Showing posts with label ETSY. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ETSY. Show all posts

Thursday, October 13, 2016

Blog Update

I didn't realize how long it has been since I last posted on my blog.  I have been busy, with various things, but not anything specific or important enough (in my mind anyway) that would make an interesting post.

The weather has been dicey around here in the Pacific Northwest, so I haven't been able to take pictures of finished quilts like I would like.  But, I have gotten binding on four quilts, and will have to  make future posts at a later date.

I have also been working on some BOM's and custom orders for my etsy store.

This is a custom order for a bigger fleece blanket.  Usually I make these fleece blankets in smaller blankets for babies.  The customer saw me making a baby blanket using this fleece print, and wanted to know if i could make one bigger, I said this was the last piece and since the fleece print was "old school" design for this team, it would be difficult to find more to make a big one.  Well I was off across the state visiting a hole in the wall kind of quilt shop, and lo and behold they had this fleece print.  they had about 2 1/2 yards left, so I bought it and contacted the customer.  Of course, the customer was ecstatic and said yes to me making it for them.  It measures 5' X 6', which makes a nice couch throw.


I also have been working on the Vintage Sampler blocks, I got a little behind, I am just now woking on Block 5, which came in the mail last week.

Here is block 3

These are churn dash blocks.  This month they started adding the sashing pieces so when at the end, all the pieces will go together nicely.


This is block 3 fillers that go in and around the major blocks of each month's package.


This is block 4.

Two of the blocks are 12" square, the one on the left is called "Woven Star" and the one on the right is called "Star of Hope", and the filler block is some more Broken Dishes.



Fall is a very busy time of the year.  Just like spring there are so many things that need to be done outside and in all the garden  and flower beds.  Lots of clean up and dead head work that when done, make for ugly pictures.  But, I have wanted to make a pathway from the backyard sidewalk to my greenhouse.  I dug out the dirt and hauled in the filler and hauled in the flagstone to make this pathway.  It was really hard work, but very satisfying to get done.  I know it is a little crooked, but my herb barrels weren't placed perfectly either, so the pathway follows their setting.  I really don't care, I am stating that it is quaint and since it is my work, I will claim it in all it quirkiness!

My rescue dog photo bombed my picture!  


Warmest...


Friday, May 22, 2015

Leftover NFL Prints

I have, left over from some holiday sewing, some Pro Football team prints.  I decided to make up some pillowcases with them and put them on my ETSY site.  I had three team prints, and enough to make a set or a pair from each print.

Baltimore Ravens:




Seattle Seahawks:




Dallas Cowboys:





There are a zillion free patterns out there on how to do these pillowcases with french seams, just google it and choose one that works for you.  Many of them claim you can make one in 15 minutes, but it takes me about 25 minutes including cutting it out, sewing it, and pressing it properly.   My biggest tip for you would be to use the Clover Wonder Clips.   They hold the rolled top step of making the pillow case so much simpler and speeds up the rest of the project.

Warmest...

Monday, May 18, 2015

Weekend Report

well, I said I would be back to report the sales for the weekend.  Drumroll......One.  Yep, just one blanket!   But everyone at the show did poorly.  The customer crowd was low, because the weather was just beautiful.

But "A" for effort, and I am willing to give it another time or two of trying.

Warmest...

Friday, May 15, 2015

A First

I have never done a "craft" show before, and what I am doing the weekend really isn't a "craft" show, but rather my hubby's trade show.  Only this time, I get to take some of my wares, as the venue has some extra tables.  Another reason for attempting to sell my wares this weekend is the location of the show is the area.

I live in Oregon, and the trade show is in Eugene this weekend, which is home to University of Oregon and their team the Ducks.  If by chance you follow college teams, the Ducks is one of the nation's top favorite teams, especially so here in their home state.  The team fans also are some of the top spenders on anything made in Duck colors or fabric.  (FYI: both Oregon colleges, University of Oregon and Oregon State have their own team shops all around the state)

Moving on, as I am trying not to bore you.  I first started making items related to both colleges when to get my Etsy store off the ground.  I will say that I do sell more Ducks items rather than the Beavers, which is why I have more related Duck items than the other.  One of my best and biggest sellers is a baby fleece blanket with a crocheted edge around  it.




So, since we are going to be in the Ducks territory, I am taking some of these to see if I can sell them outside of my ETSY shop.  

When I got some success in selling the Oregon college blankets, I branched out some and started doing other specialties, such as camo related prints, NFL teams, Licensed fleece, and NBA teams.  If you are interested in seeing all of these different ones, then you can go to my ETSY shop by clicking here.  I will be taking all of these as well as the Ducks blankets just in case people have different likes and I might have it available.  I have been really busy this week getting my inventory beefed up, just in case I sell lots this weekend.

I'll be back on Monday to let you know how it went and how many I sold, if any.


Warmest...




Monday, May 4, 2015

Talented Husband

My hobby is much easier to do and spend money on when you husband has an expensive hobby too!

He does stained and fused glass works / art.  He is very talented, and has made several just beautiful things.  He made several small dishes awhile back, and they have just been sitting in a bag, as we didn't have the best outlet to sell them on a regular basis.  So, today I have finally gotten around to getting them listed on my Etsy site.  This way they can "sit" and let the whole internet seekers see them and hopefully purchase them.  You can view the whole collection here.

