for stitchers of all skill levels. I created them to be as versatile as possible. I include four multi-patterned templates in each set. You will find them easy to use, totally clear to help you position them on your work, and they are nice and compact to fit in your sewing box. Each set comes with an e-book filled with patterns and designs that you can create and use as a jumping-off spot for your own designs. They are available now in our shop here!

Happy stitching!

Finally, I hope you enjoy Tumbling block 16!