I'm still a bit obsessed with my  diamonds;I keep thinking of new places where there might be little scraps to cut up. I've put a basket next to my ironing board and every time I turn the iron on I pull out a handful of scraps and press them.

 Then I cut them out whenever I can; I'm amazed at how much I've used up this way. It's very relaxing tracing round my little aluminium template and then making piles of diamonds to add to the box.

Yesterday I met my new great-nephew for the first time, what a little darling! He seemed so tiny, and yet first-born son John was a whole pound lighter when he was born. Hard to believe he was ever this small.... I have a quilt nearly ready to give this chap, but I have to make the label and finish a few bits here and there, and then I have an excuse for another visit.

Keryn and I were ten when we became aunties for the first time, and about 31 when we were great aunties. And now our great-neice is expecting a baby in January (another boy) so we'll be great-Great-aunties! 

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 I've been a bit of a flibbitigibit in the sewing room, bouncing around from one project to the next without really settling to anything. Nothing seems to keep my attention for long, so I've been cleaning and organising the stash and getting things that don't belong there out of the room.

In the process of going through a box of old bits and pieces I found a little bag of 60 degree diamonds marked for hand piecing and decided to deal with them once and for all. I began to piece them together, the best way to get rid of them short of throwing them in the bin. This template is tiny, an inch on each side, and while fiddly, the bonus is that it takes no time at all to sew those little seams.

I started off making baby/tumbling blocks, very cute, but the trouble began when I ran short of a light here and a medium fabric there. Soon I'd pulled out some tiny scraps and begun cutting more diamonds- just to finish off this little piece, you understand?

Obsession soon followed, when I realised that so many of my tiny scraps would be gone forever if I cut diamonds from them. A little bin next to my table is already full of discarded confetti left after I cut as many shapes as I could out of a collection of treasured pieces. And I figure if I can't get one of these diamonds from the scrap then it's really not worth keeping.

I got rid of a small drawer of  1 3/8" strips that I'd mistakenly thought I'd use, and then pulled out the string container to ferret through that. I don't like the process of string piecing, even though I love the results, so I pulled out all the tiniest strings and cut and cut and cut.

After I came up for air I realised that I had way too many bits for my little mini quilt and happily began piecing stars- perhaps a weeny Seven Sisters in progress you think? I'm not getting that far ahead, I'm just enjoying the process.

 I love the backs of the stars, so neat and easy to press.

 I can piece three of these before I go to bed, and I'm having tremendous fun choosing colour combinations. There aren't too many of each colour so the stars are pretty scrappy, but they're sooo cute. This project has put some fun back into sewing, as during the day  I'm  still having to plod away on some projects with deadlines. At least I have these to look forward to before I go to bed, like a little treat for myself.

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 Here's one of the  quilts I did in the last few weeks. I thought it was a pattern by Dianne Johnston, but I can't see it on her website. It's very large and complicated and the applique was beautifully done. There were many expanses of white to fill up, and it took me a while to decide what to do.

I'd already done another applique quilt for this customer, and I didn't want to do the same type of feather.

 These are a bit different, and each one covered a lot of ground, so it's not too dense. I find large patterns harder to do, the tight, small motifs are easy by comparison.

  The customer was happy, and rewarded me with three more tops, one of them applique flowers on a black background. She certainly keeps me on my toes, and she's 80 years old. Pretty blooming amazing if you ask me. I hope I'm still sewing like this when I'm her age!

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