By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador I've been watching each new And I Quilt video with interest. In case you're not familiar, And I Quilt is an ongoing campaign from Handi Quilter in which quilters from all walks of life are introduced. There is a focus on the other interests each person has, and [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador The biggest challenge I face as a maker is knowing how to quilt the tops I finish. I can piece and applique 'til the cows come home and am never short of ideas. But put a newly finished quilt top in front me when it's time to secure [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador Earlier this month I blogged about my UFOs. In case you're not familiar with this term, it's how quilters describe their UnFinished Objects—projects begun but not finished. Most of us have them. I made this top as part of a staff challenge when I worked for a quilting [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador I'm at Handi Quilter in North Salt Lake, Utah this week for meetings, and there is inspiration all around me. Lonestar Burst and Beyond, from Kimberly Einmo's Lonestar Burst Workshop, quilted by Handi Quilter National Educator Patty Kerns In the past, my quilts have often been about the [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador UFO is quilt-speak for UnFinished Object. A UFO is a project you started but didn't complete, and most quilters have some. Occasionally I meet someone who can't bear the thought of anything unfinished, but that's the exception. This UFO is a machine appliqued block that never went any [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador I've been thinking about the evolution of quilt design. If you stop to consider it, people had to design their quilts even as America was born, and in other cultures, long before that. Star of BethlehemMaker Unidentified1850 - 1870Probably made in Maryland or OhioHand-pieced, hand-quilted; International Quilt Museum [...]
I am so excited for you to meet the next featured quilter in our And I Quilt campaign. She has a fascinating story and an interesting life. This is Dorian Keusseyan from Arlington, Massachusetts. She's an ice hockey player! Watch an intro video to learn more, and don't miss the special offer on the HQ [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador Earlier this month I visited Massachusetts and New Hampshire to do programs for two quilt guilds there. I had a free day between them and my hostess sweetly offered to take me wherever I wanted to go. I opted for the textile mills in Lowell, Mass, and I [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador Last week it was my pleasure to speak at two quilt guilds in New England. Hannah Dustin Quilt Guild meets in Hudson, New Hampshire. It's named after the colonial woman who was captured during an Indian raid, and escaped from her captors by killing them in the night [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador A while back I started browsing antique quilts on eBay. For me this is the best kind of window shopping! I'm regularly gobsmacked by the ingenuity of quilt makers from centuries past. I don't need to own these quilts, which are often in poor condition. I can be [...]
