Posts Tagged ‘make extraordinary scrap quilts’

From Craftsy to Bluprint to “It Was Good While It Lasted”

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

Yesterday, online learning platform Bluprint, formerly Craftsy, sent an email to instructors saying the company would be closing over the next few months. This was at once surprising and completely unsurprising.

When Craftsy began about 10 years ago (because a guy received a quilt from his aunt), the quilters I knew loved it. It provided something new in the form of online learning, and it was well done. You could interact with the instructors, get answers to your questions, post your progress and make friends with others in your classes. It was amazing.

It grew like wildfire but then a couple of years ago it was sold to NBCUniversal and gradually became Bluprint, which most people I know did not like so much.

I never bought anything from bluprint, but I had plenty of patterns and classes in my “own forever” library which moved over from Craftsy. “Own forever” was their terminology, but now I wonder. You can’t own something that’s only viewable on a website that has ceased to exist.

Yesterday I downloaded—actually re-downloaded is more accurate—all of the patterns I had purchased. But now I need to hurry up and watch all of the classes I’d purchased before they disappear forever. Can you say binge watching?!

I confess that there are some I have never opened. I can’t say why exactly because they’re all topics or techniques that interest me greatly. And the teachers are top-notch. I especially love Christina Cameli, Debbie Caffrey and Pepper Cory.

Christina Cameli on Bluprint

I’ll spend a lot of time watching classes before Bluprint shuts down. My hope is that the instructors can eventually own the content and share it with us however they choose. It’s really a sad day for them and for users around the world who once loved this platform.

In the studio, I’ve been tackling UFOs, starting new quilts and machine quilting on the HQ Capri.

I spent a couple of weeks piecing a Gypsy Wife. I started this several years back but the pattern was full of errors and I only pieced one block before I gave up.

It’s a really great design and it’s fun to make, but I recommend that you get the most recent version of the pattern, and also that you join the Facebook groups for Gypsy Wife. They have files with all the corrections, which are invaluable.

I started out thinking I’d go for a 1950s Denyse Schmidt look, kind of vintage. But then it took on a life of its own and it’s just very bright and wild.

Lately my goal has been to see how many different genres of fabrics I can use and successfully make them work together.

This quilt has batiks, 30s reproductions, shirtings, uglies, neon, modern and fabric from the 80s, 90s and every decade since.

There’s Tula Pink, Cherry House, Art Gallery, Michael Miller, Paintbox Studio and Moda.

There’s Jen Kingwell (who also designed Gypsy Wife), Kaffe Fassett, BasicGrey and Cotton + Steel.

Ta Dot! from Michael Miller, Flea Market Fancy by Denyse Schmidt, souvenir pineapples from my trip to Maui and tiny prints by Janine Vangool all found a home.

For a scrap quilt like this, I think less about color and more about contrast. Each fabric needs to contrast in some way with its neighbors. The scale or the value (darkness or lightness) or the style must be different in some way.

Color is almost irrelevant. My stash contains fabric that I like (mostly), so that means bright colors. Even though I don’t think about color, my quilts end up being brightly colored! The moral of this story is to buy fabric that you LOVE. Then use it in your quilts and you’ll love them, too.

Can I tell you a secret? I am highly annoyed when a fabric store employee asks me what I plan to do with the fabric I’m buying. I have to grit my teeth to keep from saying something nasty. I’m a quilter, so I’m going to use it in my quilts! When and where, exactly, is unknown, but that’s what makes it so much fun!

Now I’m off to watch allllllll the Craftsy classes I bought but never watched. It will take me a while.

Quilt on,

Improv Stars in Love Patchwork & Quilting

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

Most of the time when I have a design published, it’s because I pitched it to a magazine and they accepted it. But last year, a magazine in the UK came to me, which was very exciting. I have often purchased Love Patchwork & Quilting because quilters in other parts of the world sometimes have a different aesthetic, or at least a different viewpoint, and it’s a good way to expose yourself to their ideas.

Love Patchwork & Quilting Issue 85. Get a digital issue today! My quilt is inside. 😊

They had seen my Instagram and wondered if I would design a scrap quilt for an upcoming issue. They didn’t have to ask twice.

