Scrappy Sundays is tomorrow!

Written by Diane Harris on . Posted in Blog, Classes, Inspiration, Open Classes for Everyone

We are just 24 hours away from a new edition of Scrappy Sundays with Stash Bandit. I hope you will join me tomorrow!

The featured quilt is called Surround Sound, and it presents a bunch of opportunities for learning. I’m looking forward to sharing helpful ideas for this quilt and others made from scraps or a scrappy vibe.

Tickets are just $12 and they include the pattern, more design ideas and a recording to watch at your convenience. Save your seat! 

I had a great time playing with this concept and I will share many other ideas in addition to the featured quilt. And the “hangout” time at the end is always enjoyable because we all just want to share about making scrappy quilts. I hope you’ll join me and I’ll look forward to seeing you there.

Get a ticket now.

I wish you loads of happy quilting!

Scrappy Sundays with Stash Bandit: Surround Sound

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

Today I finished piecing the featured quilt for the next Scrappy Sunday session. It’s called Surround Sound and I hope you like it.

As so often happens with ideas, one thing led to another. There is the featured quilt, which I quite like, but then there are several more interesting designs that were inspired by it. Ticket holders will get them all!

Surround Sound by Diane Harris

I’ll be sharing how I make small, medium and large half-square triangles along with other methods so you can find the one that works best for you.

April’s Scrappy Sundays with Stash Bandit: 4/19

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

Please join me for the April edition of Scrappy Sundays with Stash Bandit, Sunday, 4/19 at 1 pm Central on Zoom. Tickets are $12 and the featured quilt is Wild Romp, a new design I’ve had in my back pocket for a while. It is throw size, roughly 55″ x 70″.

Wild Romp by Diane Harris, an EQ rendering

Each Scrappy Sunday session includes a quilt pattern plus my demos and tips for making it work with lots of different fabrics. This quilt is much easier to make than it looks—a real bonus!

Your ticket also includes a bonus scrappy quilt pattern because I want to give you a lot of bang for your buck. The bonus pattern will be a surprise. And there’s time to interact with me and others in attendance if you like.

Wild Romp in blues and golds

Each session is recorded so you can attend live or you can take in the recording for two weeks afterwards.

You can make Wild Romp less scrappy if you like this look better. Here’s another version:

I will have a supply list and yardage for the scrappy version (below)

in an email sometime after you get your ticket.

This quilt does take scraps that are a little bigger. You will need a variety of colored pieces that are about 6″ square. You don’t need to have the fabric or even cut anything before the Sunday session. I would wait to shop until you hear the tips because there are several important things to consider. And you might be able to just shop your stash!

This quilt is throw size, about 55″ x 70″. Throws are my favorite size because they don’t take me a year to make and they are easily quilted on a domestic machine. And they’re useful!

If this sounds good, reserve your seat right here.

And please invite your friends! Word of mouth is an important way of getting this info out. Thank you!

I will look forward to spending time with you on Sunday, April 19. We’ll all be in the comfort of our own homes!

Until then, happy quilting!

Scrappy Sundays: March 22 is a great quilt block!

Written by Diane Harris on . Posted in Blog, Classes, Open Classes for Everyone

I’ve been working on the ideas for the March edition of Scrappy Sundays with Stash Bandit and I hope you’ll love them.

They are based on a very simple quilt block called Strength in Union. I found it in Barbara Brackman’s Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns. It’s block #1807 and it has a lot of potential.

Here is the first version I made. I thought about going huge but since I was on a deadline, I opted for this smaller one instead. But it’s easily customizable to whatever size you want to make.

This is a great block through which to learn more about value and contrast, because you really need to place the values correctly or you’ll get a bunch of mush.

Here is an alternate look made with solids. Of course this is an EQ rendering although I did start sewing these blocks a few days ago.

The pattern for Strength in Union is included with your ticket which is $12, and Eventbrite adds a few dollars in fees. Just like last time, there will also be a bonus pattern included—something that helps build your skills in fabric selection.

Get your ticket here: $12 on Eventbrite

There are other ways to set these blocks and I’ll show you those during our time together. I can’t give too much away beforehand! But believe me when I say this is a great block for learning and playing.

This session stands alone. In other words, you don’t need to have been in the first session for this one to make sense. Each Scrappy Sunday presentation will be fine all by itself, but I hope you’ll come to more than one!

And yes, the session will be recorded and made available for you to view for two weeks after the live event.

If you’d like to attend, get your ticket promptly because the first session sold out. I am figuring out if and how I can make the recordings available for purchase when an event sells out, so please stay tuned.

