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Tag Archives: quilted projects

Oh, I would definitely buy one if you just…

14 Monday Dec 2015

Posted by quiltedlibrarian in art fair, arts and crafts, Christmas fair, craft fair, fabric projects, selling your arts and crafts

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Tags

art fairs, business card holders, Christmas fairs, Christmas ornaments, quilted projects, wrist warmers

I was a vendor at two different Christmas art fairs the past two weekends. And, I have to say, I exceeded my expectations about how much I would sell at both. The big sales were few, but I was right to think I’d sell a bunch of the small stuff. Card holders were the biggest seller at both events. I was suggesting them for gift cards, credit cards and ID, in addition to the traditional business card holder. I was surprised by a couple of people who bought them: one specifically wanted “the most traditional Christmas looking” one to hold his business cards, so he would feel the spirit during the season; another wanted a nice wintery one to hold her loyalty cards for all the stores she shops at. Okay then, more ways for me to promote them! Handful of card holders

The biggest seller I had last year, the wrist warmers, barely sold. I was ready for the kind of sales I had last year, and had a BUNCH of them made and ready to go, and sold… 4 pairs total between the two events. Here’s where I take pause, and wonder if the really warm weather lately affected sales this year (I mean, it WAS almost 70 yesterday!), or if they just aren’t as sellable as they were before. One person who bought a pair exclaimed, “these are perfect texting gloves!” Okay, another way to promote them! So I’ll hold on to them and try again next year and see how it goes. Photo of fleece wrist warmers in a half circle.

Ornaments were big at the first event, but not at the second. I had three different kinds – pinwheels, quilted, and folded fabric – and all three had fans. Some of the people who had purchased ornaments at the first one also attended the second, so I can’t expect them to buy ornaments again. But there is a market for them and I have to make sure I have plenty available for next year’s events. Maybe I’ll even add another variety to the mix.Fabric Christmas ornaments

Some of the things I sold at the first event were things I had made a while ago as a sample project and just wanted to get rid of them. Which tells me it’s always a good thing to bring those along, you never know what will appeal to people!

But then there were the people who would be looking at a particular item, a lot, and then put it down saying, “you know, I’d totally buy that if it just…” Had cats on it, was purple, was smaller, was bigger, had a zipper, had a key ring loop on it, included a velcro tab, was cheaper, etc. I’m sure every crafter/vendor has heard a variety of these comments. And every crafter/vendor has had to decide how seriously to take the comments. Sometimes the comment is a common sense thing, and I agree with the person and say I’ll work on it for next year. Other times, I politely thank them. It might not be something I can do (I don’t think I charge enough for some of my items as it is; the balance between what something is worth in your time and what you can sell it for is a difficult one for anyone who makes and sells things). It might not be something I want to do (I’m not making a lot of things or money, here, so is it worth my time to do for only a possible sale?).

The ideas I liked, I wrote down on the notepad where I was also recording sales. This way I can keep track of the other things I want to do. For instance, it was made really clear to me that the people attending the second event were majorly into domestic animals: the question “do you have this with cats (or dogs)?” was frequently asked. One person assumed the proceeds from the vendors all went to one of the local pet shelters. (No.) So I’m already buying more cat and dog fabric for next year at that event.

Other ideas? Not so much. I’ll just continue to politely thank them for the idea.  And I’ll continue to try to learn more from each vending experience I have, because I never know which idea will be valuable in the future!

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Christkindlmarkt is Coming, and I’m Not Ready!

22 Sunday Nov 2015

Posted by quiltedlibrarian in craft fair, selling your arts and crafts

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business card holders, Christkindlmarkt, Christmas stockings, fabric projects, purses, quilted projects, table runner, wrist warmers

The resounding silence on this site is due to one major factor: I have an art/craft fair to get ready for. The Christkindlmarkt show in Pottsville is one of the biggest art fairs of the year in town, a two-day event in the fabulously-decorated Yuengling Mansion that is the home of the Schuylkill County Council for the Arts. (Yes, that is Yuengling, as in the beer company. The family gave one of the family homes to the community to house the arts. How cool is that?)  I had a few items at last year’s Christkindlmarkt, sharing space with my husband and his books, DVDs, etc. from his Mazz Press line, but not much because of my hand injury last August. This year I’m trying to do much better!

