In quilting, diamonds made easy with the Sew Easy 60° Triangle Ruler!

I’m so excited about this week’s project – we’re making an oversized throw cushion! Have you noticed how these cushions are popping up everywhere? It’s no wonder, as they’re not only very comfortable, but they allow a quilter to show off some awesome quilt designs… much more than your standard 20″ cushions.

If you’re familiar with my quilting work, you’ll know I do have a particular preference to making diamond pattern quilt designs that look difficult but are actually very easy to make with the Sew Easy Triangle Ruler 60°. So, I thought I’d introduce you to diamonds with a simple pattern – The Diamond Hexagon.

The Diamond Hexagon oversized throw cushion

To assist in this process, I’m using the following supplies, along with some of my favorite Kaffe Fasset Fat Quarters from my stash:

materials needed for the quilt top

Komfort Kut 360° Rotating Cutting Mat

Sew Easy Triangle Ruler 60°

Sew Easy Half Diamond Ruler

OLFA Quick Change Rotary Cutter

Gütermann Cotton 50wt Thread

Klassé Universal Sharps Needles – Size 70/10

for quilting the quilt top

Gütermann Cotton 30wt Thread – Golden Sunset

Gütermann Cotton 30wt Thread – Rustic Holiday 

Gütermann Cotton 30wt Thread – Autumn Leaves 

Fairfield Toasty Cotton Natural Cotton Quilt Batting (45″ x 60″)

Fabric Creations 100% Cotton Fabric – Light Brown – (2yds x 42″)

Klassé Quilting Needles – Size 80/12

Odif 505 Temporary Quilt Basting Adhesive Fabric Spray

for making the cushion

Costumakers Invisible Closed End Zipper 55cm (22″) – Chestnut Brown

Fairfield Poly-Fil Premium Fiber Fill – 4.5 kg (10 lbs.)

Fabric Creations Poly-Cotton Fabric – Brown (2yds x 42″)

Gütermann Cotton 50wt Thread

Klassé Universal Sharps Needles – Size 70/10

For the fabrics, it’s better to have 24 different fabrics that mix well together. You won’t be needing much of each… just a strip about 21-22″ long and either 2½” or 2¼” wide. You’ll also need one Fat Quarter of a solid color that blends well with all the others. This is the fun part of this project; you can go through your scraps and really have a blast picking out your favorites!

Some supplies needed to make the Diamond Hexagon oversized throw cushion.

Making Diamonds

Here’s the first step to making the Diamond Hexagon oversized throw cushion. The secret to making the triangle units (aka diamonds) is to use Sew Easy Triangle Ruler 60° and the Komfort Kut 360° Rotating Cutting Mat. Having the Komfort Kut Rotary Cutting Mat makes this step easy, since you won’t need to touch your fabric when cutting the triangles. You simply rotate the cutting mat, realign your Sew Easy Triangle Ruler 60°, and cut your next piece. It’s that simple, just watch:

Step 1

• Cut one 2½” strip from each of 4 different fabrics.
• Stitch them together to make a rectangle approximately 8½” x 22″.
• Repeat to make 2 while ensuring you don’t use the same fabrics.

Step 1

Step 2

• Using the rotating cutting mat and your Sew Easy Triangle Ruler 60°, cut 3 triangles from each Step 1 rectangle.

 TIP The trick when cutting the triangles is to ensure you don’t cut a point at the edge of the triangle. Ensure your ruler is exceeding the fabric by ¼” before cutting; you’ll see how it makes the whole project just a little easier to do.

• You’ll have a total of 6 triangles made for the center piece of your Diamond Hexagon.

Step 2

Ensure your ruler exceeds the fabric by ¼” before cutting.

Step 3

• Cut one 2¼” strip from each of 4 different fabrics.
• Stitch them together to make a rectangle approximately 7½” x 22″.
• Repeat to make 5 while ensuring you don’t use the same fabrics. Note: Should you need to use the same fabric more than once, try to change the location of where it’ll be pieced – either on the edge or in the middle – in different rectangles.

Step 3

Step 4

• Using the Komfort Kut rotary cutting mat and your Sew Easy Triangle Ruler 60°, cut 3 triangles from each Step 3 rectangles.

 TIP Ensure you don’t cut a point at the edge of the triangle. Make sure your ruler is exceeding the fabric by ¼” before cutting.

• You’ll need a total of 14 triangles for your oversized cushion. (You’ll have one extra if you cut 3 from each rectangle.)

Step 4

Ensure your ruler exceeds the fabric by ¼” before cutting.

I love making this project using the Sew Easy Triangle Ruler 60°! The horizontal lines help ensure my seams remain aligned when I’m cutting the triangles, so they’ll also align during the piecing. Watch this video explaining the benefits of the ruler:

Step 5

• From your solid fat quarter fabric, cut 12 – 1½” strips (you’ll need all of your fat quarter).
• Cut one edge of each strip at a 60°
• Stitch the strip to the edge of the triangles made in Step 4.
• Make 14 triangles (the size will be identical to those you made in Step 1).

Step 5

That’s all for today’s instructions. Hope you’re enjoying this project so far. It’s really a simple way to make Diamonds Hexagons that only look complex. Note that I pieced the project with Gütermann Cotton 50wt Thread and Klassé Universal Sharps Needles – Size 70/10. I love to use Gütermann thread for beautiful and strong seams on my projects!

Diamond Hexagon pieced with Gütermann thread.

Keep all your scraps… all the cut edges left from today’s Steps 4 and 5. I’ll show you what to do with them in tomorrow’s post when I introduce the Sew Easy Half Diamond Ruler.

This is part 1 of 5 in this series

Go to part 2: 1 ruler, 1 rotary cutter for making half diamond units

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