16-patch diamonds are easy with the ESSENTIAL Sew Easy 60° Triangle Ruler

It’s Wednesday! And you’ll love it today as you get one step closer to finishing this striking 6-point star pillow. In yesterday’s post, I showed you how to make a 4-patch diamond, and today, I’m going one step further and showing you how to make a 16-patch diamond using the very essential Sew Easy 60° Triangle Ruler.

16-patch diamonds are the key to a striking 6-point star pillow.

Instructions to create the 16-patch diamonds

In my Monday post, you’ll find the materials to make the 16-patch diamonds, so I’ll get straight to the instructions for making the first 6 units you need for the two pillow blocks.

Step 1

• Cut a 1½” strip from 12 of your scrap fabrics.
• Using your triangle ruler, cut one edge at a 60-degree angle.

Cut 1½” strips and trim one edge of each strip at a 60-degree angle.

Step 2

• Sew 2 strips together, while trying to keep the 60-degree aligned.
• Make 6 strip units.

Remember that it doesn’t have to be perfect! Just as I explained yesterday, you can simply use the ruler again to trim any excess.

Sew 2 strips together, while trying to keep the 60-degree aligned.

Step 3

• Use your 6” x 12” Omnigrip Ruler to cut two 3½” units from each Step 2
• Make 24 units.

Aligning your ruler to cut 3½” strips from the step 2 units

Step 4

• Match your Step 3 units in groups of 2.
• Play around with them and see which combination makes the fabric pop.
• Sew each group together lengthwise (see photo).
• Make 12 units.

Sew each group together lengthwise.

Don’t worry! Once again, your units are larger than needed so that you don’t have to align your fabric perfectly. You can use the Sew Easy 60° Triangle Ruler to trim the excess.

Don’t sweat it! You can trim off any excess.

Step 5

• Use your 6″ x 12″ Omnigrip Ruler to cut two 1½” strips from each unit you made in Step 4.
• Make 24 units.

Make 24 units.

Step 6

• Match your Step 5 units in 6 groups of 4 units.
• Play around with them and see which combination makes the fabric pop.

Play around with your strips and see how they best show off your fabrics.

• Press your seams open as this helps you sew the units together.
• Stitch 2 matched Step 5 units together, while aligning the ‘ears’ to help get a perfect seam alignment.
• Repeat to have 6 groups of 2 units.

Having the ’ears’ pop out helps you align your units and get a perfect block.

Now I think you understand why I strongly recommend, for this project, opening your seams.

It was a breeze for me to press the seams open using the Oliso Pro TG1600 Pro Plus Smart.

Step 7

• Stitch the 2 matched group units together while aligning the ‘ears’ to help get a perfect seam alignment.
• Repeat to make a total of six 16-patch units.

The secret to a great-looking 16-patch is pressing your seams open!

You can now trim off the excess ‘ears’ from the units and ensure alignment is correct with your Sew Easy 60° Triangle Ruler.

The Sew Easy Triangle Ruler 60° makes it easy to succeed!

Congratulations! You succeeded in making the 16-patch diamond! See how the Sew Easy 60° Triangle Ruler makes the process so easy?

Come back tomorrow when I show you how to assemble your 4-patch and 16-patch units into the 6-point star for a terrific pillow.

This is part 3 of 5 in this series

Go back to part 2: 7 steps to warm up to a 6-point star project with a 4-patch diamond (easy)

Go to part 4: The secret to perfect alignment on a 6-point star is REVEALED!

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