Last year, the only thing I could make a lot of were wrist warmers. I have really long arms, and my sleeves tend to ride up and make my wrists really cold in the winter time. So I tried making some fingerless gloves out of fleece. Loved them, so made a few more. They were a hit! And I’ve already had someone ask if I’d have them there this year, so I’ve been trying to make as many as I can, in lots of colors. Here are a few I’ve finished so far:

Photo of fleece wrist warmers in a half circle.

I like to add a blanket stitch around the cuff using embroidery floss, just to make them look a little nicer. That’s the part that takes a while; I have a whole stack of these waiting for blanket stitching.

I also decided to amp up the card holders this year. I sold quite a few when I suggested to people they would be great for giving gift cards. So I’ve made a bunch in a variety of fabrics, both holiday and non. I even found some birthday fabric! I mostly made them from scraps left from making other things: when I’d cut up my fabric for a larger project, I’d also cut off a strip (or a piece) the right size for the card holders, and make a bunch at a time.

Handful of card holders

I also have a few other things ready, like all the purses I made this past summer, a few wristlet purses, a couple of wallets, some other odds and ends (like one wine tote bag and an orange and grey cross-body purse) and some hand quilted things like the reversible table runner I made last year:

Blue black and white table runnerRed black and white reverse side of table runner

Finally, I’m trying one new thing this year: stockings. I made just one stocking last year and gave it to my youngest niece (who just turned 1 year old last week!). So far I only have these four made. I’m hoping to get a couple more made, but time is going fast and I may not get to them.

Red and black Christmas stockings featuring winter puppiesWhite and red Christmas stockings

So, it’s back to the sofa for me to keep doing blanket stitch. Cheers to all, whatever holiday you celebrate this time of year!

Lazy Days of August

25 Monday Aug 2014

Posted by quiltedlibrarian in .40 Caliber Mouse, hand quilting, Mazz Press, quilted projects, sewing, tennis, throw quilt

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fabric projects, hand quilting, Mazz Press, quilted projects, quilts, tote bag, wall hanging

Well, maybe not so much lazy  as, “I don’t have to go to work this week, yay!” days of August. I’m off all week, but have lots planned to do!

First up: working on our porch with my husband. He’s off a few days this week, so we agreed to spend part of our time sanding old paint off of our porch so it can be painted. There’s a lot of really old paint on this thing, which means there is a lot to sand. A sander only can get so much, so there is a lot of hand work to be done. Bit by bit, it’s looking worse (which is the point at first, right?). If it was “shabby chic” before, it’s now looking more like “abandoned home”. Lots more sanding to do, but it’s too warm right now, so on to other things.

Part of the reason I took this week off was to watch the first round of US Open tennis. I love watching the early rounds, where you get to see so many up-and-coming tennis players, some of whom shine on the NY stage like no other. Favorite week of tennis. So, I’m also working on hand quilting my husband’s quilt, as that gives me the perfect place to watch/listen to the tennis matches.

Last block on the penultimate row of my husband's quilt. He's been so patient waiting for this, hopefully it will get done by the time the cold weather hits!

Last block on the penultimate row of my husband’s quilt. He’s been so patient waiting for this, hopefully it will get done by the time the cold weather hits!

There are other projects I need to tackle this week, too, so variety will definitely be the word of the week. Other goals this week:

– Finish a wall hanging that has a hand quilted center. I finished the hand quilting, then decided I hated the border (which had no quilting on it, it was too narrow, so it was easy to remove without damaging the rest of the quilt). I picked out other fabrics to use as borders (two shades of green), now I have to figure out how to add them to the center.

Hand quilted center, showing batting, and new fabric for outer border. and probably binding.

Hand quilted center, batting, and new fabric for outer border and probably binding.

