Welcome to Jo's Quilty Pleasures!

Hi there! I'm Jo, a relative newcomer to the quilting world. As I write this, it's September, 2009, and I took up quilting a scant 10 months ago, in November of last year. It was actually a way to combat a slight depression I was going through -- work was pure hell at the time, and when I got home from work every day, I noticed I was unable to shake off the black mood until later in the evening. Some nights I couldn't shake it off at all.

Once I started quilting, I noticed that "busy hands are happy hands" and time would just FLY while I was sewing, and I was in a good mood the entire time I was doing it. So I did it more often. And next thing you know, I had a couple of commissions and I was getting better and better. I taught myself using YouTube videos and online tutorials. In some ways, I'm self-taught, and the beauty of having no history with quilting is that I have no preconceived notions whatsoever about the craft. You can't tell me that I'm 'non-traditional' because I actually had no idea there was a traditional way of going about things in the first place.

I lucked into a website -- Bonnie Hunt's "Quiltville" and learned pretty much about scrap and crumb quilting from the beginning. This totally formed my style, as I don't waste much, I'm not at all scared of trying new things and I figure most mistakes are pretty easily covered up with a similar fabric or a wonky rework and restyling.

I learned MUCH better technique from Leah Day's "Day Style Designs" and although I do not aspire to that level of perfection, I am inspired daily by her ability to think outside the box and take things with a calm and level-headed approach.

I'm going to repost in this blog all the entries I wrote in my regular daily blog, but just isolate them here, as I know quilting blogs are popular among quilters, and I definitely want to share what I've learned over the months with other new quilters. You don't need to be afraid, and you sure as hell don't need to worry about 'tradition' around here. Just have fun. Enjoy the colours and don't be afraid to try new things.