Diamond In A Square: 3 Yard Quilt Pattern

You can sew this Diamond in a Square Quilt Pattern with just 3 yards of fabric! I love seeing how many people are sewing up my free 3-yard quilt patterns. They are easy to make and so popular. If you have three 1-yard pieces of fabric in your stash and are feeling creative, you can make a quilt. This fun quilt uses the Diamond in a Square quilt block to make a 50” x 58” throw quilt pattern with 8” quilt blocks.

Other names for the Diamond in a Square Block include the Square on Point Quilt Block or the Square in a Square Quilt Block.

This blog post has been converted to an optional PDF that’s optimized for printing. Find it here. The free Diamond in a Square 3 Yard Quilt Pattern is included in the blog post below and is free to read, print, and sew! Just hit CTRL +P on your computer to print. The PDF download is inexpensive and optional. Did you know you can get ALL the Optimized for Printing PDF files organized in a library for you to access anytime you want? Check it out.

How Big is a 3-yard Quilt?

This particular quilt finishes at 50” x 58”, which is an excellent throw-size quilt. You’ll have enough fabric to finish the quilt top, including 30 blocks and 2 borders. More fabric is required for the binding and quilt back.

Most 3-yard quilts are throw quilts or lap quilts because they don’t require a lot of fabric. Most of them would also make a darling baby quilt with 3 yards of fabric. Since this type of quilt isn’t very big, you can finish it quickly and give it as a gift or use it in your home. Because of the size, throw quilts like this one are easy to quilt on a domestic sewing machine.

Even though this quilt pattern has just one block – the diamond in a square block – sewing the same block with different fabrics makes secondary patterns appear.

Can you see the stars? My step-by-step quilt tutorial includes quilt piecing tips to help you get the best results.

If you love to use your AccuQuilt fabric cutter like I do, I’ll share the optional cutting die numbers to make this pattern Accuquilt-friendly. Using an Accuquilt is optional, but I love it! See all my Accuquilt-friendly quilts. Look under the cutting dimensions below for a list of fabric-cutting dies you may use instead.

How to Choose the Right 3 Yards of Fabric

All my 3 Yard Quilt Patterns make it really easy to pick your fabric. First, find a beautiful ‘focus fabric’ in your stash or at your local quilt shop. This should be a fabric that really sings to you – or that makes you think of the intended recipient of the quilt.

In the example above, my focus fabric is a gorgeous orange, pink, and navy floral print from Minky Kim (Riley Blake) that I had in my stash. Sadly, it’s no longer available.

After you have chosen your focus fabric, choose one coordinating fabric that is lighter and one coordinating fabric that is darker.

Wouldn’t this quilt pattern make a beautiful quilt in natural tones too?

I used my EQ8 Quilt Design Software to see what this quilt would look like using the Hello, Bear collection by Bonnie Christine for Art Gallery Fabrics. It makes me want to snuggle up on the couch with someone!

If you follow these instructions for choosing your fabrics, you can’t go wrong, and you probably already have 3 fabrics in your stash that will make a beautiful quilt.

Diamond in a Square Free Three Yard Quilt Pattern

This free quilt pattern includes instructions for the Diamond in a Square Block, which you’ll make 2 different variations of. There are 30 easy blocks in this quilt, and each block finishes at 8”.

Including the borders, this finished throw quilt is 50” x 58”. It’s perfect for snuggling on the couch, gifting to a friend, or donating to Project Linus or another worthy organization.

Let’s get creative and sew a beautiful quilt today!

Important note: This pattern squeezes as much as possible out of each yard of fabric. The width of each piece must have 42” of usable fabric. Most fabric printed in the last 5-10 years will work great because it’s 44” wide, including the selvages so it is 42-43” wide after you cut off the selvage. Please measure the width of your fabric pieces before getting started to make sure and follow the cutting charts below carefully.

You will need:

• 3 one-yard cuts of fabric (a main focus fabric, one darker fabric, and one lighter fabric)*
• a rotary cutter acrylic ruler, and mat
• sewing machine
• thread (I suggest thread matching the lighter fabric)
• ironing board and iron

To sew the quilt top into a finished quilt, you will also need:

• 3 yards of backing fabric (or enough to piece together a 55” x 63” or larger quilt back)
• a piece of quilt batting at least 55” x 63”
• 1/2 yard of fabric for the binding

Cutting:

Fabric A is your focus fabric. From this fabric, cut:

• 15 squares 6 1/8” x 6 1/8”
• 5 strips 3” x 42” for the outer border

Note: Depending on the width of your fabric, you may need to cut a little more fabric for the outer border. There will be enough, as shown in the diagram.