– Finish a tote bag that goes with my husband’s works, a Lucky the Vicious tote bag. I thought I was almost done, then realized the sides and bottom had major problems. A solution came to me while I was trying to get to sleep one night, so I need to try that and see if it works. If not, … well, I guess I’ll just have to take the tote apart and make a smaller bag out of it. Don’t want to waste the Lucky the Vicious logo.

This is Lucky the Vicious, a logo from my husband's series of novels, "The .40 Caliber Mouse". I thought it would be fun to make fabric items that fit in his novels' universe.

This is Lucky the Vicious, a logo from my husband’s series of novels, “The .40 Caliber Mouse”. I thought it would be fun to make fabric items that fit in his novels’ universe.

– Try making a small purse. I have some interesting fabric my mom sent me from her stash, and a pattern for a small cross-body bag, so that seems like a good project this week. The pattern appears to be something I can tweak to my tastes, but I’ve never made a purse so we’ll see.  🙂

Fabric from my mom. It seems to have been something before, as there are seams for me to undo, but not sure what it was.  :)

Fabric from my mom. It seems to have been something before, as there are seams for me to undo, but not sure what it was. 🙂

– Make another wallet based on a pattern I tried earlier this year and wasn’t totally happy with. I need to figure this out. I’m hoping, if I can get it to work, I might be able to make some to sell in my Etsy store or at the Christkindlmarkt in December. Sales have been slow, so I need to come up with other things that might interest people.

So much to do, and only one week off! Time to get back to work…

Just Call Me a Quick Change Artist…

22 Sunday Jun 2014

Posted by quiltedlibrarian in Uncategorized

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Tags

business card holders, Etsy shop, quilted projects

Well, things on my Etsy site were going swimmingly, until I found out I accidentally used the same name as another person who sold quilted items (although she wasn’t selling them on Etsy, which is why I was able to use the name). She politely asked that I change names to avoid confusing people, and as I’m the new kid on the block in this stuff, I’m going along with her request. Time to put the thinking cap back on!

I came up with several possibilities, and this time tried to do MUCH more searching to see if they were available. I kept coming back to one of them, and it didn’t appear anywhere on Google or other search engines, and Etsy allowed me to use it, so I’m going with it — and keeping my fingers crossed. So the new name is…

An Extra Shot of Quilt.

Kind of quirky, a little different, hopefully a little memorable. Keeps my love of caffeine in the name, as well as quilts. Do you have any idea how many people out there either blog about or sell quilted items? Many of the possible names I came up with had already been used (my husband even suggested “The Q”, but that was also in use). So this seemed different enough that I wouldn’t run into more problems with it. Also, almost as important, it would work perfectly with the graphic my husband had created for my Etsy store cover photo. Good graphics are harder to come up with than good names!  🙂

So, if you haven’t already, you can check out my shop at www.etsy.com/shop/ExtraShotofQuilt and see what kinds of new things I’ve been teaching myself how to make. I can’t believe how addicting business card holders are to make: colorful little things that come together in no time! So, yeah, there are several of them on there right now. I promise I’ll try to make other things, too. Here is one of my favorites:

Image

If you are curious how I come up with things to sell, you can also check out the Facebook page for the store, at www.facebook.com/extrashotofquilt. Contribute ideas of things I should make to sell, view some of the gorgeous fabric I play with (yes, I’m one of those who walks through a fabric store, feeling almost every bolt I walk by, I can’t help it), get previews of future projects.

And now, if you’ll forgive me, I have to go sew something other than business card holders.  🙂

My World is Expanding!

15 Sunday Jun 2014

Posted by quiltedlibrarian in Facebook groups, machine quilting, quilted projects, sewing

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

kids' quilt, machine quilting, quilted projects, sewing student, tote bags

Last week I made a big decision: I took the plunge and opened up an Etsy store. Not as big a deal as quitting my job and opening a quilt store (like some person I know), but a big deal for me nonetheless. I have always been uncomfortable selling my quilting services, never sure how to charge people, never sure if anyone would be willing to pay me to do what I really, really enjoy doing. So I thought this was a way to dip my toes into the pool, as it were, and see if what I make interests anyone.

