Blog: Quilts - not just for sleeping under

Blog: Quilting is a very popular hobby in Canada. In Moose Jaw there are three quilting stores which sell everything you could possibly need.

I first visited one of the stores, Quilters Haven, back in November to write a story about a project called Hug Quilts.

When I walked in, I was amazed by the huge array of material on offer and also the beautiful quilts hanging all over the walls.

There was a group of busy ladies at the back of the store and the gentle hum of sewing machines.

The women meet every Tuesday to make quilts to donate to children and people who need them.

In nearly four years, the group has made more than 200 quilts.

The idea is that if someone has experienced a bereavement or perhaps lost possessions in a fire, the quilt will act as comforting hug.

Quilting caught my fancy and my New Year's resolution was to learn to sew.

A couple of Saturdays ago, Quilter's Haven ran a beginners quilting class and I jumped at the chance to sign up.

I'm not saying I learnt to sew in one fell swoop but I did make a table runner.

There were five of us taking the workshop with part-owner Heather Carruthers as our teacher.

We started by choosing our material. This was harder than expected as there was so much choice.

Heather said we would probably fall in love with a particular piece and then need to find other patterns to match.

She was right. The piece that drew my attention straight away was pale blue with a brown floral pattern.

I then picked blue floral and a brown and white piece. The material was in fat quarters, which gives a quilter more opportunity to cut larger chunks of fabric.

It was then time to get started. We needed to cut our fabric and make sure everything was straight and pressed.

I also tried to come to grips with the sewing machine. My biggest fear was running over a needle as I remember my textiles teacher at school always shouting 'who broke that needle?' when that horrible crunching sound inevitably occurred during the lesson.

We first made a nine patch block. The morning flew by and I couldn't believe it when lunch time arrived.

In the afternoon, I worked a bit faster as I had got more used to everything. I made a shoe fly block using triangles and a friendship star block. We then made strips to join the blocks together.

As we ran out of time to do the actual quilting and the binding, Heather very kindly kept her shop open for us on Monday evening to finish off and again the evening flew by. I was exhausted by the end though - who knew sewing required so much concentration?

While we were working away, several ladies came into the store and warned us quilting was very addictive and we wouldn't be able to stop once we got started.

I can certainly see why. I am so proud of making the table runner and I can see how just by making those three blocks you could go on to make a whole quilt.

I think I had better make sure I make another block soon so I don't forget all the things I have learnt. I will certainly be looking to take another class under Heather's careful guidance as I have a lot to learn and improve.

But at least it's a start into the wonderful world of fabric, sewing and quilting.