Diamonds are Rough!

I got a request to make a man quilt for a friend's husband.  She wants to give it to him for his birthday.  First, a manly pattern is hard to choose.  Also, finding MAN fabric is not easy.  My friend said "Maybe some brown and cream, a little blues..."  I have seen pictures of the diamond quilts and thought that could be "manly."  Then off to the fabric store.  Ummm... polka dots are not manly.  And do you know how many fabrics don't have some type of flower or swirl or vine...narrows down the choices.

I matched up the edges and sewed.  Fail!  So I unstitched and searched for how to overlap the edges. That was a real struggle.  I'm still not sure I have the easiest technique out there.  I sewed the diamonds together to make rows.

So I feel like I'm on a roll and now it's time to sew the rows together.  Screech! Struggle #2! I lined up the seams and sewed.  Simple.  Right?  Wrong!  They did not line up.  Not even close!  So I did some more searching online and found a tip on putting a pin through the seams.  I measured 1/4" in from the edge and then put the pin through the seam.  It worked!  Time consuming.  Meticulous. Perfection!

Finished product coming soon!  I hope...

UPDATE: Finished it and my friend loved it.  She couldn't wait to give it to her husband and gave it to him early.