Posts Tagged ‘bricks’

The good, the bad and the ugly from Stash Bandit

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

It has been quite a summer, friends.

I’ve experienced it all: the good, the bad and the ugly. It can be hard to know how much personal stuff to share. I do want you to know that my family has its ups and downs like everyone else. Lately there have been a lot of downs. Below is a video showing how I get in a little patchwork when things are rough.

If you’d like a bunch more ideas for using bricks, come to Sunday’s event: Beautiful Bricks.

It’s the next in my Scrappy Sundays with Stash Bandit series and I’ll share a bunch of things you can do with a simple rectangle. You won’t believe how versatile they are! Here’s a link to the $12 tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1997845618024?aff=oddtdtcreator

I had to cancel a guild event in Kansas City this week, something I have never done before. I felt horrible but it was unavoidable. They were gracious and kind. I was really grateful for that.

I hope you are sewing up a storm.

An all-new summit and you’re invited!

Written by Diane Harris on . 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.

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.

Brick by Brick: Favorite Sizes

Written by Diane Harris on . Posted in Blog, How-tos and Ideas, Inspiration

I love to make quilts from bricks! A brick is a rectangular quilt patch that finishes twice as long as wide.

My favorite brick sizes are listed below as finished size first, followed by the dimensions you’ll need to cut the patches.

Finished size: 1″ x 2″…..Cut 1-1/2″ x 2-1/2″

Finished size: 1-1/2″ x 3″…..Cut 2″ x 3-1/2″

Finished size: 2″ x 4″…..Cut 2-1/2″ x 4-1/2″

My favorite bricks are the three in the middle of this display.
Their sizes are listed just above.

The tiniest patch above is cut 1″ x 1-1/2″ to finish at 1/2″ x 1″. It is little!!

The largest patch above is cut 4-1/2″ x 8-1/2″. The largest brick I have ever used was cut 6-1/2″ x 12-1/2″. It was used in a 24″ block.

To figure out your own custom brick sizes, first think about the finished dimensions you want, for instance, you want a brick that’s 9″ long. Since it has to be twice as long as wide, half of 9 is 4-1/2.

So you know the brick will finish 4-1/2″ x 9″. NOW add 1/2″ to each of those numbers to get the cut size. In this case the cut size would be 5″ x 9-1/2″.

One of the first bricks quilt I ever made featured Baby Windmill blocks. I created darker windmills to get the effect of “borders” for this design I call Framework.

Framework by Diane Harris

Somehow this helps to organize all the scrappy chaos and the quilt is more pleasing to the eye than it would be without the false borders.

When the patchwork is very small like this, you can use all types of cotton quilt fabric together: reproductions, batiks, florals, novelty and so on.

Baby Windmill 4″ quilt block: Patches cut 1.5″ x 2.5″

I use contrast in most of the blocks so that the windmill is easily visible. Most blocks outside of the border areas have a windmill that is darker than the background.

The windmills in Framework are made from patches cut 1-1/2″ x 2-1/2″. Each block finishes at 4″. You can find instructions for these little blocks in my Baby Windmills basic tutorial post.

Here’s another small quilt made from Baby Windmills. It’s called Christmas Dance. I went scrappy within a limited palette. This is a very entertaining kind of sewing!

Christmas Dance by Diane Harris.
Photo: Kristen Laing Photography.

It’s Quiet Over Here.

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

I think the holidays took the wind right out of my sails.

Or maybe it’s that we’re sailing into Year Three and that’s disheartening. I’m having a hard time concentrating, organizing, motivating. I think I am not alone.

Before and during cleanup

The start of a new year always feels like a good time to clean up the studio. Of course I do it periodically but I’m no clean freak and my husband would say that I’m a walking tornado. When I can’t see the top of my sewing table, I know it’s time.