First step was coming up with a name for my store. I thought I’d just use “Quilted Librarian” as it is the name of this blog, and I couldn’t find such a store in use. I hired a graphic designer to create my logo, using that name, and her work blew me away. (Thanks, Thalo! Everyone else, visit her website at motherchaosstudios.com if you ever need a professional look.) Here’s the official logo she created, based on one of the sample blocks I made earlier:

CaffQuilter official profile pic

Yep, that’s the D4P block! I love the 3D effect she gave it. I was thinking a book cover, but this is so much cooler. Anyway, so I went about setting up my shop… and found out I couldn’t use “Quilted Librarian”. Well, boo. On to the next best thing:  “Caffeinated Quilter”. While not intended to be alliterative, it kind of is, and most of my friends thought it was perfect for me.

So, if you are curious, you can visit my Etsy store at www.etsy.com/shop/CaffeinatedQuilter. I’ve also set up a Facebook page for the shop, at www.facebook.com/caffeinatedquilter, where I’m hoping to show some of the behind-the-scenes photos, and maybe have discussions on what projects I should work on. Like the page to join in the discussion!  🙂

This past week, my sewing student and I finished our tote bags, too. It was quite a week! 10 sessions, over 4 months, and she had the biggest smile on her face when she saw the finished bag. It was like, “wow, I really made that myself!!” The photo below shows both the original tote I made from the instructions, which I thought would be way too big for her, and my version of the smaller tote. (I didn’t photograph hers; she wouldn’t let go of it long enough for me to do it.)

finished tote bags

I noticed in an earlier post I promised to post a photo of the UFO I was finishing up to send to a children’s hospital unit. Here it is:

pediatric cardiac quilt 2

 

Sorry I don’t have a better shot of it; it’s already been shipped out there. It was approx. 37″ square, and I just love the dark bluish greenish border fabric on the front, and the light green fabric on the back.

So, that’s what all I’ve been up to lately. I’m kind of excited by the possibilities opening up in front of me, and my husband has been incredibly supportive of all of these projects. We’ll see how things go!

She’s Making Progress and Making Me Proud!

12 Wednesday Mar 2014

Posted by quiltedlibrarian in Uncategorized

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building confidence, quilted projects, sewing student, tote bags

Can I boast a little bit here about my sewing student? Without complaint, she has tackled the toughest sewing project I’ve suggested yet, struggled with the big fabric scissors to cut out the shapes (and ended up switching to using my thread scissors because the fabric shears were just too big for her hands), has struggled with the sewing machine (figured out this week how to solve that!), has had to use the seam ripper (which she now knows how to use without ripping the fabric), and still is pushing forward with this project. After every problem, she’d say something like, “this is really hard, but it’s going to be awesome when I’m done and it will be MINE.” Oh, and she just started sewing with me last summer, once a week (with lots of weeks in between when we couldn’t meet) for 2 hours or so, having only made a small fleece pillow before starting sessions with me. 

So what did I ask her to do? I challenged her to make flying geese. This was a little bit crazy, as I had never managed to make flying geese well before, and I’ve been sewing for years! But she accepted the challenge, and I’ve been watching her sewing skills grow dramatically with this project. 

I think I posted this link before, but the idea for the project came from a free pattern (find it here) from McCall’s Quilting. The flying geese are made with squares in such a way there are no wasted little triangles when you are done. I made the tote first according to directions, and it is enormous; WAY too big for my petite student (who is in 7th grade). So I adapted the pattern, changed it a bit, and came up with a pattern that is a bit smaller. Here’s one side of the revised tote that I made:

Image

I have it pinned to the batting, ready to be machine quilted when she catches up to this point. 

And here is how far she has gotten:

Image

She’ll finish this side of the tote next week, and start piecing the other side after that. I love how she chose her fabrics, played with color, mixed brights and calmer prints… I think the girl is a natural-born quilter. 

Of course, I did promise her the next project would be smaller and easier.  🙂  She wants to make a phone case to go with the tote bag, so I figured we could do strips using the same fabrics.  She also asked if we could put pockets inside the totes to carry things like phones and pencils.  Obviously thinking ahead! 

