Color Class: Boost Your Quilts to New Heights

Written by Diane Harris on September 29, 2023. Posted in Blog, Classes, How-tos and Ideas, Inspiration, Open Classes for Everyone, Quilt Lifestyle

It can be done—I can help you wrap your mind and your creative dreams around these basic ideas. They’re essential for making successful quilts, scrappy or not.

Join me next week on Thursday, Oct 5 from 11 to 5 Central on Zoom for my popular “Color, Contrast & Cohesion” hands-on workshop.

Attend live or watch the recording! Totally convenient.

Choose from several patterns (included) and use the simple piecing to work out the ideas in a practical way. I’ll come ready, willing and able to help you!

This workshop is a crowd pleaser because you’re learning each step of the way. Why do some fabrics look great together up close, but die tragically when you stand back?

What does value mean in the context of quilt making? How can you tell what a fabric’s value really is? Can the value change?

What does value have to do with contrast? What is the difference? Are they even connected? And how can you use the fabric you already own to make unique and beautiful quilts that are truly inspired?

All of this and more in
Color, Contrast & Cohesion

Tickets for this full-day class are just $55 on Eventbrite. Click here to learn more or reserve your place!

I would love the chance to walk with you into a fearless creative journey where you combine fabrics with ease and confidence to create amazing quilts you’ll be proud of. Join me next week and get started!!!

I can’t wait!

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A secret: Favorite cuts for scrappy quilts

Written by Diane Harris on September 21, 2023. Posted in Blog, How-tos and Ideas, Inspiration, Quilt Lifestyle

I have three patch sizes that I return to again and again.

You may have favorite patches too. It’s good to know what sizes you use the most because when you’re dealing with leftovers, you can cut them up accordingly.

I do not cut everything into patches, though, and here’s why.

Gwen Marston once said during a class, “Don’t commit too soon.” In other words, be sure of your direction before you take an action (like cutting) that can’t be undone. She was talking about improvisational quilt design but the same is true for scraps.

Most of my fabric is not cut up into my favorite patches.

I want the freedom to make it into whatever I choose. But I do cut up some very lights, some very darks and lots of leftovers into my favorites.

• 1-1/2″ x 2-1/2″ rectangles
• 2-1/2″ squares
• 2-1/2″ x 4-1/2″ rectangles

Here are a few of the quilts I’ve made with these patches.

One of the first Baby Windmill quilts I made was Framework. I noticed one day that several darker blocks formed a line on the design wall. I realized that if I made darker blocks on purpose, I could arrange them into “borders” without any extra work. It’s a fun quilt to make because you’re free to use any and all fabrics together. The chaos is kind of the point.

Here’s a tutorial for Baby Windmills.

Scarlet Spin is a simple design that lets the reds do most of the heavy lifting. Reds clash so beautifully and I never tire of them. It also uses 1.5″ x 2.5″ rectangles for the focal point of each block.

When I decided to try making pictorial quilts

from those little patches, Home for Christmas fit the bill. With the exception of the bows on top of the presents, every patch in the quilt is that same size, even those in the borders. I love designing with just one patch because it greatly speeds and simplifies the cutting.

Just Bricks uses my other favorite rectangle, the one cut 2.5″ x 4.5″. I joined a lighter patch with a darker patch, and then rotated alternating units. Piece of cake. As I pieced the center, I thought it was horrible. I almost threw it away. But then it got big enough to audition some borders. It came together when I put this Jane Sassaman fabric beside it. The narrow yellow border also arrests the eye a little, giving it a much-needed break.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the past 10 years

has been Star Silhouettes. American Patchwork & Quilting’s August ’22 issue featured it on the cover, something I never dreamed could happen. By the time I sent it off, I was so tired of it that I couldn’t see how pretty it was. You can get the pattern for Star Silhouettes from AP&Q.

At first I was shocked by how much people loved the quilt. But now I think it’s a good example of how simple patchwork can be really effective if you let the fabric do the work. I made the quilt with only 2-1/2″ squares.

Some people see kittens in windows when they look at this quilt. I wasn’t intending that but I like the idea. I used in-your-face-yellow for sashing to distract from all the mismatched-ness of the blocks. And I think it works. I have a dozen more ideas for StarQuars, all made from 2.5″ squares.

And I have a new quilt design which is based on Flying Geese made from two of my favorite patches. I can’t wait to share it with you. 😊 I’d be interested in what your favorite patch sizes are!

