The Answer to the Storm at Sea Question

The question was, "Do you have the 60-degree diamond for Storm at Sea?"
The answer is the diamond for Storm at Sea is not a 60-degree diamond, but has a 53 1/2-degree angle at the point. We don't have such a diamond, but we do have a triangle with a 53 1/2-degree point that is half a diamond, and we have it in two sizes.

We show "Storm at Sea" in Volume 2 of the Encyclopedia of Patchwork Blocks.

The block repeat will be 9 inches when using Sets A and C, and 12" when using Sets
B and D.

For PDF of full-size template patterns, click here. The patterns will open in a new browser window. Before printing, check Acrobat printing preferences to be sure you do not have "shrink to fit" selected. Otherwise, the patterns will be smaller than the actual templates. Save the file to your hard drive as "source" to preserve the page formatting.

Here's how to make the diamond unit with our templates.

METHOD NO. 1
Many people find the easiest method for making diamonds is just to make two identical units and join them as shown. Use templates #16 and #17 from Set C, or #23 and #24 from Set D.

METHOD NO. 2
Mark the 1/4-inch seam at the bottom of template #16 or #23 by running 1/4-inch tape across the template.

Fold fabric in half and put top edge of tape against the fold. Cut the remaining sides to make a diamond. All four sides will be on the bias.

Use this method for cutting stripes, either way:

METHOD NO. 3
This is similar to a quick-cut 45-degree or 60-degree diamond, with a difference -- the 53 1/2 degree angle!

1. Cut strips a scant 3 1/4 inches for C #16, and 4 1/16 inches for D #22. Use template C #16 or D #22 to establish the correct angle.

2. Cut parallelograms the same width as the strip.

3. Use template C #16 or D #22 to create precision corners for piecing triangles cut with template C #17 or D #23 to complete the rectangular Storm at Sea unit.