Oh, and the sewing machine problem I mentioned earlier?Today I read a tip that was new to me, but was also one of those “Doh! Why didn’t I think of that?” moments. To prevent problems with the thread pulling out of the needle, or getting “goobers” of thread tangles at the beginning of your piece, put the needle down before the presser foot. It’s that simple. And it makes sense: that’s basically what you are doing when you chain-piece strips. I just never thought to START the piece that way. Both of us tried it tonight, and it made the sewing part so much easier. This tip came from a new book I have from the library, “Quilting With a Modern Slant” by Rachel May. It’s a mixture of interviews with quilters who have more of a modern edge to them, along with tips and tricks for beginners and the rest of us. Cool book, take a peek at it if you get the chance! There are some quilts in there I’m intrigued to try, if I ever get a chance.

Okay, boasting over; time to get back to my other sewing work.  🙂

Figuring Things Out the Hard Way

02 Sunday Feb 2014

Posted by quiltedlibrarian in quilted projects

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adjusting patterns, quilted projects, tote bags

So, I was trying to think of what to do next with my sewing student. Looking over some patterns with her, we decided to try doing a quilted tote bag. The pattern I showed her comes from McCall’s, a free pattern for flying geese done in a “no waste” method. Looking at the technique, I decided it was something she and I could both do. As I’ve never made flying geese because I struggled with all the triangles (and the wasted fabric), it sounded great.  Click on this link to see the original tote pattern if you are curious.

Since I hadn’t done anything like this before, I decided to try it first before her next session. I started cutting fabrics according to the instructions, for the front and back of the tote (different size geese on each side). I decided pretty quickly I liked the piecing of the “back” better than I did the “front”:

Image

Layout for the “back” of the tote

ImageLayout for the “front” of the tote

After much fussing around, I finished both front and back. And discovered this tote is gonna be huge:

Image

Finished front (left) and back of tote, sides overlapped to fit on table

This girl is not that big, and I’m really afraid this bag would just be too oversized for her to carry!  So, it was time to adjust the project.

I decided I liked the bigger geese, but didn’t want them that big. I also liked the sashing between the rows of smaller geese, as that would be much easier for my student to sew successfully than to try matching seams correctly (it’s hard enough with squares, triangles make it that much harder). But size is still an issue. So, I shrunk the square templates for the geese to 80% of the original size, making them slightly larger than the original small geese. I kept the sashing, but added the sashing to top and bottom like on the original back. This is what I ended up with after all that fiddling:

Image

Much better! Now, to write down exactly how I made this…

I’m much happier with this size tote. Having gotten this far, I can set it aside knowing that the rest is something we’ve done before (quilting the front and back with batting, sewing a lining, adding the handles, etc.). Both front and back will be the same pattern, in my case using the same colors of geese. At some point I’ll finish the original tote but for now it’s in the WIP/UFO category.

Oh, I did want to add one more thing. I’m not one to buy all kinds of gadgets and gizmos for sewing. I have a few different sizes of rulers for the basics, I buy ponytail holders for my bobbins instead of the more expensive options, and I use chocolate tins for my pins. But I found one “gadget” that I’m definitely putting on my must-have list now: InvisiGrip, made by Omnigrid. I had seen it in stores for years, and always contemplated trying it, but didn’t think I needed it. Then, over the last year, I’ve noticed I have had problems holding my ruler steady when using my rotary cutter. The ruler would keep slipping as I neared the end of the cut, and I was getting frustrated. I saw the InvisiGrip on sale at a LQS that was closing and figured it was as good a time as any to try it. And now I’m saying, I was an idiot not to buy it sooner! Cutting the strips for this project has been so much nicer with it on my rulers! I only bought one pack, which was enough for my two long rulers (24″ long x 6″ or 6 1/2″ wide), my smallish ruler (9 1/2″ long), and a bit left (haven’t checked to see if the remainder will be enough for one of my 3 squares). So I’ll be on the look-out for it on my next trip to a fabric store. It’s definitely worth the price to reduce slipping! (And, for the record, this is NOT a paid endorsement; I just can’t believe I waited this long to try it, and want to help others who are on the fence like I was.)

 

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