A - ma- zing!!!

That was my day - just AMAZING!

I got home last night and packed up the car for Mountain Days, a street festival and craft fair in neighboring Buena Vista.  I didn't get much sleep, because I got the bright idea to make up some items (travel tissue covers, denim backed bookmarks and a travel neck pillow) in some pink ribbon fabric that I picked up at a quilt shop in West Virginia.  The idea was to sell those items at my regular cost, but for all of the proceeds to be donated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation with a matching donation from me - a way to double my donation.

Today dawned bright and crisp and beautiful, and the kids and I headed out to set up the booth.  My expectations were low - I figured I'd have fun meeting new people and hand quilting, and possibly sell a few things, too.

WRONG!!!

I had fun meeting people and hand quilting, but sold OVER HALF of my inventory!  I sold at least one of everything I had out there - earrings and bookmarks and travel neck pillows and composition book covers and crayon rolls and gift card key rings and denim aprons and pillowcase aprons and a baby quilt and even my Flurry quilt top made from the ugliest Christmas fabrics on earth that wasn't even for sale!

I am high on my success!!  And dreaming of the fabric and batting and notions I can purchase with my earnings!!

Don't I look like I am in my element, hand quilting out there on the streets of Buena Vista, Virginia?

I discovered this photo on Facebook this afternoon when I got home. See that quilt? When I finally finish it, it will be for ME!

And guess what?  A woman approached me and asked if I would teach a class to kids in a local afterschool program (paid!) and another woman told me she owns a Bed and Breakfast and is thinking of doing theme weekends, and would I consider teaching a class to her guests?  We'll see if anything comes of either of these, but it sure feels nice to be wanted!

OK, enough bragging.  Suffice it to say I had a great day.  And I had the foresight to put dinner in the crockpot before I left home, so I came home to a fragrant home and a hot meal.  Aaaahhhh!

Last thing, in addition to making pink ribbon items last night, I also made a new composition book cover.  I've never made anything with yo-yos before, but I inherited a baggie of them a while back and never knew what to do with them.  I can see several of them finding their way onto notebook covers in the near future.

Making these notebook covers is ADDICTIVE!!!  This one got fondled many times today, mostly by pre-teen girls whose parents wouldn't buy them anything.  Into my ETSY shop it goes!  Thank goodness, too, since I had to deactivate over a dozen listings after they sold today.  I need to make more inventory,  but not today.  For now, it is hot soup and Netflix shows and my bed.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend, everyone!

New Inventory

What a weekend!  I had to work on Saturday morning and Sunday evening.  We had cub scout activities all day on Saturday and a camp out on Saturday night.  And I had a booth at a small festival in town on Saturday.  I needed to clone myself!!

Since the booth was in the same town as last month's booth, I felt like I should have some new inventory in case some people wandered by who had seen my stuff before.  I hung new/different quilts to form my booth walls, and added fabric composition book covers to my inventory.  I made one for my sister two years ago, and she loves it and encouraged me to make more.  

These are the ones I made a couple of years ago.  The one in the middle went to my sister.  The other two sold at other booths last year and earlier this year.

Of course, I couldn't remember how I made hers!  Figures!  Back to the drawing board.  First, I made two using some orphan blocks and this tutorial.  I love how her covers turned out, but I was dissatisfied with mine, partially because I wanted a thicker, softer cover.  I ended up inserting some batting into these, which worked out OK, but I went looking for another tutorial after making these two.

This one sold  before I even finished setting up my booth!

The next tutorial that caught my eye was this one.  Rather than use fusible pellon, I used batting.  I love the way there is a lining AND no need to topstitch around the outside.  That is really what I wanted to avoid because topstitching through many layers never seems to turn out looking neat for me.  First, I made this one using some more orphans - scrappy 4-patches this time.  I liked my modified construction method, so then I moved on to other fabrics.

First, I used some lettered fabric and the crown and British fabric that I got from a scrap bin from a store in Atlanta.  I've been dying to use this fabric, and I like how the journal turned out.  If nothing else, it lets people know what these books are or can be!