Scrap Quilt in Solids, Bad Intersections and Lessons Learned

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

I just finished a quilt top and now that it’s done I can say that I like it. But along the way, I hated this thing. Too much stitch-and-flip, too many ugly intersections and not nearly enough forgiveness for my style of sewing. None of this was the fault of the designer, Erika Bea, or the publisher of the pattern, American Patchwork & Quilting magazine. The blame lands squarely on me, and we’ll get to that in a minute.

It’s called Color Catcher, and it will look all right from the back of a galloping horse—which is a very old quilter’s mantra of unknown origin. I took a few lessons away from this project.

Have No Fear

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

I’ve been working on something totally outlandish and I have decided that the most important guideline for making art and doing original work in your quilting or any creative field is this:

Have No Fear

You can’t be afraid to make something that nobody else has ever made.

You can’t be afraid to make something ugly.

You can’t be afraid to waste fabric or time or effort.

You just can’t be afraid of anything.

I started out with a simple idea of making a few more samples for a class I’m teaching at Vermont Quilt Festival this summer. It’s all about improvisationally-pieced curves.

It was innocent enough as I began. Pull, cut, sew, press, audition. Repeat.

One key is to have enough contrast between the fabrics in each block. And you want them to do different things. Curvy looks good with straight lines, or geometric looks nice with floral. You want a bit of tension between them.

As soon as this went up for its audition, my heart skipped a beat. Remember that for any audition you always want to stand WAY back across the room. You don’t get a good perspective if you are too close.

I ask a lot of questions: What would happen if I put in a very bold and graphic fabric like the blue and white above?

What would happen if I started mixing up the pairs? Could I put a center patch in that hole above with a partial seam? (Answer, yes you could!)

I cut and sew and add more blocks. I stand across the room. I fret. I thrill.

A color story starts to emerge and the quilt seems to be pink, red, orange and yellow. Very analagous. I decide that I should add more blue and blue-green and also some very darks.

I learned long ago from Mary Mashuta and Roberta Horton that if something sticks out like a sore thumb, you should add more of it. That’s right! If it resides in more than one place, your eye will move around the quilt instead of going straight to that one place. It’s absolutely true.

It was around this time that I panicked and thought the whole thing was just too bizarre. I made two sets with this stripe and dot, above. Would I be smarter to just make blocks in one size with two fabrics each? Maybe that would be better. But honestly.

 

 

If you look at these two blocks side by side, which one is more interesting? I decide to

Stay the Course.

I make a few smaller blocks so that I can fill in awkward spaces as needed. After each finish, I walk across the studio for the best possible view. It does you no good to stand close by.

At one point I shoot a text to a good quilting friend.

Her response is measured.
But I carry on.

 

At some point you have to start thinking about how you’re going to sew it all together. I decide where I can add fillers and coping strips and I start to think about sections and partial seams.

I make decisions about repeating fabrics to help tie the whole mess together. I trim and skootch and trim some more. I hope to high heaven that it will lie flat.

After about three days, it comes together! Just below is the final version, 68″ x 83″. I had free time to spend and this is how I spent it. My husband did laundry and meals while I hunkered down and didn’t talk to him very much. He’s a very good sport!

When he came in to the studio and saw it on the design wall, he crossed his arms over his chest and thought. He wasn’t sure.

“That is really different.”

His answer did not bother me. And I think that is when I realized that for three days, I had been forging ahead without fear.

When fear crept in, I batted it down.

When it threatened to derail me, I swatted it away.

When I was tired of risking and wondering and deciding, I pressed on.

And that is exactly what you will need to do in order to make art, to create something original no matter what your medium is.

The payoff is that you will have something that has never been made before in all the history of humankind. Nor will it ever be made again. It is yours and yours alone.

Pretty great reward, if you ask me.