Quilt on,

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House plans gone awry

Written by Diane Harris on September 11, 2023. Posted in Blog, How-tos and Ideas, Inspiration, Quilt Lifestyle

I worked on a UFO last week and it didn’t go well.

Not the designer’s fault, by the way. It’s a great pattern and it’s well done. But my tendency to go scrappy got me into trouble.

This is Jessica Dayon’s original design using just one red. When I bought fabric a few years back, I thought I’d use one red too. I bought a rather ordinary barn red and a sashing to complement it with holly leaves and berries.

The background is off-white with small dots and I had a white-on-white for the various sampler blocks.

But once you start making scrappy quilts, it’s pretty hard to go back to just one fabric for a dozen blocks. I couldn’t do it. So right off the bat I scrapped it up.

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CCC on The Quilt Show

Written by Diane Harris on August 29, 2023. Posted in Blog, How-tos and Ideas, Inspiration, Quilt Lifestyle, Trunk Shows

I’m really pleased to have an episode on The Quilt Show, and you’re invited to watch.

Find the episode with some of my best tips for scrappy quilts broken down into some of my favorite C’s: color, contrast and cohesion. What else?!

You’ll find a wealth of information on so many topics at The Quilt Show. You can fall down many a rabbit hole there.

The Quilt Show folks got in touch last spring and invited me to tape with them in Phoenix. So off I went for a day of fun with Ricky Tims and the crew.

We shot a few different segments but it was all pretty relaxed which I appreciated. The TQS team is highly professional but really cordial, and they made me feel right at home. That helped keep the nerves at bay, mostly.

One scary part for me was traveling with the quilts in checked bags. I wondered what I’d do if the quilts didn’t arrive? I often put quilts into checked bags but every time, I worry. Thankfully nothing was lost.

I was the third guest of the day, following Shannon Conley and Vicki Conley, who are both art quilters. They’re mother and daughter, and they’re friends with my friend Diana Fox, another contemporary art quilter.

Which reminds me: Ricky Tims is unbelievable when it comes to work ethic and stamina. He carried the full load during this shoot, as Alex Anderson was not on set. (She was at home recovering from surgery.) Ricky remained cheerful, helpful, engaged and engaging even though he must have been exhausted. It was impressive. I can’t say enough nice things about Ricky Tims. (And I’m happy to say that at a recent shoot in Colorado, Alex was back at it.)

I hope you’ll take time to watch the episode. You’ll be exposed to the plethora of resources at The Quilt Show, and you might hear something new about scrappy quilts. We all have scraps and stash and it’s great when we can use them to make something both unique and beautiful!

A special shout-out to Diana Fox, who shared my name with The Quilt Show folks as a potential guest. And thank you to Ricky, to Shelly Heesacker, Lilo Bowman and Kristin Goedert as well. You made me shine. ☀️

Happy Scrappin’,

Here’s the link one more time: https://thequiltshow.com/watch/scrap-quilts/learn-how-to-use-color-contrast-and-cohesion-when-making-scrappy-quilts-with-diane-harris

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Getting past a creative block

Written by Diane Harris on August 27, 2023. Posted in Blog, Complimentary, How-tos and Ideas, Inspiration, Quilt Lifestyle

Where should I start? How should I begin?

Ricky Tims said something really important on my episode of The Quilt Show, which has just been released. He said that when you have a creative block,

JUST SEW.

And I have an idea for WHAT you can sew! Check out my tutorial for Baby Windmills. The cutting is simple, the piecing is fast and easy, and you’ll be unstuck in no time!

Go to the basic tutorial for Baby Windmills now.

GET YOUR SCRAPPY ON!

Piece,

You might also enjoy:

Free pattern: The little hearts quilt

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Tango at Mangelsen’s Sept 29

Written by Diane Harris on August 20, 2023. Posted in Blog, Classes, How-tos and Ideas, Inspiration, Open Classes for Everyone

Bringing a scrappy adventure to Omaha! Join me, won’t you?!

Tango is a quilt that looks good in so many “outfits.” And the piecing is fast, fun and easy, leaving you free to think through fabric choices and let the prints do almost all the work!

This is my original Tango quilt made in brights and whites, with quite a few dullards thrown in for balance. But your Tango can look completely different!