Then, I pulled out a little panel that I've been wanting to use, surrounded it by black, and embellished it with some embroidery in orange.  It wasn't my intention, but it seems rather seasonal to me, don't you think?

Is that a crow or a blackbird?  How can you tell the difference?

I thought the day was going to be a great success because one of the top two journals sold before I even finished setting up my booth, and within 15 minutes, I had also sold two of my flannel travel neck pillows.  However, it turns out that the event wasn't publicized at all (!?!) and hardly anyone even passed by.  Oh well.  It was a free event for me, so I came out with a profit, and I still have plenty of inventory for THIS WEEKEND'S event, which I KNOW has been publicized extensively.  Live and learn!

A friend caught a photo of me setting up my Scrabble Tile earring (while WEARING a pair, of course!)

Better and better

If I was happy when I wrote my last post, right now, I am over the moon! 

Yesterday, I received an email from a gentleman who had been in my booth on Saturday.  He praised my work and said he'd taken my card and visited my ETSY shop.  There was a quilt on there that he wanted to buy for his wife, but he didn't have a PayPal account so could he pay by check?

Woo hoo!  My first bed-sized quilt sale!  Do you know how much FABRIC I can buy with $600???  And since he is paying by check, I have some more time to spend with Pick and Choose before she is gone for good.  I love that quilt, but I'm a quilter - I can make another if I want to.

So that was what made my day great, but the icing on the cake was when a co-worker texted me to let me know that my picture was in the paper.  Of course I ran out and bought 4 copies right away!



Me, setting up my booth for the Community Festival.  I'm hanging my Scrabble Tile earrings, which were a hit.  You can see part of Pick and Choose draped over the rack.

I hope your day brings as many happy surprises as mine did!

It's all good!

I have nothing to complain about today!  My beautiful first-born son is celebrating his 10th birthday today:

My zig zag quilt is on its way back from Marcia, from whom I won free quilting in a giveaway on her blog.  (by the way, you might want to go visit her - she's having another giveaway...)

C'mon, somebody have a baby - I'm READY with a fun quilt to give!  I love how she added all the circles to my dots!

I had a FANTASTIC time at my booth at the Community Festival on Saturday.  The sun didn't shine, but it didn't pour down rain, either.  Instead, there were intermittent light showers that didn't really scare away the crowds.  Remember this quilt from my quilting bee at my house years ago? 

Funny thing - the woman in the striped shirt holding her hands up was in my booth this Saturday!

It still isn't done, so I set it up in my Ulmer frame in my booth and taught anybody who wanted to learn how to put in a few stitches.  About a dozen people sat down and learned how to prick their own fingers.  :)

As quilts are wont to do, the ones I had hanging from the sides of my booth drew people in and they stayed and shared stories of quilts and quilters from their past, both men and women alike.  I wasn't alone once the entire day.  What a wonderful way to spend the day, stitching and chatting with old friends and making new ones.  PLUS, some kind souls even BOUGHT stuff from me!  I had 14 paying customers total, and made back my reservation fee, lunch for me and the boys, and took home a tidy profit to boot!  All in all, a great day!  Unfortunately, I don't have photos, but many people took photos of my booth or items in my booth, so maybe I'll see some here and there that I can share.

And, as if that weren't enough wonderfulness in my life, a good friend is coming to stay with me over the Labor Day weekend!  Ain't life GRAND!

It's probably better this way

Sometimes I dream about having a little girl.  Someone who likes unicorns and rainbows and fairies instead of dinosaurs and superheros and weapons.  Someone I can dress in pretty colors and flouncy skirts.  Someone I can make things for and with.  Now don't get me wrong - I make things for and with my boys, but somehow, I just feel it would be different.  In fact, I'd probably end up making and wearing things with her like this Mommy and Me apron set that I made yesterday.

There'd be lots of photos of us wearing our coordinated outfits, smiling into the camera as she snuggles into my side.  It would be cute...for a while.  And then she'd turn into a teenager and resent me for squashing her toddler independence by making her dress like me and wouldn't speak to me outside of a growl or a shriek for 5 years.  Perhaps it is better this way...

