During the early fall and again after Thanksgiving, I’ve been piecing a scrappy version of Christmas Figs by Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree Quilts, published by the Fat Quarter Shop.
Their quilt features the Christmas Figs fabric line by Fig Tree for Moda Fabrics. I had a fat quarter bundle of those fabrics that I’d purchased, and that’s what I used for the first few blocks. But I began to wonder if the blocks would be interesting enough with just those fabrics.
Twinkling Bright by Diane Harris for McCall’s Quick Quilts Dec/Jan ’18
I’ve been working on a new holiday quilt called Christmas Figs. It’s been so much fun!
The folks at Fat Quarter Shop sent me a review copy of the Christmas Figs book, and I could not wait to dive in.
Every year it seems like I have time to sew during November, December and January. Other people are busy shopping, cooking and decorating. But my life is the opposite, and that’s kind of a good thing.
Thanksgiving was quiet with just five guests (two bigs and three littles). The meal was easy and the company departed around 3:30. I sewed for four or five hours after that. We ate leftovers and quickie meals the rest of the weekend, so there were many more hours in the studio.
My exceptional longarm quilter said to me recently, “I think everything you do is modern.” I’d commented that I didn’t think of myself as a “modern” quilter, and her response gave me pause. I’ve been (very happily) fielding inquiries from modern quilt guilds, and the truth is that some things I design and make lean toward the modern aesthetic, some are traditional, and some are hard to put into a category.
Oh, Christmas Wreath by Diane Harris; quilted by Julie Lechner @beenquiltin
Today I’m introducing Oh, Christmas Wreath! This design is decidedly modern: solid fabrics, negative space, clean and fresh. Oh, Christmas Wreath appears in the Nov/Dec issue of Quilty, on newsstands now. I hope you’ll grab it when you see it or order it online in paper or digital format.
The Nov/Dec issue of Quilty magazine is on newsstands now, and I’m very excited to have two new quilt designs inside.
Ever since I started building the Jingle Bells Trunk Show to share with quilt guilds, I’ve been obsessed with making Christmas quilts. I’m constantly working on new ideas, and these two were a fit for Quilty. You may know that magazines work months in advance, so I actually pieced these in April and May for an early June deadline.
Around Christmas last year, I started piecing a simple chevron quilt made from triangle-squares. I sewed from my stash and was pretty excited with how it started coming together.
Merry Christmas! I hope your holiday is full of the love of family and friends. Let me tell you about my little Christmas tree quilt, Twinkling Bright.
It all started with this small block that I call a Baby Windmill. I’m on a mission to design as many interesting quilts as I can with this as the starting point. You can read more here.
I’m going to start sharing my quilts here in short posts. They’ll give you an idea of what my trunk shows are like, which is the thrust of my business, Stash Bandit: I’m a speaker and a teacher on the topic of quilt-making.
Nested Nicks by Diane Harris. Photo by Mellisa Karlin Mahoney. Used with permission.
When a quilt (or several) intrigues you, I hope you’ll visit my Trunk Shows page, or get in touch via Booking Inquiries. You can email me, too: diane@stashbandit.net. Let’s Talk Quilts!
Maybe you’ve done the same. It was an exercise in frustration but I learned some things, and some of the most egregious mistakes won’t be evident to others.
