Mourning a quilter I never knew

Written by Diane Harris on April 12, 2025. Posted in Blog, How-tos and Ideas, Inspiration, Quilt Lifestyle

When I visit my family in Maple Valley, WA, we usually go thrifting. One second-hand store has its books well organized with a section just for quilting.

So I recently thrifted Simple Strategies for Scrap Quilts by Lynn Roddy Brown. I’ve known of Lynn for years and met her briefly once when she contributed to Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks. She’s a maker of scrap quilts like I am, and she’s written several books on the topic.

As soon as I started reading Lynn’s introduction called “Understanding Scrap Quilts,” I wanted to hug her. She was saying all the things I know to be true and have been trying to communicate to my own students. She was covering all the bases and doing it well.

Free Trunk Show for Quilters!

Written by Diane Harris on March 5, 2025. Posted in Blog, Complimentary, How-tos and Ideas, Inspiration, Quilt Lifestyle, Trunk Shows

For the next week, you’re invited to watch my Taste Test Trunk Show: Unexpected Sampler Quilts for free on YouTube.

I recorded it on Feb 2 and today I’ve made it available to everyone through Thursday, March 13. It lasts about an hour and I hope you’ll have a look.

The reason I’m sharing this talk publicly with no admission is to help spread the word about Stash Bandit.

I speak and teach for quilt guilds across the US and Canada but I want to keep widening that circle. I love being with quilters both in person and online. If you’re in a quilt group anywhere in the world and you enjoy the trunk show, please share my name with your leaders. I’d love to bring my scrappy fun to your neck of the woods!

Access the handout for this trunk show here.

When I watched this back, I made a mental note to move some of the best samplers toward the beginning. So please don’t despair at the duds I show early. It gets better!!

Now sit back, relax and enjoy. 🍿

Students, shoes, finishes and Medicare

Written by Diane Harris on February 12, 2025. Posted in Blog, Classes, How-tos and Ideas, Inspiration, Quilt Lifestyle

My students in a number of Stash Bandit classes did great work in January.

I appreciate it when quilters are willing to try something new. Here is some of their work.

Asterisk blocks by Jane from Wyoming,
a design by Karen Griska.

Asterisk is a design by Karen Griska that I teach with her permission. It’s such a great block that looks hard but sews easy. It doesn’t get any better than that!

Summit attendees: Handout is here!

Written by Diane Harris on February 6, 2025. Posted in Blog, Complimentary, Fabric Savvy, How-tos and Ideas, Inspiration, Quilt Lifestyle, Trunk Shows

Thank you for attending Quilted! The Virtual Summit this week. Here is a link to access the handout for Build a Scrap Quilt: Brick by Brick. Please note: After you register, it may take a few moments for the handout email to arrive in your inbox. Please be patient, and if it does not arrive then send me email using diane@stashbandit.net. Thank you!

https://mailchi.mp/stashbandit/quilted-the-virtual-summit-expanded-handout-bricks

Best wishes,

Free week! What to do?!

Written by Diane Harris on February 3, 2025. Posted in Blog, Complimentary, How-tos and Ideas, Inspiration, Open Classes for Everyone, Quilt Lifestyle

I was supposed to spend the next eight days with my grandchildren in Washington. But life had other plans.

A nasty stomach virus is making its way through the family of two adults and four children.

We decided late last night that I should postpone my visit. While I’m bummed not to see them, there’s an up side:

I have a free week!! Oh my gosh, what a gift!!!

I’ve been brainstorming all night (when I should have been sleeping) about how to spend the time. Here are some of the things I want to do.

Make shortbread cookies (for the first time) using this recipe
Learn Cat Bordhi’s “magical knitting” and create a Moebius scarf
Clean up the studio
Finish writing a long overdue pattern
Prepare for Quilted! The Virtual Summit (happens Tuesday and Wednesday, don’t miss it!)
Finally sell my countertop compost maker (because I need more compost than it can make)
Try some new recipes; get the groceries needed
Walk, walk, walk (because we’ve been having warm weather for January in Nebraska)
Layer, baste and quilt one of the tops in my huge pile
Ready one top for the longarm quilter @beenquiltin
Make an appointment at Calico Cottage to rent their longarm

Make sure you don’t miss this event that starts tomorrow!

I’m giving a talk on bricks, which are one of my favorite shapes. There is so much you can do with them!

Click right here for your free ticket.

And here’s another brick quilt, just for fun.

Have a wonderful week!

An all-new summit and you’re invited!

Written by Diane Harris on January 6, 2025. Posted in Blog, Complimentary, How-tos and Ideas, Inspiration, Quilt Lifestyle

Many of you joined me last year for a summit on conquering your scraps and you loved it.

Well, new year, new summit!

I hope you’ll plan to join me and 24 other quilting teachers on Feb 4 and 5 for Quilted! The Virtual Summit. We’ll be sharing our best tips, tricks and techniques on a wide range of topics. And the tickets are complimentary.

Any time I’m home, I’m cleaning up the studio. It’s always a mess.

Written by Diane Harris on December 17, 2024. Posted in Blog, How-tos and Ideas, Inspiration, Magazines, Quilt Lifestyle

I’ve finished up my work travel for 2024 and it’s been so nice to be home. As I’ve worked to clear my creative space, I’ve unearthed some treasures.

Lady’s Circle Patchwork Quilts Nov/Dec 1990

I’ve had this magazine for 34 years because in 1990 it was a HUGE deal when Lady’s Circle Patchwork Quilts featured Nebraska and Nebraska quilters in its pages.

I remember looking at the editor’s image and thinking what a cool job she must have. I loved her edgy specs! I couldn’t imagine being so hip.

