Introducing Open Enrollment Classes

Written by Diane Harris on November 17, 2020. Posted in Blog, Classes, How-tos and Ideas, Quilt Lifestyle

I’m excited to offer something brand new! Open enrollment classes are pre-scheduled and presented live to anyone, anywhere. Now you don’t have to wait for me to do a Zoom class with your guild, and the best part? You can sew from the comfort of your own space.

Hand-Look Binding by Machine is the first class I am offering for open enrollment.

None of us is happy about the pandemic, but one bit of silver lining is taking a class without leaving home. It is a luxury to have all of your fabric and supplies at your fingertips. My students are loving it!

Each class will be presented at a particular time. You can browse through the list and if there’s a topic you like at a time that works, you just click through to OnZoom to register and pay.

Once you have registered and paid, you’ll get an email with a link to the supply list. From there, I’ll be sure you know exactly what to expect and how to prepare, and you can always email me with questions: diane@stashbandit.net

Right now I’m writing the supply lists and handouts, making step-outs and shooting samples as needed. When a class is four weeks away, I can list it with OnZoom.

If you’re not familiar with OnZoom, it’s a new feature that Zoom is rolling out whereby clients can offer paid events. I had to apply and it’s in beta, which means they’re still testing parts of it. So far I love it. As an attendee, I don’t think you’ll notice any differences between the Zoom you’re used to and OnZoom.

I have two classes open for registration:

Hand-Look Binding by Machine, $35

and

The Brick Block: Stash Bandit Briefs, $10.

Stash Bandit Briefs is something I’m super excited to offer. They are brief, concise little classes or lessons for just $10, and currently the pattern will be included.

You’ll find all the details of open enrollment as well as an ever-evolving list of offerings on the Open Enrollment page.

I can’t wait to see you in class!

Who the heck is Diane Harris?

Written by Diane Harris on August 6, 2020. Posted in Blog, Classes, How-tos and Ideas, Quilt Lifestyle, Trunk Shows

If you found me because of Global Quilt Connection, you might wonder! Here’s my story.

I spent 11 years as an editor for Quiltmaker magazine, where I wrote pattern instructions and product reviews. I shot how-to videos and wrote a variety of articles related to quilts and quiltmaking. It was a dream job!

My Scotch on the Rocks quilt on the cover of Quiltmaker, 2016

I was the online voice of Quiltmaker for most of that time. In the early days, we were figuring out what it meant for a business to be online, along with everyone else. It was exciting, exhausting and fun!

My Dresden Plate video for QM has had more than 175,000 views.

Some of the editors helped promote the magazine by giving trunk shows of the quilts from our pages. I loved doing that, and I got good feedback from quilt groups. So when my time with Quiltmaker ended, since I’d been making quilts for 30 years, I started Stash Bandit and began sharing my own quilts in trunk shows.

I’d been teaching quilters here and there as requests came up over the years, so I added classes to my lineup as well. Writing for a pattern magazine is a form of teaching, so it seemed only natural.

Let’s Play Drezzup is billed as a trunk show but a lot of teaching
also happens during the one-hour presentation.

There are three components to my business. The trunk shows and classes are the most visible part. And they’re probably the most fun!

Color Coded by Diane Harris, quilted by Julie Lechner.
From American Patchwork & Quilting, June 2019.

The second part is that I still design and make quilts for magazines. That helps me spread the word about Stash Bandit and leads to calls from quilt guilds. It’s fun to see your work in a professionally styled shot in a national publication! And it’s always a happy day if your quilt makes the cover. Never gets old.

Color Coded by Diane Harris; quilted by Julie Lechner. Used with permission from American Patchwork & Quilting®️. ©️2019 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.

And the third part of my business that I’ve just added this year is helping other quilt-related businesses with social media. I manage this area for a couple of entities and I love doing it. And it’s fine with me if my name is not publicly associated with that work. I’m an introvert and I don’t love the spotlight so much.

I manage social media for HQ Stitch by Handi Quilter as the brand ambassador.

The most visible of those is working as brand ambassador for HQ Stitch by Handi Quilter, a line of three (fabulous) domestic sewing machines. I love the machines, and it’s my job to use them and write about them. Which I happily do every day! Learn more: HQ Stitch on IG @hqstitch and on Facebook/hqstitch.

Wild Garden by Diane Harris, no pattern available.

One area that I have not forayed into is the pattern business. After a trunk show, people naturally ask me where they can buy the patterns for my designs. I don’t have a great answer!

It takes a lot to bring a pattern to the market. I’d spend a lot of time and money to do it. And then you have to sell an awful lot of patterns to cover all of that before you start making a profit. And that is just one of the reasons. The others are probably not interesting to a blog reader!

This little quilt is a freebie! Grab it!

I would much rather show people how to make their own unique quilts by understanding how fabrics work together. I’d like to help them unlock their creativity and be fearless in making something outside their comfort zone. So that is how I work and where I place my focus:

I use scrap quilts to help others understand fabric, color, design and quilting techniques.

The giant pineapple quilt called Welcome is a freebie! Grab it.

Some patterns remain available from the various magazines. And a few are freebies on my own website.

So that’s a bit of my story. It’s nice to meet you!

I’ve started offering virtual trunk shows and classes in 2020. I’d love to bring one to your quilt group! Get in touch and…

Let’s Talk Quilts!

You could help me out here by leaving a comment if you’ve been to a class or trunk show of mine. A few sentences about your experience would help others to know what they’re signing up for. Thank you!

Going Virtual in a Pandemic World

Written by Diane Harris on August 5, 2020. Posted in Blog, Classes, Trunk Shows

I’m excited to have several trunk shows and classes available for booking as virtual learning! We can’t gather for meetings, conferences and all-out quilting parties but we can be together using modern technology, and what’s not to love about sewing in your own space with all of your tools close at hand?!

I love teaching quilters in person or virtually!

Visit my Virtual Learning page to learn more, and if you have questions, please reach out: diane@stashbandit.net. Always happy to hear from you!

I teach a multitude of concepts by using scrap quilts sewn mostly from my stash. You can make this kind of quilt, too! I love showing willing learners how to combine unlikely fabrics they already own to make a dynamite scrap quilt.

Get in touch, and…