The process of re-entry

Written by Diane Harris on May 12, 2023. Posted in Blog, How-tos and Ideas, Inspiration, Quilt Lifestyle

I’ve been gone a lot over the past few months.

So many nights away—some for business, some for personal.

Now that I’m home, I have to do what I call re-entry. Re-entry happens when I have no idea where to begin. It helps me to reconnect with various parts of my life. It’s a jump start. If I don’t practice re-entry, I’ll continue to feel overwhelmed and lost. Am I making any sense? Does this happen to you, too?

Re-entry: Kitchen

One of the obvious places to begin is the kitchen.

We have to eat. I practiced re-entry by making a big pot of vegetable soup. It’s delicious!

I feel connected to my kitchen again. I have a sense of what’s in the fridge and I’ve started a grocery list.

Re-entry: Husband

I’ve made time for him: catching up over coffee on local news, the farm, the projects in our yard. I’ve held his hand and rubbed his neck. He feels grounded again.

Re-Entry: Laundry

I unpacked one suitcase.

I’m unpacking the second and I’ve started the laundry. Tomorrow I’ll have choices about what to wear because everything will be clean. Done and done.

Re-Entry: Email

I’ve trashed a few dozen junk emails and flagged others as important.

I responded to the most critical messages and made notes about the ones that can wait.

Re-Entry: To-do list

I’ve started a new to-do list and am working my way through. I don’t separate work from personal because it all needs attention. I cross things off with a sense of jubilation. It’s silly but it lifts my spirits.

Re-Entry: Studio

This is the hardest one. I have dozens of WIPs.

I have a deadline quilt to bind and six new ideas to test. I’ve submitted ideas to publishers and if any of those are picked up, they’ll have to be created pronto. My desk is piled high with contracts, bills, sticky notes of stuff.

I started by sewing blocks and setting squares together while I listened to something and it got me going. Now I’m binding the deadline quilt because it must be shipped to France next week. I can’t wait for you to see it!

Re-entry is necessary and difficult.

It always takes me a few days to figure out where I am and what needs to happen next.

But soon I’ll be all settled in for summer, ready for the next wave of creativity.

Bring it on!

Keep quilting,

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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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The Joy of Beginners

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

I taught a small group of beginning quiltmakers recently. Oh what fun!

I came up with a new design that I hoped would teach a variety of skills without being too difficult while still being attractive. I wanted something that would lend itself to whatever color scheme a beginner could imagine.

My first idea was this nine block quilt with two kinds of stars. But I was teaching this at Mangelsen’s in Omaha and we only had two sessions on the calendar—one full day and one half day, with a couple of weeks for sewing at home in between.

As I developed the class, I thought maybe a quilt of this size might overwhelm some beginners, so I designed a smaller option with just four blocks.

You don’t know exactly how a class will go until you teach it for the first time. As it turned out, some people chose the small quilt but several wanted a bigger project. I was so glad I had both available.

This simple block is a good one for beginners. It forces them to test and adjust the seam allowance. If they’re off by 1/8″ on each seam, the block will be 5/8″ too small in one direction. People are surprised by how skinny (“scant”) the seam allowance needs to be.

A red, white and blue quilt wouldn’t appeal to everyone,

so I presented an alternate coloring. People embraced the idea and some beautiful color schemes emerged in class.

Friendship Star seemed like a good block for beginners to learn half-square triangles and the basic idea of sewing patches into rows before sewing the rows together.

I also decided to give them a taste of improvisational patchwork with an easy wonky star block. The results were fascinating, as students did this work at home after trying it quickly in class.

I loved Rita’s wonky star, above. You need only to suggest a shape, and a viewer’s eye will fill in the rest. Even though all of her points are not pointed, the star is still evident. Our minds fill in whatever is missing.

Dorothy had different star points on her wonky creation. Hers are very small and that’s just fine, too. Our eyes still know it’s a star.

Everyone got pretty far on their projects and I was really pleased with how well they did.

They were really brave to try walking foot quilting in class. We used gently waving lines as our starting point.

Deb has experience as a quilter so she quilted straight lines using painter’s tape to guide her. Aren’t her colors pretty?

Ann is not a beginner but she came with her daughter Denise, who is. Ann’s patriotic quilt is a little larger so she can use it as a throw at home. She made 12 blocks and I love how she moved the values around for different effects.

Denise made really brave choices all along the way, and I think her results are wonderful. This is a happy quilt!