Get your ticket here: $12 on Eventbrite

I can’t wait to share all the fun of this quilt block with you!

Tango, StarQuar classes now open to all

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

I’ve just listed two upcoming classes and they’re open to everyone, everywhere.

Tango is a popular design that goes together quickly and easily and looks great in lots of fabric combinations. Simple piecing has rarely been this much fun!

Tango: Saturday, Oct 18, 2025, 10 to 2:30 Central
Online class
Tickets: $65
Get your ticket here

Tango by Diane Harris. Quilted by Julie Lechner.
Photo by Kristin Laing Photography.

Find the supply list for Tango right here.

Tango by Stephanie Lockhart.
Started in my online Tango workshop!

StarQuar Scrap Quilts: Saturday, Nov 15, 10 to 2:30 Central
Online class
Tickets: $65
Get your ticket here

StarQuar is a little unit I’ve been playing with for several years. I’ll show you how to make it from just one patch size and then together we’ll discover the myriad things you can do with it. It’s fun and addictive!

Star Silhouettes by Diane Harris.
Quilted by Julie Lechner.

StarQuar supply list

This workshop will help you to let go of using matching fabrics and to embrace a little clash. Your quilts can be unique, beautiful and exciting like never before! Let me show you how to create something brilliant with fabric you already own. StarQuar is the perfect playground!

Spot On by Diane Harris
Kitties in Windows by Diane Harris

I’ll look forward to seeing you in a workshop soon. I can’t wait to meet you!

Houston heat, improv patchwork and a lizard

Written by Diane Harris on . Posted in Blog, Classes, Fabric Savvy, How-tos and Ideas, Inspiration, Trunk Shows

Last week I visited Quilt Guild of Greater Houston with a trunk show and workshop. It was a great trip with some adventure.

Spring is nearly over in that part of Texas and it was almost hot with high humidity. My hostess Elizabeth took me to Houston Botanical Garden where things are very much in progress, beautiful nonetheless.

Amaryllis in bloom

This cactus was so happy—it was covered in new growth.

Students, shoes, finishes and Medicare

Written by Diane Harris on . 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!

New Talk: Build a Scrap Quilt Brick by Brick

Written by Diane Harris on . Posted in Blog, Classes, How-tos and Ideas, Inspiration, Open Classes for Everyone, Quilt Lifestyle, Trunk Shows

You’re invited to an online presentation I’m giving soon:

Build a Scrap Quilt Brick by Brick, tickets $20 on Eventbrite

It happens live Sat Aug 24 but it will be recorded to watch at your convenience, too.

Brick Block baby quilt by Diane Harris, EQ rendering

If you attended the Conquer Your Fabric Scraps Summit and upgraded to the bundle, then a ticket to this talk is included. But if you didn’t and you’d like to come, you may purchase a ticket any time this week.

Just Bricks by Diane Harris

One of my interests is taking simple ideas and seeing how far I can run with them. I love designing quilts that feature just one patch, such as a brick.

In this talk, some of the things we’ll cover include:

  • What IS a brick
  • What sizes to cut
  • Many ways to use bricks for scrap quilts
  • The Brick Block
  • The L Block
  • The Frameup Block
  • The Windmill Block
  • Pictorial quilts with bricks
  • And more!
Basic Baby Windmills quilt by Diane Harris. Photo by Kristin Laing Photography.

And the best part? I’m creating a handout that will show you how the bricks are arranged for many of these ideas! You can print it and have it at your fingertips as you begin your own journey with bricks. Normally, each quilt idea would be developed into a pattern for sale, which would retail for around $12. So if you get 10 ideas worth $12 each, that’s $120 worth of content that is included with your $20 ticket to the talk.

Trust me when I say that you’re going to get excited about making scrap quilts with bricks!

Get your ticket now and I’ll see you on Saturday. And remember, you can watch the recording if you can’t attend live. 😊

Home for Christmas is a brick quilt by Diane Harris.

Make a Summer Splash on The Quilt Show

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

If “sampler” makes you think of blocks in rows with sashing, let me introduce something new!

A few years back I designed Petit Patchwork as a way to teach several techniques to quilters at a retreat. It was fun to make and it’s an attractive little quilt.

Petit Patchwork by Diane Harris

Fast forward to last year when I was a guest on The Quilt Show with Ricky Tims (Alex Anderson was recovering from surgery) and crew. They’d seen Petit Patchwork and invited me to design this year’s summer quilt project. When I learned how it would work, another small sampler seemed like the right choice. And that’s how Summer Splash was born.

Early sketching for blocks and layout ideas