Shannon Fraser and the making of “Etched Diamond”

Hello fellow quilters, I’m Shannon the quilter and pattern designer behind Shannon Fraser Designs. www.shannonfraserdesigns.com

I’m popping in to share a little back story on how the Etched Diamond quilt came to be!

I’m always fascinated by how makers come up with their designs and I thought it could be fun to share some behind the scenes thought process with you 😊

THE BACK STORY

You know those creative play sessions where you let go of any expectations and just have fun?

That was the starting point for the Etched Diamond quilt design.

Ever since I stumbled upon a half square triangle tutorial that sparked my love for quilting, I’ve been on an HST deep dive ever since.

That simple block has been the source of hours of quilty fun and discovery for me. Not only are they a joy to stitch up but seeing the different shapes that you can create with this basic quilt block is beyond inspiring.

During one particular play session, I was curious about creating a design that had repeating elements with depth and dimension set against a good amount of negative space and the Etched Diamond quilt was born.

The interlacing of the design elements encourages that feeling of dimension and entices the eye to dance around the facets of the ‘diamonds’.

I love how visually dynamic she turned out to be!

Here’s a fun tidbit of information – the very colors I used for my play session are the ones I used to make the quilt! That doesn’t always happen where I can find the perfect fabric matches. But I did! And was thrilled I was able to see her come to life and be featured in the 2019 Quilter’s Planner!

DESIGN ELEMENTS

Design is in the details, right?!

Well, the Etched Diamond design sneaks in lots of graphic lines that give the illusion of the ‘diamonds’ radiating light and the angles it creates.

The bold clean lines are the perfect backdrop to add even more dimension and detail with your quilting.

HOW TO MAKE THIS YOUR OWN

Since you’re perusing the Honest Fabric’s blog, then I suspect you may like to focus on the quilting part of the quilt making journey 😉

In which case, I’ve got good news for you! 

The Etched Diamond design offers you lots of opportunity to sneak in all the quilty texture! Go with an overall motif to keep the focus on the Etched Diamond design or bust out all your favorite free motion quilting designs and add even more depth and dimension to your quilt.

The ample negative space is a quilter’s dream! You can have fun extending the quilt pattern design into that negative space to encourage the eye to roam even more.

You could also go with a modern approach and feature some straight-line quilting in the negative space to act as ‘light rays’ sparkling from the diamonds.

Oh, you could even mix both straight-line quilting and FMQ for a lovely push pull effect between modern and more traditional design elements.

Take a cue from Karlee’s amazing quilting she did on the Etched Diamond Quilt featuring Graffiti Quilting to inspire your own quilting!

There really is so much opportunity to make this design your own.

COLOR PLAY

One of the best elements of the Etched Diamond quilt pattern is the color play it offers you.

There are several different colorways included in my Honest Fabric design library to give you some varied options to choose from. There’s the original colorful magenta, pink and yellow one set against a white background that’s perfect for a modern fresh interior. The purple ombré would work great for a moodier room setting that calls for depth of color with a fresh spin. The blue colorway is perfect for either a modern or a traditional room setting. And the fuchsia, eggplant and lime colorway is ideal for the bold color lover that wants a fresh punch of color in their room décor.

If you’re up for some patchwork, then I’m happy to report the Etched Diamond design may look complex, but she’s designed in a way that I’ve kept her beginner friendly 😊

And the best part is you get to have fun playing around with your favourite colors! The pattern includes 5 additional colorways to inspire you and I’ve pulled together a couple of blog posts to show you just how versatile this pattern can be which you can read here (Show off your faceted sides with the Etched Diamond quilt pattern – Shannon Fraser Designs) and here (Etched Diamond Quilt x Very Peri Pantone Color of the Year 2022 – Shannon Fraser Designs).

Here’s just one of the examples featuring Pantone’s Color of the Year 2022 – Very Peri.

To make your own from scratch, grab your copy of the Etched Diamond Quilt pattern here (Etched Diamond Quilt Pattern (PDF) – Shannon Fraser Designs) and have fun playing with the coloring page to design your own gorgeous colorway. Or dive right into the quilty fun by printing one of the 5 colorways in the Honest Fabric shop. Which ever quilty journey you embark on, be sure to share your finished Etched Diamond quilt on Instagram with #etcheddiamondquilt and tagging me @shannonfraserdesigns Modern Quilts | Shannon Fraser

Thank you, Karlee, for inviting me to share more about how the Etched Diamond Quilt came to be! And for more quilty inspiration and tutorials hop over to www.shannonfraserdesigns.com where I love sharing all my quilty tips and tricks with you 😊

Happy quilting!

xo,

Shannon

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