You can imagine how much fun it is for a teacher to introduce students to the joy of making quilts. And when it’s for the first time, my gosh, it doesn’t get much better than that!

If you’re local, I think we will put Learn to Quilt on the schedule at Mangelsen’s again in the fall. If you’re from anywhere else in the world and you’d like a beginning class online, please let me know in the comments. I’d be happy to consider doing a workshop on Zoom.

Quilt on,

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The Joy is Back

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

I went through a rough patch the last half of last year and I struggled to create. But things are looking up and my sewing machine is humming again.

I fell in love with the cleverness of this design by Jo at Thimbles & Needles in Sydney, Australia. The offset quality is eye catching, and I thought my bright fabrics would look great in her quilt design. I bought the pattern from Jo’s website and let’s just take a moment to marvel that we can do that! Aren’t you glad for technology? I sure am.

I want to insert an editorial here. Couldn’t I have tried to figure it out myself without buying the pattern? Well yes, I probably could have. But I bought the pattern because I know how much work goes into pattern development and I wanted to support another creative person. And I’ve learned that many times, there’s bonus info in the pattern like tips, fabric guidance or a handy way of organizing the process. Well worth the money.

That sewing was really enjoyable: simple piecing that looks super interesting. What’s not to love? I still have a few rows to go but it will happen soon, I promise.

I jumped at the chance for a simple sew-along with Plains and Pine last week.

The Wild Star is a simply pieced traditional Lone Star but with Lindlee’s modern twist, I was smitten. And she writes terrific instructions so I knew I could succeed.

I decided it might be fun to work from light to dark on each star section. I pulled from my scrap bin and only had to raid the stash a couple of times for a missing value.

I had to decide what colors I wanted to use because there’s not a neat division of eight on the color wheel. There are three primary colors and three secondary colors, but I needed two more. I turned red-orange-yellow into four sections, and added teal in between blue and green.

I didn’t like all the light points in, but I didn’t like them on the outside either. I auditioned a bunch of grays for the background because I wanted to give some relief from the colors. I think too much color can be overwhelming. It’s like your eye needs a palate cleanser, so to speak.

This is where I landed: the light and dark points alternate in and out, and the polka dots might not be everyone’s choice but I like them.

I’ve learned to trust my gut. Even if I know that something is out in left field, I will just do it. It’s only fabric, and if it doesn’t work, I will learn something. We don’t need to fear making something ugly. It is totally okay.

My setting triangles must have stretched a bit because I had to trim quite a bit to make it square. And yes, I did cut off the tips of some points. The world will go on.

It’s still not really flat but hey, THAT WILL QUILT OUT.

I added a little border to float it in that sea of polka dots.

I’m auditioning lots of things but I’m not sure what will come next. Sometimes you need to let things marinate. I’ll make another one of these because I love the colors in Lindlee’s quilt:

Isn’t it wonderful? You can grab the complimentary pattern by signing up for the Plains and Pine newsletter (click here).

I have more to share but that’s enough for one post. I hope you’re having a great week!

Quilt on,

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The Creative Mind

Written by Diane Harris on December 20, 2022. Posted in Blog, How-tos and Ideas, Inspiration, Quilt Lifestyle

For better or worse, I am right-brained.

Most of the time I am grateful for it. Being right-brained generally suggests you’re creative, artistic and imaginative. These are good qualities for a quilter!

For me, being right-brained also means that I’m not analytical or methodical. I don’t think in a straight line—I think in circles. Today has been a day where my brain full of ideas, plans and possibilities has nearly derailed me. The long and the short of it is this: I booked a flight to Seattle for Christmas, and I got the day wrong.

When I went to check in at 6:30 this morning for tomorrow’s 6:30 flight, I did a double take. The flight was TODAY.

Let me cut to the chase and tell you that eventually I was able to get on tomorrow’s flights and it turned out all right. But for a few hours, I was really sweating.

I keep asking myself, “How did this happen?!”

There are a couple of possibilities and it was probably the perfect storm of these factors:

• Stress
• One new carrier in Kearney
• One change of plans
• One missed email
• Two family members who thought I was flying on Tuesday but didn’t ask

In the end it will cost me between four and eight hundred dollars for this mistake. That’s painful. But I’m also incredibly grateful that I was able to rebook and that my husband was ever so nice about my error. (He is staying here to host his daughter and her family over the long weekend.) It probably helped that today is our wedding anniversary.

