Photography this week: First frosty morning of the year

I love frosty mornings.  They are my favourite winters day.  I love the colours of the sky,  the crisp ground underfoot and how the world seems to sparkle. 

Tutorial: Envelope pouches

Envelope pouches

These little pouches are made from a square of quilted fabric and look like a traditional envelope. They are quick and easy to make.

Equipment needed

• 1 square of quilted fabric.  This tutorial can be used for any sized square.
• A piece of fabric cut to the same size as the quilted fabric. Try and use fabric that matches the quilted cloth.
• A piece of velcro for the fastener
• Matching thread

Method

1.  Trim and square up the quilted fabric

2. Cut the fabric for the inside of the pouch to the same size as the square quilted cloth.

3. Iron the quilted top and inside fabric.  Make sure they are well pressed.

4. Put right sides together 

5. Sew around the edge of the square leaving an opening 

6. Turn the pocket the right way around.

7.  Poke out the corners with a knitting needle or end of a thin paintbrush

8. Iron flat 

9. Top stitich all around the edge.  Turn in the opening (below) and stitch together the opening.as you go around top stitching the edge.

10.  The finished square ready to make into a pouch

11. Stitch one side of the velcro to the right side of one corner.

12. Stitch the other side of the velcor to the oposite corner on the wrong side of the fabric.

13.  Turn the square over to the right side. Find the corner with the velcro on it. Fold in half the edge if the square with the velcro on it.

14.  Sew along folded edge

15. Fold the other edge in half 

16. Stitch along folded edge

Your pouch should look like this

N.B.  I have repositioned the velcro as this little quilt top wat slighly oblong.  If your quilt top is square the velcor will be on the corner.

17.  Turn the right way out and then iron flat.

18. Fold over the top and attatch the velcro together 

The finished pouch

The pouch inside.

n.b  I moved the velcro across slightly to compensate for a slighly more oblong piece od quilted fabric

Another envelope pouch

Another finished pouch

Hanging my wee little quilts

I have had many small quilts floating around in my studio for quite a while.  I have been at a loss to know how to hang them and how to stop them looking like pot holders. While I have researched many ways to hang them (read about this here) I felt crippled about trying to actually go with a method and do it.  

What if it didn't work?

What if I failed? 

What If I didn't like the finish?  

 Alyson Stanfield from Art biz blog has written

The only way to grow is to take what you’ve read/heard/seen and put it into action. When you do this, you find out how it applies to your specific situation.

I realised that having them just sititng there while I asked these questions wasn't getting me anywhere.  In fact I was going backwards because having them unfinished was stopping me starting new work. 

She also asks

What if you made art, grew an impressive inventory of work, and no one saw it? Would you be satisfied?

(Read the full article here)

What is the point of having all this wonderful work if it can't be hung or shown.  I would not be satisfied, in fact I would be quite dissapointed that it wasn't able to be viewed which is what art is for.  

I took the plunge.  I went with the idea given on Sewing with Nancy veiw it here and did my own little twist on it.  I have mounted and have ready to hang 16 small art quilts.

Here a small selection of them

A peek into my sketchbook