babble

I was introduced into the local quilting community and let me just tell you I loved every second of it!  Not only did the lady at the shop give a very unexpected compliment but she took me by the hand and made me feel at home.  Don't get me wrong, I'm still totally cheesing over her asking if I designed clothing (in my head that means I dress nice and look pretty ... is that just me?) but the clapping and jumping she did when I responded that I actually quilt was so much more awesome.  Of course the fact that I quilt by hand almost caused her to say "bless your heart" but instead she decided to give me a complete tour of the quilting studio where I not only got to see beautiful quilts up close but I also got to see the long arm machines.  For those of you not in the quilting world long arm machines are the ones used to do very detailed machine quilting. Sew N Quilt Studio offers not only classes to learn how to make bags and other crafts but they also give lessons on how to use their long arm machines as well as rent out time for them.  They do offer more things than that but those got me the most excited!  Somehow an hour passed and my simple trip to drop off my machine to be cleaned turned into a renewal of passion ... not that I was lacking by any means.

Sometimes the mood to embroider just hits me out of no where.  Sometimes I will be sitting for hours sewing, not having a clue to how much time has passed only to look down and notice that my "ashtray" is overflowing with embroidery floss.  That happened recently as I decided to get started on my holiday crafting.  Why yes on top of my trying to get a business started I am also crafting for family which means I cannot post any of that stuff until well after the items have been given.  No bueno but hey that's just how it is.  At least all of the things I've made last year and the year before can be seen so you guys know I actually do stuff despite not being able to show any of my current holiday projects.  Thankfully my nieces are too young to care about blogs let alone read my blog so when I get started on their quilts in the very near future there will be something of worth to post ... totally not dirty ashtray quality. (PS I don't smoke in my home nor near my crafts)  Seriously, I washed the fabric for the quilts last night so you guys should expect posts in the near future of my up and coming craft projects!

Yesterday I began the process of setting up my own Etsy page.  Hopefully I will soon be able to post some things for sale on there and once I do I will be sure to post the link right here in this space to give you guys an idea of what all I can do.  Researching Etsy has pretty much been overwhelming, I will admit, because prices vary so much on pretty much the exact same items.  A baby quilt 40x50 all HSTs machine pieced and quilted $400 or you could get the same size quilt with WAY more detailed piecing on the front for $175.  Granted I know the name of the one who posted the $400 quilt and have been following their blog for a year now but still ... why the huge difference in expense?  I know how much quilts cost to make, how much fabric is used, how much time they take, and the skill needed to sew a straight line and yet $400 seems pricey for a baby quilt.  The baby quilt-a-thon I did last year took a total of 19 hours to complete it, that includes shopping for fabric, and I spent a total of $30 on fabric and batting ... if I had sold that quilt for $400 that would have been basically me making $19/hour of work.  To me that really is way over priced, especially when I know machine quilting is less time consuming than hand quilting and I don't even make $19/hour at my full time office job.  But that is Etsy, we are allowed to set our own prices and I don't doubt that someone out there will pay that much for a simple baby quilt but I do know I'm going to try to make my prices a little more affordable.  I mean when the Amish sale their baby quilts for $240 and I know those are 100% made by hands it is hard not to view $400 quilts as overpriced. (this is not how you make friends in the quilting world, snarking, I know but fairness is higher on the importance list than making friends at least to me.)