I hate Paris in the springtime...

No, I'm not flying to Paris to save my fiance from the clutches of a "god-dess" ala French Kiss's Meg Ryan.  I'm making my damned Parisville diamonds quilt. Who knew that diamonds were so difficult?!

I've done hexagons, I've done queen-sized quilts, I've done quiltagami. But nothing could have prepared me for the nightmare of diamonds.

Diamonds are 4-sided, like squares or rectangles, so they should be easy to piece together. It's all straight-line stitching. No applique. Large blocks making up a lap-size quilt. Sounds easy-peasy, right?  WRONG.

Diamonds have straight edges, yes, but they aren't on the x/y-axes.  They're diagonal. That means that instead of lining up adjacent pieces like you would, say, square or rectangle pieces, you have to offset them to adjust for the diagonality.  (Yes, I just made up that word.)  So say two diamonds are just a hair off and not lined up correctly. This seemingly minor error is the pebble that sets off an avalanche. Those two don't line up, so the whole row they're in doesn't line up, so the quilt doesn't line up. I think I've spent more time ripping seams than sewing them together.

Lesson learned: never attempt diamonds again.  Period.

Okily-dokily.  On to a topic not dripping with disdain: ducks.

My daughter is turning 2 in just a few weeks, and the greatest love of her young life is ducks.  Stuffed ducks, rubber duckies, ducks waddling across the road.  She loves ducks more than peanut butter loves jelly.

My mom had bought two prints from Lizzy House Red Letter Day collection to make her something for Christmas, but the project never materialized (rimshot, please).  She sent the fabric to me in hopes that it can be used for something for my daughter's birthday.  I adore this fabric.  It's fun and funky and soooo reflects my daughter's personality.

Does anyone have any suggestions for these prints?  The word "pillows" keeps popping into my head, but the girl has about 305897122984 stuffed animals that she takes to bed with her every night.  I fear pillows would get lost in the shuffle.  Thoughts??