Posts Tagged ‘creativity’

Need a winter pick-me-up?

Written by Diane Harris on February 19, 2022. Posted in Blog, How-tos and Ideas, Inspiration, Open Classes for Everyone, Trunk Shows

How about a scrappy trunk show? Come and enjoy!

On Thursday, Feb 24 (just five days away) I’m giving Windy Wonders on Zoom to everyone who’d like to get a ticket and come.

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

This live event on Zoom will begin at 7:30 pm CST.

Tickets are $15 at eventbrite.com. Grab yours now!

Tilting Windmills by Diane Harris. Photo by Mellisa Karlin Mahoney. Used with permission.

You’ll hear the story of how I started making Baby Windmills, and how I built a trunk show of designs based on one simple block.

The start of an early Baby Windmill quilt design

Plenty of tips on scrap quilts will be included, along with how-tos for making Windmills in any size you choose.

I’m in! Take me to tickets!

Most basic Baby Windmill quilt. Photo by Kristin Laing Photography.

The trunk show lasts about an hour, to be followed by Q&A. Ask anything you like about scrap quilts!

If you’ve heard Windy Wonders or another Stash Bandit trunk show, feel free to leave a quick review in the comments. I’d appreciate it!

Get your ticket to Windy Wonders now.

I’ll see you on Zoom!

The Katy Coleman Miracle Quilt (with apologies to Joe Cunningham)

Written by Diane Harris on October 14, 2020. Posted in Blog, How-tos and Ideas, Inspiration, Quilt Lifestyle

Back in 2017, Joe Cunningham (AKA Joe the Quilter) visited International Quilt Museum with his improvisational piecing techniques and it was really so much fun.

I take classes like this to expand my creativity and to get inside the minds of other designers and artists. If I end up with a quilt, so much the better.

Feed Your Creativity

Written by Diane Harris on March 18, 2018. Posted in Blog, How-tos and Ideas, Quilt Lifestyle

I’ve discovered that creativity needs to be fed. Creativity has an appetite. It can be more voracious at some times than others, but we shouldn’t ignore its need to be nurtured.

Show and Tell can feed your creativity. This is Karen with her 365 finish at my retreat last fall.

Here’s an example: You attend a quilt show or a guild meeting with show and tell. You see some quilts you love and you snap photos to help you remember. You’re inspired to start on something new or get back to something you put aside—all because you gave your creativity a hearty meal. Sound familiar?

I recently discovered a new source of quilty “nourishment” I want to share with you. It’s a website called Issuu where magazines and books on assorted topics are published. You can look at them for nothing. It’s totally free. Here’s one example (click near the center to make it full screen, click escape to return to normal view):

When you put “quilt” into the search field, interesting things pop up. Take a peek at the British magazine Quilt Now.

Search “quilts” and you get a completely different set of publications. “Quilting” yields yet another batch. I love being able to peruse the pages with no commitment. I don’t have to buy or subscribe or give out my email. I just get to enjoy!

Some of the fabric companies publish their lookbooks on Issuu. It’s a way to see what’s coming soon to local quilt shops. I’ve been enjoying catalogs from Riley Blake. There is so much variety.

At the back of the lookbook are quilt pattern ideas from the designers, which are intended to show how the fabrics can be used effectively. There’s a lot to learn about color and value in those pages.

Pop over to issuu.com when you want to browse something quilty.

A few tips:

Search quilt, quilts, and quilting for different results
Click at the bottom right corner of the viewing pane to maximize to fullscreen
Click your escape button to return to normal view
Search for your other interests, too e.g. gardening, design, decor, vintage, history

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