Have No Fear,

Playing Drezzup in Hastings, Nebraska

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

I had a delightful time with Hastings (Nebraska) Quilter’s Guild last night, presenting Let’s Play Drezzup to about 50 people. This program is in three parts:

  1. A hands-on experience to make, trim and join the Dresden blades. Everyone takes home her samples.
  2. A trunk show of blocks showing the endless variations possible with Dresden Plate.
  3. A sampling of new and old Dresden quilts with quirks, oddities and interesting details.

I have to rush to fit it all in one hour but it’s getting good feedback. Whenever I pull this trunk show out in preparation for a program, I get all excited about Dresden Plate again! I could spend the next five years on these quilts alone.

President’s Blocks, Part 3

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

Hello and welcome to Stash Bandit! I’m Diane Harris and it’s nice to have you here. 

I’ve been telling the story of some blocks I received in the late ’80s.

Read Part 1.

Read Part 2. 

 

 

 

 

This takes us up to The Rest of the Story, in the words of Paul Harvey.

When the quilt top was finished, I still had the other half of the Nine Patches left over. It seemed a shame to throw them away.

All of those fabrics had been cut into patches for me. The stitches had been taken for me. The blocks had been gifted to me. I just couldn’t pitch them.

I brainstormed for what to do. Making another quilt wasn’t sensible, but using them in this quilt was. I toyed with creating a border but decided to sew the halves together into wonky Nine Patches.

Only one of these has a signature. It belongs to Lorena, my renegade friend who had to sign one name in each white patch, of course. Two of her names are on the quilt front and two landed here, on what will become the back. (If you knew Lorena, you’re laughing.)

For the quilt back, I set the new wonky Nine Patches into columns with scrappy pink setting triangles and sewed the columns together. Lengths of two more pink prints went down each side to make it big enough. And now we are ready to quilt.

While this is no masterpiece, I had so much fun making it! It brought back memories of so many people and our happy times together. There’s even a block from one person whom I didn’t really care for, but I’m glad she’s on the quilt. Funny how time softens the edges.

These blocks have stayed with me for around 32 years as a UFO of sorts and as soon as the quilting is done, they’ll be an FO instead! What a victory! I guess it’s never too late.

In case you’re wondering, these are the names found on the quilt.

Kathleen Ernesti, Donna Rector, Ellen Boyle, Gloria Nelsen, Penny White, Velesta Halbur, Sandra Renli, Wilma Amen, BJS, Doris Volk, Joyce Pick, Shirley Anderson, Maxine Kraemaer, Sue Sindelar, Sandy Eckert, Inger Hansen, Lavonne Hornik, Mattie Niewohner, Daytime Friendship Quilters, Mary Goetsch, Lila Brown, Marilynn Heller, Julie Deering, Carol Monk, Elsie Acklie, Joan Waldman, Lorena Edna Marie Kouba, Peggy Haas, Genelle Trowbridge, Shirley Hassler. There’s an unsigned block from Sherry Stuifbergen. 

I can’t wait to reimagine another long-stored project, but right now I have my mind on Dresden Plate quilts. My next two programs will feature my Dresden collection and I want to have some new things to show. All of that upcoming. Until then, keep on scrappin’!

I’m a quilter who loves everything about the process and I enjoy sharing it with others. My energetic trunk shows are lively entertainment for your quilt guild. I’d love to come to your city so give me a call and Let’s Talk Quilts! 

President’s Blocks, Part 2

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

In case you missed Part 1, you’ll want to catch up by reading President’s Blocks, 32 Years Late. I have an idea for reinventing blocks I received from guild members more than 30 years ago.

The blocks are 9″ (give or take) Nine Patches in ’90s blues and muslin, with signatures in ink or embroidery. I have about 40. I’ve decided to create blocks like the one above by slicing the Nine Patches 1/4″ to the side of the diagonal center and joining them with a big red triangle.

President’s Blocks, 32 Years Late

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

I was president of a quilt guild in Norfolk, Nebraska for two years in the late ’80s. We were babies then—as women, as quilters and as a group. But we did figure out that it’s nice to do something for the president at the end of her term.

I’m not sure why I thought muslin and blue Nine Patches would be attractive, but that’s what I requested when the members offered to make me “President’s blocks.”