Posts Tagged ‘fabric savvy’

One Hot Mess, and Its Redemption

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

Giveaway next week: EQ8 quilt design software! And a promo code at the bottom of this post for a nice discount, too!

There are times when a certain quilt just doesn’t work out. We all know that any number of things can go wrong. This is the story of a quilt that I designed in EQ8, which was its usual powerful self.

But then everything went wrong. And then I rescued it (virtually), also in EQ8. So you know up front that we are going to have a happy ending. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

No Kit? Go Stash Bandit Scrappy!

Written by Diane Harris on . Posted in How-tos and Ideas, Trunk Shows

I’m within half a breath of being caught up with my deadlines, which means I have a rare opportunity to sew what I want to sew. There are many projects on my personal list but because it’s almost October, the new Halloween Figs has risen to the top.

The fabrics in the original quilt are from a Moda line by Fig Tree called All Hallow’s Eve, but I didn’t wish to buy a kit and it seems that little yardage is still available. I’ve heard rumors that it will be reprinted but in the meantime, I want to make my quilt.

Churn Dash Remix with Stash Bandit, Part 1

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

I’m away from home for several weeks because I have new twin granddaughters, born in Hong Kong about two weeks ago. It’s been a whirlwind with so many emotions, and it’s been wonderful.

The short story is that everyone is doing great! I’ve had a lot of extra time with my grandsons, ages 3 and 7, as everyone adjusts to new babies. It’s been heaven on earth.

Being away from my studio for three weeks means that I don’t have much to share on the sewing front, but it has given me an opportunity to create some virtual designs in EQ8. In case you’re not familiar, EQ8 is  quilt design software from The Electric Quilt Company. It’s an incredibly powerful tool and I design most of my quilts with it.

I dreamed up something called Churn Dash Remix last week in order to demonstrate some concepts about color and design while I’m away from my machine. I’m using the simple Churn Dash block as my starting point. Just above you’ll see a basic version with a nine-patch grid so that each of the three columns of patches is of equal width.

There is a lot you can do with just color and value before you ever alter the proportions of the block. Just above, the background patches become more important with zesty teal and a large-scale hot pink/orange. So simple, but effective.

Changed it up a little for a whole new look. Yellow adds spice to just about anything.

Now let’s rearrange the value placement. Value is just the lightness or darkness of the fabrics compared to their neighbors. The block above hardly looks like a Churn Dash, but it is. All I’ve done is place the lights and darks in different spots.

Here I’ve substituted reddish-pink roses for the aqua, and I love it! Plus-sign designs have been hot for a while. Have you seen them popping up in magazines, books and on social media? Who knew that a humble Churn Dash could masquerade as a plus sign?!

One more variation, above. Before we leave these proportions, let’s look at a few scrappy versions.

Here’s a tip:

One easy way to elevate your block to something special is to swap the normally light background for a dark one.

The navy blue above is a good example. The block is more exciting just by letting the Churn Dash shapes be lighter than the background and almost glow against the dark blue.

The same block with pinks instead of yellows. Here’s another tip:

The most important thing in a scrappy block is that the values in the different areas are similar.

See how all the dark background fabrics above read in a similar way? Nothing sticks out as a lot lighter. Same for the pinks: They’re all about the same medium value.

But here is what people sometimes do:

See how two of the background patches, even though they are blue, are much lighter? That doesn’t work in this case. The backgrounds need to be similar in value if they’re to work together as one.

You’ll notice that some of the pinks are more peachy and some are more purply, but that’s a good thing! The value is much more important than the shade of pink. Variety in the shades of pink makes the block interesting and engaging as long as the pinks are similar in value, which is just lightness or darkness.

Here’s the block in scrappy navy and aqua. Love it!

Everything we’ve done has just been with color and value. Wait until you see what happens when we change up the block proportions in the next post! So much fun!

~Diane~

Thoughts on Purple and Some Big Magic

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

I’ve been working on a new quilt design to add to the Windy Wonders trunk show. That program is booked for Omaha Quilters’ Guild next week and I want to give them lots of eye candy. I thought a few more quilts would be nice, and since my sketchbook is overflowing, it wasn’t hard to do.

I grew up near a little town called Battle Creek here in Nebraska. Our colors were purple and gold so I spent many days in those colors. 

Patchwork: When the Wrong is Right

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

Some three decades ago, Jo Morton was just beginning to teach in our home state of Nebraska. She came to our fledgling guild and taught us to make Log Cabin blocks with strips that finished at 1/2″.

There weren’t any reproduction fabrics in those days, so Jo was inventing ways to make new fabrics look old. One of the secrets she shared with us was this:

Create Transparency in a Quilt

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

Transparency is a great trick, and it’s especially effective in quilt design. My recent X Marks the Spot for McCall’s Quick Quilts makes good use of transparency to create interest in an otherwise ordinary design.

X Marks the Spot appears in McCall’s Quick Quilts June/July ’17. Photo by Mellisa Karlin Mahoney. Used with permission.

Inspired by Vintage Quilts

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

My small quilt group issued a half-square quilt challenge earlier this year. The rules were pretty simple: The finished quilt should be about 24″ x 24″ and feature mainly half-square triangles. If you’re a new to quilting, that’s a commonly-used shape and it looks like this:

A square is cut in half on the diagonal, and the two resulting triangles are called half-square triangles, often abbreviated as HST.

How to Combine Quilting Fabrics: Let Go!

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

I wrote this post for Quiltmaker in 2015, and it is reposted here with permission.

I love teaching quilters. A day in the classroom with like-minded souls brings out the best in me. We learn, we laugh and we have fun.

I love teaching quilters. This was one of QM’s Block Party events.

But occasionally a student will say something that baffles me. It’s usually about combining quilt fabrics. Let me give you a little background.

The Accidental Quilt: Perfect for Playtime

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

You can use 10″ squares—precuts or cut-by-you from stash—to create an easy quilt while you learn about combining fabrics boldly. I discovered this recently by accident when I mis-cut for a project that turned into a dead end. Meet The Accidental Quilt.

It’s very simple, but you can make it interesting by combining fabrics in unexpected ways. It doesn’t take a lot of fabric or a lot of time. It can be a great charity quilt, a baby quilt or a dorm room quilt. Perfect for the car or the camper.