By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador I have started six new quilts in the past few weeks. Is it because I have finished all of my previous projects? Is it because I don't have a UFO to my name? No, it is not. Maybe it's that my studio is spotless, my stash is organized [...]
This is a question I love to ask people! Even if it's a quilter I have never met before, she (or he) is always happy to chat about a current project. It's the best ice breaker! Here are a few things I am working on. I finished all of the blocks for this Log Cabin [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador There are some traditional applique blocks that grab my attention and don't let go. The block I'm sharing today is one of those. I found it on Connecting Threads and it's called Bits of Blue and Gray. It was created by Debbie Beaves. Bits of Blue and Gray [...]
I first heard about machine quilting back in the late 80s from Harriet Hargrave. She was one of the pioneers of machine quilting, and she'd come to QuiltNebraska to share her techniques. I remember a lot of things from those lectures but the main thing I took away was that quilting could finally be fast. [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador I quilted another UFO and for the first time I do not feel like I totally messed it up. I think I have turned a corner. This is a crib-size quilt I made from two sets of UFO blocks. The flowers are from a pattern called Daisiez by [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador My current project is a sampler quilt called Halloween Figs from Joanna Figueroa at Fig Tree & Co. I'm making mine more scrappy than the original, which means there's a new decision at every turn. Yesterday I came to the point I always reach in a scrap quilt, [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador I've been making receiving blankets for my soon-to-arrive twin granddaughters, and one of my favorites has a 24" Economy quilt block as its center. Making this blanket used a lot of the skills I've honed over many years, so I thought it would be make a good series [...]
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 [...]
I've been working on a new Christmas quilt called Christmas Figs. I started with a fat quarter bundle of Moda by the same name, and then I added in more reds and greens from my stash. I cut the first few blocks before I went to a retreat in September. They looked a lot like [...]
I really love rickrack. I add it to quilts whenever I can. Just about any excuse to add rickrack works for me! I've had a hard time managing its application, though. Pinning never works. It just doesn't stay in place. Positioning it as you sew doesn't work because then it's hard to get it placed [...]
