OMQG - Quilt Bee 2014/15 - February- Stamp Collection

For this month's bee, I got to try something I find a little bit difficult, going scrappy!

Katrina for whom we made the block this week wanted a scrappy version, no holds barred. She directed to use a tutorial by Oh,Fransson! but to only make the block 6 x 6 squares.

It took me way longer to pick and place the fabrics than to sew it. It's really easy to sew. However, the directions to cut the interfacing with scissors in order to open up the seam allowances takes a while. I had done a similar technique before and just used my ruler to trim the edge as skinny as possible, which was much faster. If I were to do this again, I would use the ruler technique.

I hope Katrina will enjoy her block!

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Linked up with Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts

Doodle Time (2)

Here is your next doodle page! It's a simple design, but I imagine it would be quite a bit of work, because the way I see it, it would take a lot of half square triangles to make.

Then again with the Magic 8 half square triangle method, I guess it could we done much quicker than the traditional way.

Have you doodled lately?

Retro Geek Zippered Pouch

I signed up for a zippered pouch swap, after never  having sewn a proper zipper before, what was I thinking?

Thankfully, after a little bit of research, reading some tips and tricks and tutorials, I was ready to give it a try. However, I did not want to take the risk of ruining my swap mates' pouch, so I made one for practice first. I used this tutorial from Anna over at Noodlehead since I loved the promise of a pouch that opens very wide so that you can see everything that is inside.

I found the tutorial very easy to follow, and my pouch turned out great, even though I accidentally squared the bottom using the measurement for the small pouch instead of for the large one. Note to self... do not sew pouches past midnight!

There is only one part that gave me a little bit of trouble, but I blame that completely on my lack of knowledge on how much room a zipper takes. On the side where the zipper sticks out, I hadn't stopped sewing far enough from the edge so I had to undo some stitches and re-stitch a part of the bag by hand. I still think it looks great though!

I love that I was able to add some details in the stitching on the bottom by varying my quilting, and adding the tab at the end of the zipper ended  up being another cute bonus. Now I just have to find something to store in it!

This pouch finished at about 9 inched tall by 8 inches wide and 3.5 inches deep. It's taller than Anna's version because of the error I made in measurements.

I can't show you the pouch I made for my swap mate yet, but I'll provide pictures next week after I've given it to her. I can't wait and hope she likes it!

If you had a lovely zippered pouch, what would you put inside?

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Linking up with Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts and Quiltstory

Doodle Time

The other day, my husband and I were finally unpacking some boxes in our basement that had been sitting around since we moved into our new house a year and a half ago.

Low and behold, I came across an old graph paper spiral book with Winnie the Pooh. Can you guess what treasure I found inside? Being a quilter, I'm sure you don't even have to try hard!

What I found reminded me of when I first laid eyes on quilting, or at least, the first time I remember. I'm not sure how old I was, but it was somewhere around my tween years. I was waiting around at the arena and saw a woman, wearing a jacket that SHE had made! (Of course I didn't find that out by eavesdropping!) It was all small squares sewn together, and brown, not a color that I was fond of. However, it had all of these little squares, and there were all different patterns that played together as though they were a ton of little facets reflecting sunlight... it wasn't shiny at all... it was absolutely breathtaking!

Unfortunately, I didn't have anyone close to me to really teach me to sew. So my love of symmetry and patterns didn't get to play with beautiful fabrics. Besides, this was before the age on Internet shopping. If you are from a small town like me, with one small hobby shop, you will know my despair. I don't even recall seeing fabric there, just a lot of wool, and I didn't have money yet except for my measly allowance. From then on, every time I would see anything that looked like a quilt, I was taken by it, but never did anything about it. I didn't know there was anything I could do. Sure, I found some fabric somewhere (I don't know where, maybe it was at that hobby shop) and made little heart shaped cushions with boys names embroidered on them... all by hand (oh the silliness!)... but quilting was beyond me.

So for years, I doodled, and doodled... I am still a doodler. It's unfortunate that I threw out so many drawings, but this book managed to escape. There are 48 pages of doodles in that book. From glancing at them, you will understand that I was destined to become a quilter. It's only unfortunate that it didn't happen until I reached my 30's. All that wasted time!

 

Those doodles I'll share with you on a regular basis, but not all of them since I want to keep a few of the cool ones in my pocket as they may make great patterns someday if I ever decide to venture that way.

I will give them their own page (eventually), so feel free to print them and color them anytime you need your own doodle-time.

So now it's your turn... how did you discover quilting?