I’ll leave you with some Christmas quilt images. I can’t get enough of sewing for Christmas!

I was going to make Christmas pillowcases for my grandchildren but I ran out of time. The idea will keep until next year.

We are expecting extreme winter weather Wednesday night into Thursday. The temps will be frigid and the winds will howl.

Wherever you are, stay safe and warm.

And double check your tickets.

Quilt on,

P.S. On a related note, I think your creativity is directly tied to how many times a day you lose your phone. Who’s with me?

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Three Wise Men and One Quilter

Written by Diane Harris on December 15, 2022. Posted in Blog, How-tos and Ideas, Inspiration, Quilt Lifestyle

Today’s post falls under true confessions.

I’m a thrifter. I like garage sales and flea markets and thrift stores. I visit them when I travel and here at home. I adore a good bargain and I love a treasure hunt. (That’s not the confession.)

When I visited my daughter in Seattle recently, I headed to the Goodwill one rainy afternoon. And just about the first thing I spied was a set of three giant wise men by Jim Shore.

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Best Books for Scrappy Quilts

Written by Diane Harris on December 12, 2022. Posted in Blog, How-tos and Ideas, Inspiration, Quilt Lifestyle

I have a lovely surprise for you today!

Martingale is one of the leading book publishers in our industry and they’re having a BIG sale. Many books are priced at just $8. This includes titles released very recently, and this price is way below the wholesale price for books. Depending on the original price of a book, sometimes it’s more than 70% off.

Here are my recommendations for the best books featuring scrappy quilts. I’ve learned a lot by studying scrappy quilts made by others and I think you could, too.

Where else can you get 44 scrap quilt patterns for $10? This is an absolute steal. Find it here.

I love LOVE the quilts in this book: Fresh Start Quilts. This title comes from the Iowa gals Mary Etherington and Connie Tesene collectively known as Country Threads.

Isn’t that cover quilt just beautiful?! The book is on sale for $8, down from $26.99. Find it here.

Kim Brackett has written most of my all-time favorite scrappy quilt books, and her latest one ranks up with the rest.

Scrap-Basket Knockouts delivers a punch and I wonder how Kim keeps a full-time day job AND continues to put out these dynamite designs. She’s my scrap quilt idol. Find the book for just $8 here.

A couple of others that are well worth owning at any price are 99 Machine Quilting Designs by Christa Watson…which is $8 on sale.

And Feed Sacks by Linzee Kull McCray—so many wonderful pictures and a wealth of information if you like historical fabrics as I do.

I’ve only had my copy for a few months but it’s dog-eared already! Marked down to $8 from $29.99. Get it here.

You should know that these are not affiliate links and I’m not making money off your purchases. I just think it’s a great opportunity to get some helpful resources on scrappy quilts and other topics. See the entire sale right here: ShopMartingale.com

Quilt on,

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Christmas Cheer in QUILTS!

Written by Diane Harris on December 9, 2022. Posted in Blog, How-tos and Ideas, Quilt Lifestyle, Trunk Shows

Would you like to enjoy some holiday quilts?

Could you use an hour to yourself? Let me wash your Christmas cares away with the

JINGLE BELLS TRUNK SHOW on Zoom.

Wednesday, Dec 14, 2022, 7 pm Central

The trunk show will be recorded so that if you can’t attend live, you may watch it later at your convenience for up to a week.

Tickets are $20 right here. Get yours now!

There are all kinds of quilts to see. Quick and easy quilts, more challenging quilts, and quite a few in between.

There are wonky quilts and traditional quilts. Big quilts and small quilts.

There’s a little something for everyone. You’ll get a sneak peek of upcoming holiday quilts, too. You’ll have a front row seat because that’s how Zoom works. Everyone sees everything perfectly. It’s a wonderful invention and I consider it the silver lining of the pandemic.

Tickets are $20 and they’re worth every penny.

Get your ticket now!

I can’t wait to see you!

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Open to all: Jingle Bells Trunk Show

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

Let’s Zoom: Thurs eve Dec 1, Christmas quilts galore!

I’m really excited to be sharing the Jingle Bells Trunk Show on Zoom. Lots and lots of Christmas quilts for you to just sit back and enjoy from the comfort of home. This presentation is open to all and tickets are on sale now.

Everyone has a front row seat and there are plenty of detail shots. Since I sew mostly scrappy quilts, I’ll share my ideas about what makes each quilt work (or sometimes not work). If you enjoy scrap quilts, there will be some great takeaways.

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