Many months back, I was tired and discouraged on a Friday afternoon. I had an attitude of “devil may care.”
In a fit of—what? Insanity? Kamikaze mindset? Utter foolishness? I remember thinking “what have I got to lose” as I sent off some quilt designs to Quiltmania, the beautifully produced French magazine for quilters around the world.
On that Monday morning I had an email response. They’d like to publish two of the designs. I did a happy dance!
I’m putting the finishing touches on a brand new class that is open to everyone and you’re invited!
Let’s turn your scraps into something amazing, happy and FUN!
I’m so excited about my newest class, The StarQuar Party for Quilters, part of my Scrap Quilt Secrets series.
I’ve barely scratched the surface of what is possible and I can’t wait to show you. Below is the start of LEMON ZEST, one idea I will share when you attend.
I did a Facebook Live about yellow for quilters this week and you can see it below.
I didn’t have time to answer all of the yellow questions that people left me so I’ll start to do that in this post.
Stash Bandit is celebrating with 10 days of giveaways and this is Day 2!
I recently finished piecing a throw-size version of a quilt called Maisy Daisy, which I ran across in a back issue of McCall’s Quilting. Its scrappy deliciousness called to me.
Then I made the exciting discovery that McCall’s put the pattern online at no charge, so if you like it, be sure to grab it here.
The quilt was designed by Maho Schwartz. I made just 12 blocks but the original has more. Totally up to you!
I hope you’ll join me to celebrate a milestone! Stash Bandit reached 10,000 Instagram followers on Sunday, Feb 14 and that calls for a party!
Let’s first talk about the launch of my complimentary series of classes: Scrap Quilt Secrets. Why am I giving away six hours of instruction on fabric, color and making dynamite scrap quilts? Here’s why:
I’m doing this series to give people a sense of my style and a taste of what I share during my trunk shows. And there’s another reason:
People are hungry to know how to use the fabric they already own to make beautiful scrap quilts. They want projects with cohesion rather than a messy jumble of chaos—and that’s what I will teach you.
You can sign up for one, any or all of the six one-hour sessions. I will give a presentation on a scrap quilt topic and then we’ll have discussion where you can ask questions or show me your fabric and get help.
The first session is Sunday, Feb 21 from 2 to 3 pm CST. It will happen on six consecutive Sundays: Feb 28, March 7, 14, 21 and 28. Sign up for one, any or all. Missing one won’t put you behind. Each one stands alone.
Starting Tuesday, Feb 16 we’ll have 10 days of giveaways with all sorts of great treasures!
There are books and bags and bling! Some of the giveaways will be here and some will be on Instagram. You can enter either or both; the giveaways will be for US addresses only. Find me on Instagram @stashbanditquilting.
If you subscribe to the blog, that’s the easiest way to be sure you never miss a thing.
I’ll also publish a new complimentary pattern this week for my easy, simple, modern design called Nights in White Satin.
I designed this quilt in EQ8 and I’ll start piecing it this week. Join with me if you want to! It would be a good time to get EQ8 for yourself or to learn how to use it. Lots of great info at The Electric Quilt Company.
But wait! There’s more! 🤣
For quilt guilds, I’m running booking specials this week.
I am giving a 15% discount on virtual lectures booked for any time in 2021 or 2022. And for the first three guilds that book a virtual lecture, I will send you a quilt which you can award to a member, donate or use as a fundraiser. This offer only applies to new contracts not already in place or in progress.
Offer ends March 31, 2021.
Thank you for your support over the first four years of my business adventure. I so appreciate it!
I’ve been playing with some scrap quilt ideas and there’s nothing I love more. The only problem is that one idea leads to another, and then to another and so on. I have started five new quilts in the past two weeks (ridiculous, I know).
All of this is in preparation for a new class I’m teaching on January 2 from 10 am to 1 pm CST:
This class is open to anyone, anywhere and will take place on Zoom. I’ve learned the ropes, had some successes and feel confident enough to do it now! Prepare for inspiration!
Included with the class will be a number of easy AMAZING quilt patterns suitable for scraps. You will want to have some fat quarters or yardage available as well, but the idea is that you’ll have many options for using up leftovers and making dynamic scrap quilts from the fabric you already own!
I will also share a bunch of my best tips, tricks and secrets to making a scrap quilt work. We will cover the ideas of value, contrast, scale, vibrance, mood, genre and more.
We’ll look at some quilts that do NOT work so that we can begin to understand what DOES work.
If you wish to be seen during class, you can turn your video on. But if you wish not to be seen, that is fine, too! My experience has been that people chat and laugh and enjoy being together during a virtual sewing session in much the same way they would in a live class. Turns out this is really enjoyable and FUN! Who knew?!
I’m using the new Zoom Beta platform called OnZoom, which I am really excited about. One of its limitations is that an OnZoom session can only be created 30 days before the event. This means that registration for Stash Busting Fun in 2021 will open around Dec. 3. I will publicize it on my social media and in my newsletter. Here are links to those:
Sign up for the newsletter (very occasional)
Check out my Instagram @stashbanditquilting
We’re going to have a great time and you’re going to leave inspired to sew up a ton of the fabric, kits and supplies you already paid for!
Keep on stitchin’,
This series will help to expand your color skills so you can make more beautiful, more interesting and more successful quilts.
A color-savvy quilter knows that she must expand her definition of what any particular color looks like.
Fire engine red
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.
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.
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:
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:
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!