Setting Free My Vintage Needle Book Collection

Written by Diane Harris on November 5, 2024. Posted in Blog, How-tos and Ideas, Inspiration, Quilt Lifestyle

I’m a collector, which is entertaining for me, but it drives the rest of the household mad.

If you’re a collector, you know what I mean. If you’re not, why not?!

But seriously, now that I’m a little older, I feel less attached to some of my collections. And one of those is my vintage needle books. I’ve been collecting them for a few decades, but I haven’t gotten any new ones the past few years.

Vintage needle books have interesting graphics.

Some of the first ones I was attracted to were these Happy Home types, with their bright colors and graphics that reminded me of the 60s. But I’m not an expert on any of this, I haven’t done any research and I was not a serious collector. I just bought them for fun.

Build your color confidence with this easy trick

Written by Diane Harris on October 24, 2024. Posted in Blog, Fabric Savvy, How-tos and Ideas, Inspiration, Quilt Lifestyle

I’ve learned the most about color by making blocks and entire quilts that use only ONE hue.

When you’re limited to one color, you’re forced to branch out. You have to use different values (lightness or darkness). And it becomes necessary to tweak the color, which is where the magic happens.

Scarlet Spin by Diane Harris. Photo by Mellisa Karlin Mahoney. Used with permission.

Scarlet Spin was an early experiment in one-color quilts. It includes all sorts of reds: fire engine, brick, orange-red, wine, salmon, hot pink.

For the lights, I used whites and off-whites. Many of them have little bits of red as well.

The main lesson this quilt had for me was that all reds clash beautifully, something Mary Ellen Hopkins said years ago.

Here’s a secret: Red is the easiest color with which to make a single-hued quilt. You truly can’t mess it up as long as 1: you are brave, and 2: you think about contrast. Contrast means “difference.” There has to be a difference between the foreground and the background in order for anything to show up. The baby windmills in the block below show up nicely.

When there isn’t enough contrast, sometimes you get a block that looks like this:

And it’s even worse when I remove the lines, which is more realistic:

I started a quilt last week that uses just one color in every big block. It’s a design by Kathy Doughty and it’s in the book Making Quilts with Kathy Doughty.

I had orange fabrics out from working on a Halloween quilt, so that’s where I started. Because there’s only one color in each block, you have to find other ways to keep it interesting. I used big prints next to small prints. I went dark a few times. I wanted straight lines in some prints and curves in others.

See what I mean? Because you can’t change the color, you learn how to use other elements. Such a great exercise!

I had red-violets out because of the same Halloween quilt, so they were next. Using a design wall (ALWAYS!) helped me to see how it was shaping up. I used various textures, stripes, circles, lights, mediums and darks. Anything to keep it interesting. I threw in a print with orange in it just because I could.

Then there’s yellow. Yellow is so bossy. It wants to push you around and it tries to take over. It’s tricky to get yellow to show up against a light background, so I dipped into deep golden prints. Lots of texture. Natural shapes like flowers and leaves against manmade shapes like squares and straight lines.

Are you getting excited about one-color blocks yet? How about entire one-color quilts? I sure am.

Lucky, designed and made by Diane Harris

Green is another fun color to play with, as I did for my little Lucky quilt. And since you’ve read this far, here’s a link to the complimentary pattern for Lucky:

Get the complimentary pattern for Lucky

There’s more to come on all you can learn by working within single colors. Please come back soon, and until then, happy quilting!

Show and Tell Quilts in Kansas City

Written by Diane Harris on October 11, 2024. Posted in Blog, How-tos and Ideas, Inspiration, Quilt Lifestyle

My latest trips to guilds in New York, Florida, Texas and beyond have featured amazing quilts by guild members.

Chris Jacobs with Stars and Stripes by Cherry Guidry

At Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild on Oct 10, Chris Jacobs displayed her Stars and Stripes finish. The overall impact is really strong but hone in on that background piecing. It adds so much to the design! This is a complimentary pattern by Cherry Guidry. Wouldn’t it make a great Quilt of Valor?

Beth Gude and her quilt of scrappy exchange blocks

I fell in love with Beth Gude’s quilt, too. She made blocks for an exchange one year and then created the quilt from blocks she received back from friends. Find Beth on Instagram @gudegoods.

Some of the blocks feature a large square at the center, but a few makers put patchwork there instead. This would be such a fun quilt to make! I love being able to feature larger scale prints in big patches. The design is Crumb Coat by Tara Evans @taraleequiltery.

Nicole Moore’s Drunkard’s Path quilt made with AccuQuilt.

I love the rainbow effect in Nicole Moore’s finish, above. Nicole is an AccuQuilt ambassador and she cut the Drunkard’s Path blocks with her Go! cutter.

She also brought AccuQuilt dies for a bowl cozy and a bucket hat, and she’s already made items from both. Bowl cozies for the microwave make great Christmas gifts. I use mine all the time!

An abstract design based on real-life experiences

Tia Curtis brought a fabulous quilt, above, that was inspired by what she sees while swimming laps: ceiling and floor tiles.

This is a beautiful piece but my photos don’t do it justice. The colors are wonderful!

And maybe my favorite of the night was this quilt by Nikki Woolsey @sassypearlquilts. Look at that quilting!

I love how it changes from one section to another. Nikki is president-elect of KCMQG and if her energy is any indication, next year will be one to remember.

Also I’m a fan of her shirt. It’s the kind of thing I’d put on for church and my husband would raise his eyebrows.

More show and tell from other guilds still to come. Quilt on, friends!

If you’re looking for dynamic programs for your quilt group, check out my offerings here!