Optional Accuquilt cutting instructions:

• The border strips may be cut with the 3” strip cutter die 55084

Fabric B is the darker fabric. From this fabric, cut:

• 15 squares 6 1/8” x 6 1/8”
• 30 squares 4 7/8” x 4 7/8”

Tip: Pay close attention to the cutting diagram for the darker fabric.

Before anything else, cut 3 strips that are 6 1/8” x width of fabric (WOF). From each one of these strips, cut 5 squares 6 1/8” x 6 1/8” and 2 squares 4 7/8” x 4 7/8”. Then cut the rest of the required squares from the remaining fabric.

Optional Accuquilt cutting instructions:

• Instead of cutting the 30 – 4 7/8” squares, cut 60 – 4” HST triangles using die 55710 (also found in the 8” Qube Mix and Match Set). Make sure you still follow the tip above for cutting the larger squares from 3 strips first.

Fabric C is the lighter fabric. From this fabric, cut:

• 30 squares 4 7/8” x 4 7/8”
• 5 strips 3” x 42” for the inner border

Optional Accuquilt cutting instructions:

• The border strips may be cut with the 3” strip cutter die 55084
• Instead of cutting the 30 – 4 7/8” squares, cut 60 – 4” HST triangles using die 55710 (also found in the 8” Qube Mix and Match Set).

Quilt Piecing

Use a scant 1/4’’ seam allowance and a regular stitch length such as 2 – 2.5.

Tip: It is helpful to use a scant 1/4” seam allowance when these diamond in a square blocks. That way, you will have a little extra to trim away and make your pieces perfectly sized.

How to Sew the Diamond in a Square Quilt Block

1. Cut all of the 4 7/8” Fabric B and Fabric C squares in half diagonally. You should have 60 triangles in each fabric.

2. Mark a center line across each Fabric A 6 1/8” square. This is really easy to do by folding each square in half and pressing the fold lightly with your iron.

3. Sew a Fabric B triangle to one side of the square, using the center line you marked to help you center the triangle on the square.

4. Then sew another Fabric B triangle to the other side of the square. Press the points of the triangle outward. Use a ruler and rotary cutter to help you trim away the ‘dog ear’ triangles along the top and bottom edges.

5. Sew two more Fabric B triangles to the top and bottom edges of the square. If you like, you can mark the center of the square in the opposite direction to help you sew these triangles on correctly too.

6. Press the block and trim away the dog ears and any extra fabric to make the block 8 1/2” square.

Repeat to make 15 Diamond in a Square quilt blocks from Fabrics A and B and 15 blocks from Fabrics B and C as shown.

Assemble the Diamond in a Square 3 Yard Quilt Top

1. Sew 5 quilt blocks into a row that contains three Fabric A/B blocks and two Fabric B/C blocks. Make 3 rows like this.

2. Sew 5 quilt blocks into a row that contains two Fabric A/B blocks and three Fabric B/C blocks. Make 3 rows like this.

3. Sew the six quilt block rows together in an alternating pattern.

Measure and Sew the Inner Border

1. Sew all the 3” strips of the light fabric (Fabric C) together to make one long strip. You will cut pieces from this to make the inner border.

The expected length of the side border pieces is 48 1/2”. I highly recommend measuring the quilt top and cutting all border pieces to the correct size. See how to cut the correct size quilt borders. Attach the side borders.

2. The expected length of the top and bottom border pieces is 45 1/2”. Measure your quilt and cut two strips for the top and bottom border. Attach the top and bottom border pieces.

Measure and Sew the Outer Border

1. Sew all the 3” Fabric A strips together to make one long strip. You will cut pieces from this to make the outer border.

The expected length of the side border pieces is 53 1/2”. Measure the quilt top with the inner border and cut two strips for the side edges. Attach the side borders.

2. The expected length of the top and bottom second border pieces is 50 1/2”. Measure your quilt top with the inner border and cut two strips for the top and bottom edges. If you need extra fabric for the outer border, you should have enough from your Fabric A scraps.

Finishing the Diamond in a Square Three Yard Quilt Pattern

1. Cut or piece together a 55” x 63” or larger piece of quilt backing fabric and make a quilt sandwich with the backing, batting, and top.

2. Baste together with fusible batting, pins or basting spray.

3. Quilt as desired. Straight line quilting or cross hatch quilting with your walking foot would be fast and easy.

4. Cut 5 binding strips and bind using your favorite method. This is my favorite quilt binding method.

As always, I love seeing the quilts you make with my free sewing patterns. Please post a picture to Instagram and tag me @sewcanshe so I can take a look!

xoxo,