Printing a 45° Diamond to Use for Templates

As a result of my directions for Skewing Blocks into 45° Diamonds and a suggestion from Barb Vlack, here finally are the formulas for printing those diamond blocks you've created! The formulas will help you determine what size to print the Drafting Diamond Block so that you can print templates or foundations for paper piecing.

I have done my best to keep the instructions in layman terms to make it easier to understand. Our goal here is to make a quilt not to understand the Pythagorean Theorem! I highly recommend Sharyn Squier Craig's book, "Lemoyne Stars Made Easy" (Chitra Publications). In her book you will find lots of stars to play with using your 45° diamonds as well as lessons on drafting them.
 
LeMoyne Star

This LeMoyne Star diagram shows the relationship between the Square A, Diamond B and Triangle C. When you total the parts that fit along one side of the LeMoyne Star block's outer edge you get 3.414.
For those who care.... Pythagorean Theorem states that a diagonal of a square equals 1.414 times its side measurement.
It is very important to note that the sides of Square A (SqA) are equal to the sides of Diamond B (DiamB). And that Triangle C(TriC) is a half square triangle, with two short sides the same as those in SqA and DiamB. The long edge of TriC is 1.414 times the measurement of its short sides. 

Are you with me so far?


Drafting Diamond Block

This is the plain block version you'll print out for templates. For instructions on how to draw this Drafting Diamond Block and for Drawing a Block in the Diamond click on the linked text here.


Use this Formula for Printing to determine what size to print the Drafting Diamond block:

SqA's side measurement x 2 = Size to print the Drafting Diamond block

Now you just need to figure out what size Square A is!


To determine the size of Square A you can go two different directions:

1. Start with the size of the Quilt center (not including any borders). The LeMoyne Star block is your quilt layout. So think of it as your "quilt center". It will result in a square quilt:

Finished Quilt Center size /divided by 3.414 = SqA's Side measurement

Example: Say you want the quilt center to be 21" x 21" (inches).....
21" /divided by 3.414 = 6.151(rounded up to nearest 1/8 inch) = 6.25 or 6 1/4") The size of Square A will be 6.25

Use the Formula for Printing:
6.25" x 2 = 12.5" Print the Drafting Diamond block 12.5" 


2. Choose the size of Square A first. Pick a size that makes rotary cutting easier.

SqA's side measurement x 3.414 = Quilt Center size

Example: Say you want Square A to be 12" (inches)
12" x 3.414 = 40.968" Your quilt center will be approximately 41"

Use the Formula for Printing:
12" x 2 = 24" Print the Drafting Diamond block 24" ( You'd better have lots of paper ready for your printer!) 


For Triangle C:

If you are using a partial block in TriC:  Draw the block you'll be using for Square A. Draw a diagonal line down through the center. Save to sketchbook and then delete all lines on one side of the drawn diagonal line. To make deleting these lines easier, hold down the Shift key and select the lines and then hit the Delete key and get rid of them all at once. You should now have a half square triangle block to use to print templates or a foundation.


"LeMoyne Sisters"
Can you see the LeMoyne Star setting?
Created by skewing blocks into Diamonds in Layer 2
designed by Patti R. Anderson

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