Oh well.  They were still fun to make.  The pockets are roomy and sturdy, reinforced by leftover denim.

The apron body is, of course, made from upcycled jeans and the pockets and trim are all from an upcycled pillowcase. I love the pillowcases with the accents on the cuff; they make for neat pockets.

We'll see if someone at the festival this weekend thinks the aprons are as cute as I do.

Prep, prep, prep

This weekend, there will be a Community Festival in our town - three city blocks worth of crafts, music and food.  I always enjoy going, and this year, I am going to stay all day because this year, I am going to have a booth.  I am going to demonstrate hand quilting, and have some of my creations there for sale.

Gulp!

It is one thing to put things I make online - I can't see the people who look so it isn't scary.

It is another thing to put the things I make at the Farm Store - again, I'm not there to see who looks and how they react to my stuff.

My two booths at the Old Middlebrook Village Days these past two years were a bit scarier, but I only saw about 3 people I knew both years, so it was strangers who looked and asked questions and bought or didn't buy.

But this time, I'm going to know the majority of the people who stroll by.  In a way, that is good because people around here tend to be friendly and supportive.  But in another way, it scares the crap out of me.  If they think poorly of what I make, I really don't want to hear about it or see it on their faces.

I need to dig around in my drawers at home to find my Big Girl Panties.

My Pick and Choose Quilt will be there.

So will my Pink and Green Scrap baby quilt, which now has a complete binding.  I need a name for this quilt.  Any ideas?

I put this fabric on the back even though I think it is hideous because I wanted it OUT of my stash.  Wouldn't you know, as I was sewing on the binding at lunch one day, a woman commented on how pretty the backing fabric is!  It just goes to show that beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

I've made 20 Travel Tissue Covers to sell there, since they were a hit with my family and since I've sold some on ETSY.  Here are the 12 additional ones that I am taking to leave at the Farm Store, plus one for a friend who is going through a rough time.  They are all empty of tissues currently, except the pink one up top, but I'll fill them up first.  These are ridiculously addictive to make.  I have used up so many fabric scraps this way!  I keep saying, "I wonder how THESE TWO fabrics will look together..."

I have about 10 Crayon Rolls to sell since they have sold well at the Old Middlebrook Village Days.

I have about 10 upcycled aprons, since that's what I've sold most of on ETSY so far.

I hope to have 5 or so travel neck pillows ready.  I've sold one on ETSY, but they were also a hit when we flew to Bermuda.  These aren't made yet, but they are pretty quick and easy to assemble.

I'll have some of my corner bookmarks and my upcycled denim bookmarks.

And, of course, I'll have a bunch of Scrabble Tile earrings; I have nearly every letter in a pair, plus some singletons to mix and match.

The woman at the Farm Store thinks I should sell some of my upcycled pillowcase shopping bags because she is always coveting mine when I come in.  So far, I've only made one for sale because I regularly use (and love) the other 6 or 7 that I've made and my husband requested some (manly ones - I chose pillowcases with big maroon, hunter green and white stripes) for him to keep in his car and use.  Maybe I'll get around to making more this week, but I don't really want to turn my sewing room into a sweatshop this week in preparation.  What I have done, I have done.

Because really, what I want to do is hand quilt.  The days have been lovely and the nights cool, and it is perfect weather for quilting.  Since I took the Orange Creamsicle quilt with me to Bermuda, I started quilting it without a hoop, and it turns out, I really like not using a hoop now that I'm used to it.  It certainly means that the project becomes even more portable!  Right now, I am just doing triple lines around seams - one in the ditch and one on either side - but I think I am going to quilt some butterflies in some of the larger areas.  We'll see.

Now the fun part, deciding which tops to hang as the "walls" of my booth.  It is so hard to decide!  Do I use the same ones I used at my last booth, or do I give some new quilts some time in the sun? (Please, please, let there be SUN on Saturday!)