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Color, Contrast & Cohesion Online

Written by Diane Harris on August 14, 2023. Posted in Blog, Classes, Open Classes for Everyone

Join me for a workshop designed to elevate your quilts to new heights

Attend live OR watch the recording at your convenience!

Color, Contrast & Cohesion with me, Diane Harris of Stash Bandit happens Thursday, Oct 5 from 11 to 5 Central on Zoom.

The three C’s—Color, Contrast and Cohesion—can make or break your quilt! Learn to control them with practical exercises as you begin a simply pieced scrap quilt. Choose from several designs!

Learn why color is the least important of the three C’s. Discover ways to unify diverse fabrics and wrap your mind around the way value and contrast work together.

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Pumpkins on Parade in APQ

Written by Diane Harris on August 7, 2023. Posted in Blog, How-tos and Ideas, Inspiration, Magazines, Quilt Lifestyle

Today I’m happy to introduce a new quilt design, Pumpkins on Parade, which appears in the Sept/Oct issue of American Patchwork & Quilting.

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This issue is on newsstands now and there are lots of great quilts inside. I love the cover quilt by Joanna Figueroa. Get a digital issue instantly right here.

A few years back I had the idea of putting an object at the intersection of an Irish Chain-type of block, and I fleshed it out in this new design.

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Stash Bandit and The Quilt Show in Phoenix

Written by Diane Harris on April 3, 2023. Posted in Blog, How-tos and Ideas, Inspiration, Quilt Lifestyle

One of the rich resources available to quilters is The Quilt Show,

an online community with lessons, patterns, projects, history, quilt alongs, BOMs, forums, a gallery, a blog and much more.

The Quilt Show is hosted by Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson, both legendary figures in the quilt world. Here’s an invitation from Ricky. (Click the arrow to begin!)

Not long ago I was invited to be a guest on The Quilt Show, and last week we taped my episode in Phoenix. It was great to escape the cold of Nebraska for a couple of days in the warm desert southwest.

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Scrap vs Scrappy

Written by Diane Harris on March 28, 2023. Posted in Blog, How-tos and Ideas, Inspiration, Quilt Lifestyle

I used to think I made scrap quilts. But I’ve reexamined that idea.

At some point I realized calling them scrap quilts suggests they are made only from leftovers: bits and bobs from other projects.

And that is simply not the case. I regularly cut up yardage for my quilts. I do dip into my scrap bag bin box corner, below, but I need more fabrics and more varied fabrics than I can find there.

I don’t make quilts with seven fabrics, I make quilts with 70 or sometimes many hundreds. So I’ve settled on the idea that such creations are better called “scrappy” quilts.

In my way of thinking, a scrap quilt is made from leftovers. A scrappy quilt could include leftovers, but has as its main feature many, many different fabrics.

A pieced top I’m going to quilt soon is one I’ve dubbed Trip Around the Tulips.

I have a lot of ’30s reproductions I’m no longer fond of and I wanted to see if I could combine them with other fabric genres and get something exciting. I used my friend Bonnie’s Scrappy Trip tutorial and made a few blocks, loved the result.

I also knew quickly that I wanted more interest than only the Scrappy Trip blocks. I paged through my books and patterns and found these tulips. I think I might have combined two designs—one for the flowers and one for the leaves—but I didn’t record it. If anyone recognizes either, I’ll be happy to add that info. I’ve googled endlessly with no luck.

Buttery yellows were an easy choice for the backgrounds. I kept them very similar so they’d look like a family. The idea of “similar” does a lot of heavy hitting in scrappy quilts.

I made this guy at the very beginning, before I had much direction for the quilt. He turned out not to work so into the orphan box he went.

I downloaded this Honey Bee pattern by Ellis and Higgs on Etsy. I had to punch up the body color to orange so he’d show up against the yellow ground.

That block went swimmingly so I got this Ladybug, too. You can see that I rushed and didn’t get the antennae to line up properly but that was my fault, not theirs. I decided it was good enough. I make quilts for fun, and stressing over a ladybug is not in my genes.

I tried stitch-and-flip units to make a green inchworm and it worked! You really only have to suggest an idea, and a viewer’s mind and eye will make sense of it if it’s close enough.

I added in some spacers of yellow squares on each end to make it all fit. Then I took a victory lap (that’s like stay-stitching the edges so the seams don’t pop open before it’s quilted) and called it good. I’m so anxious to quilt it!

And now you know the difference between a scrap quilt and a scrappy one!

Quilt on,

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