All About Inklingo Blog

IT’S OFFICIAL!
By request, the Austen-tatious Quilted Diamonds Group on Facebook is up and running and you can join now! “It appears to me the most desirable arrangement in the world.” (Emma)

The response to the new Quilted Diamonds Quilt-Along is fabulous. Many Inklingo quilters like you have the books and want some company while they sew.

Ahhhh, We can have a place to share photos of our diamonds.

When Sandy Arbuthnot first started the DOW when QD1 was new in 2002, none of us were on Facebook and everything was done by email and “Webshots,” which is long gone.

The Facebook group is a friendly, safe place to share your diamonds, get tips and meet other quilters who enjoy the same things you do.

You can substitute any diamond for the ones I feature and you can modify them by adding or removing lines. Simplified versions are often just as beautiful (above).

This is not a DOW, Diamond of the Week, but I will post info about two diamonds (one from each book) and tips for them a few times a month. Sew at your own pace.

FREEZER PAPER TEMPLATES
The diamonds are different in QD1 and QD2 but both books teach everything you need to know about using freezer paper templates. (About Freezer Paper)

The pieces in the diamonds are small, so most quilters hand piece. However, freezer paper templates are the best alternative to Inklingo for machine piecing too.

It makes sense to keep on teaching the techniques in the QD books because they all apply to Inklingo—the pressing techniques, the sewing techniques, the design notes—and freezer paper templates are always the next best thing when shapes are not Inklingo-able.

Both books are available in the Shop but they are NOT absolutely required to get in on the fun because You Can Sew Anything You Can Draw on Freezer Paper.

I cannot repeat everything that is explained in the books every time, of course, and anyone who is in the Facebook group probably has at least one of the books, so more instructions are not required. You can see what I mean in the Introduction to the Quilt-Along.

ALL HER APPARATUS OF HAPPINESS (Emma)
Inklingo is all about making quilting more accessible. It is not expensive to get started hand piecing with freezer paper templates.

freezer paper (cheap and re-usable)
mechanical pencil
thin flexible ruler (to guide marking sewing lines on fabric)
scissors for cutting freezer paper
rotary cutter/ruler/mat OR scissors
a strip of paper 0.5 inches wide (The paper in greeting cards is a nice thickness.)
iron and ironing surface
scraps of fabric
needle and thread

Optional

Electric Quilt software (to print on freezer paper from the optional QD CDs) – You can also print larger or smaller diamonds.
glassine envelopes to store the freezer paper templates
silver or white pencils for marking dark fabric
thimble
seam ripper
extra lighting
reading glasses (like me and Mrs Bates in Emma)

The only thing I have added to my sewing kit since I wrote the books in 2002 and 2004 is a finger pincushion. (Turn the volume up!) Now, instead of a button and elastic, I buy a “ring blank” from a beading shop and hot glue the pincushion to it.

RE-VISITING THE QD BOOKS
All of my diamonds are named with quotations from Jane Austen’s novels.

I am enjoying re-reading the books and all the quotations sprinkled through the text. It was a super-creative, exciting time of my life.

NOT ON FACEBOOK?
No worries! You can stay in touch with the group by joining the Inklingo IO Group (previously on Yahoo).

You don’t have to be a hand piecer to participate. All variations of appliqué, paper piecing, machine piecing and foundation piecing are welcome.

Whenever shapes are not available from Inklingo, I recommend freezer paper templates. Printing on fabric has a lot of advantages. See the Main Beginner’s Page for more info about printing—and to get your first shapes, free.

LINKS