MEET ELISABETH WOO

A few weeks ago on Instragram Latifah Saafir (of The Quilt Engineer) posted a hashtag asking people to nominate 3 quilters who inspire them. It was the most brilliant hashtag response I have ever seen. (But more about that later in the month!)

Going through the hashtag and seeing all the quilters nominated was so much fun and it lead me to find a whole lot of new people to follow and share in their work. One of these people was the lovely and extremely talented Elisabeth Woo (of Woozy Quilts).

I went through a (stalk) scroll of her Instagram feed and just feel in love. I loved her playful approach to using fabrics to add a touch of whimsy to her quilt blocks. I loved how she embraced colour and I just adored that she has fun. It was an instant follow.

Today I am very thrilled to be sharing Elisabeth and her work with you all. Please, click the links and go have a look at the details in her quilts and blocks – you won’t be sorry!

1. How did you come to be a quilter/sewer?

I grew up sewing on my mom’s Featherweight. For a long time I thought everyone knew how to sew, and they all worked on Featherweights! One day I saw some quilt blocks that my Aunt had made. I told my mom I wanted to do that when I got older, but my mom told me quilting was really hard! (She’d tried her hand at it and really didn’t enjoy the process). Then, in 2010, The Purl Bee did a monthly mini quilt series. That was it, I bought 1.5 yards each of about 30 prints and went to work on a queen sized quilt. The rest is history!

2. What is it that you love about being a quilter/sewer?

I love the control I feel when sewing. No matter what is going on in my life, my machine will always listen to me. I also love that with fabric I can make an idea in my head translate as nicely as I imagined it!

3. What do you look for when buying fabric to use for fussy cutting?

I’m addicted to fabric. I look for color variety and small motifs. If a print is too large, I generally pass. (Unless it’s perfect, then I buy it for my stash… because you can’t very well pass on perfect!)

4. What’s your favourite fussy cutting tool?

A bright light. I love working with templates, and holding the template to the fabric and up to the light so I can see where the image will be when I cut.

5. What are your favourite 3 fussy cutting projects that you’ve either completed or are works in progress?

My farm is my #1 favorite. (You can check out Elisabeth’s Farmer’s Wife Quilt by clicking this link.)

The Marcelle Medallion is my #2 (You can check out Elisabeth’s Marcelle Medallion Quilt by clicking this link.)

I have some Fussy Cut Dresden Plate blocks that I’m still working on. Even though I’ve let them sit for a while, they’re still one of my favourite things I’ve made.

6. Which fussy cutter(s) inspire you?

My co-worker and buddy, Nichole is pretty neat (@catwithfins). She is super modest about how amazingly talented she is.

7. What are you most proud of from your quilting/sewing journey?

Finally getting up the confidence in my free motion quilting skills on my home machine to quilt a queen sized quilt. It was one of the first that I’d started, and I always planned to send it out to a longarmer because of the size, but in the end, I did it all by myself!

8. What’s the one piece of advice about fussy cutting that all new fussy cutters should know?

Always, always, ALWAYS double check before you cut. Fussy cutting wastes a lot of fabric, so strategic layout is everything.

9. What quilting/sewing challenges would you like to conquer in the next 12 months?

I am working on a double wedding ring, and once I finish it, I want to make another one, but that’s more my style. I also really want to find another sampler quilt to tackle. I loved the process of working through the farm.

10. If you weren’t a fussy cutter, what other creative endeavour would you like to master?

I would probably be trying to figure out knitting, but I love quilting so much, I think I’ll always come back to it. Quilting feels like home.

Is there anything else that you would like to share with my readers?

Quilting is all about fun and relaxing! If a project is stressing you out, walk away from it before you start hating it. Don’t force the fabrics, if you’re not feeling it, your gut is probably reminding you that you actually have the perfect fabric buried in your stash somewhere and you should start digging for it.

A Bit of Fun

If you could only have one or the other for the rest of eternity what would you choose?

You can just choose a word, or choose to elaborate on your choice, it’s just a little bit of fun.

1. Fabric: Solid or Pattern?

Pattern.

2. Quilt Styles: Pattern or Improv?

Pattern. Pattern. Pattern.

3. Seams: Open or to the Side?

To the side.

4. Stitching: Hand or Machine?

Machine.

5. Binding: Hand or Machine?

… hand… *sigh* I love machine binding. It’s so fast and easy. But the look of hand binding is so beautiful. I’ll hand bind my favorites for the rest of forever.

6. Food: Sweet or Savoury?

Sweet.

7. Entertainment: Books or Music?

Music

8. Entertainment: Television or Movies?

Movies

9. Computer: Mac or Windows?

Mac for home, PC for work.

10. Drink: Coke or Pepsi?

Coke. Except I’m not drinking soda right now!

You can find Elisabeth at her blog Woozy Quilts or on Instagram at @elisabew.

If you’ve been inspired by Elisabeth’s amazing work to do some fussy cutting of your own don’t forget that The Fussy Cutters Club Link Party will be happening this Friday. If you’d like to read more about what a link party is and how to be party of it, read this post.