By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador Make a block with me?! I made a great big Economy quilt block as the centerpiece for a receiving blanket this week. In doing so I realized that it would make a great practice piece for quilters. It also has strong potential as a scrap quilt, and who [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador For the past several years, my friend Beth Helfter of EvaPaige Quilt Designs has hosted the Teal Mini Swap. Beth lost her mom to ovarian cancer much too soon, and this quilt swap raises funds for research into this disease. I've taken part in the Teal Mini Swap [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador When I started quilting 35 years ago, it was recommended (by whom I can't recall) that people prewash their fabrics before making a quilt. So I did. When I came home with a fabric purchase, I dutifully clipped off a corner as instructed by the Quilting Gods and [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador I'm continuing to get ready for the arrival of my twin granddaughters in Hong Kong sometime soon. A few weeks back, I wrote about making blankets for newborns. This week I tried something a little different. I've had sample swatches of 100% cotton voile for ages. Several fabric [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador I'm working on new class samples for a Pine Burr class I'm teaching in the fall, and I had several pieces I wanted to applique to a textured background. I've had consistently good performance on the HQ Stitch 710 for machine quilting, so that's where I turned again. [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador Last week I spent a few days in Kansas for the Kansas City Regional Quilt Festival in Overland Park. These days I take classes for just two reasons. To observe the approach of a well-known teacherTo get inside an artist's head I no longer take classes for something [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador These little stars are so easy and so much fun to make. I get into my scrap bin and cut the patches regularly so that I can make them whenever I have a few minutes. This block finishes at 4" when sewn into a quilt. It will be [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador You may have heard about improvisational quilting, or improv for short. This kind of freeform construction is fun and easy, and it keeps piecing interesting because every block is a new adventure. You don't know exactly how it will look until it's sewn together. Improvisational star I think [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador There's a lot of eye candy in the world of fabric these days. I love stopping by a quilt store and seeing new collections beautifully displayed together. When I make a quilt, however, I've found that a single fabric collection is not what I prefer to use. I [...]
Use Quilt Batting More Efficiently By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador When I first heard about a product called Heat Press Batting Together, I wasn't sure it would be worth the trouble. But I have changed my mind, and now my battings are often made from leftover strips and odd-shaped chunks. It's common to [...]