I thought you might like to see the fused glass dishes he specifically patterned after quilt blocks.

First up is a version of the nine patch:


Details here


Details here


Details here

Then we have some half square triangle blocks:


Details here


Details here


Details here

He has made me some other awesome fused glass works that you can read about it here.


See the fused glass plate in the background, and how it matches my table runner?  Pretty darn cool, if you ask me!

Warmest...




Tuesday, May 6, 2014

All System's Go

Remember the prototype of the tortilla warmer that I made to see if the customer wanted to continue with the commissioned order?  Well, they received the prototype, and we are good to go with the whole order.  They really liked what the warmer looked like, so I will be making a total of 25 more.





12 more with this fabric:

13 using this fabric:


I will have to work on them towards the end of the month, as I am out of state for the next couple of weeks.

Stay tuned....

Warmest...


Friday, April 25, 2014

Big Surprise!

I opened my dashboard on my Etsy site yesterday, only to find a request for a custom order!!!!  How cool is that????

A restaurant in Kansas City contacted me to make them specialized tortilla warmers that are smaller than the ones floating around on Etsy, including mine that I have listed.  And they want 26 made!  I am totally stoked about this order because custom orders are usually for one of a kind, one time type of item, but this is a commercial order.

So, I whipped up a prototype of the specifics they were asking for, and will send it off for review.





So, there you have it, one small tortilla warmer prototype!

Warmest...

Thursday, November 21, 2013

My Latest Commissioned Order

Remember when I said I would like to get to quilting my UFO #2 project, but it would have to wait because I received a new commissioned order?  Well, I finished the order today.  It was for two of my mini hipster bags made using the colligate fabric of the Nebraska Huskers.

This is the front view of the first one.  The client wanted the big polkadots as a coordinating print to make it kinda retro for the person receiving the gift.  Cute, huh?


Here is the back view, showing the open pocket.  I have always made a mini key fob to go with these mini hipsters, as there is just enough fabric left over to make one, which is better than just having a small scrap laying around.


This one was for a younger recipient, so I used black as a coordinating print with a matching red zipper.



Warmest...

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Browning Bag Done

YEEEESSSSS! I am done with this labor intensive bag.  Whew.  The following are pictures of the completed bag at all angles.  For complete details about the bag, here is a link directly to the listing on Etsy here.

Front View



Back View



Top View



Inside view of the back of the bag divided pocket.



Inside view of the zippered pocket on the front side of the bag.



The pattern is called "Olivia" by Chris W. Designs.  A link to her blog can be found here.

Browning Bag Update

This is really slooooooow going. There are over 80 pieces (including interfacing) to this bag, and more hardware than I have usedbefore. It all takes time and lots of attention to details.  I am on my third afternoon / evening working on this bag.  It's not that I am not enjoying the proccess and the outcome, I just don't think I could charge enough to cover the time spent on sewing it all together  even the hardware costs add more of a cost than on some of my other bags that I sell.  Hopefully, I cand be done within the next day.

Front view



Bback view



Warmest...

Monday, November 11, 2013

Working on Something New

I am working on a new bag, that I might or might not put in my ETSY shop.  Here is a peek at the front and back of the bag.  I just got started on it, and it is going to take a long time to complete.  I'll keep you posted of progress as I go along, only because I won't have much else to blog about.

Front side



Back side



Warmest...

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Color Dilemma

Please note that this is not a plug for my shop, but just some of the background of what goes into some of the decisions I make when deciding what colors to use with the different types of prints in the fleece fabrics I have used.

One of my top sellers is the pink camo fleece from Mossy Oak.  Last night, I pulled out another piece of fleece I need to work on, and then had to decide which color pink I would be using for the crochet edging.  All of the variations would work, but this time I am going to choose the fourth one from the left.

The favorite pink I used for the first six blankets I used a skein that was in a bag of yarn I purchase from Goodwill about 2 years ago.  The yarn was purchased from the store "Ben Franklin", which was a store from many years ago, and is no longer in business.  I have been unable to find anymore of this color, not even close.  So, now having to move on, I am up at 11:00 pm deciding which color to use.

That's the dilemma.  Small one, but still a dilemma.


Warmest...




Monday, September 30, 2013

Busy Without Blog Interest

Yes, I have been busy in my sewing room, just not anything to blog about of any interest.  But here is exactly what I have been doing in my sewing room.

I did a really nice swim bag for my sister-in-law, but I only took pictures of the progress and not the final product.  Palm to the forehead moment!  I finished the bag late Saturday night, and packaged it up for mailing out on Monday.  I do this a lot.  I get ahead of myself on projects, and either miss a step or have to do re-work.  So,  here are the progress photos:


This is the main body of the bag, with a pliable plastic mesh for an outside pocket.  If you look at the top of the bag, there is a zippered inside pocket.  It was finished with boxed sides that I put purple binding on the outside of the bag, which completed the seams.  I added black webbing straps, both short handles and long ones to be carried two ways.


This is a close up of the design of the PUL fabric.  It is, I believe, a flowering cabbage, all over pattern.


This may be hard to see, but this lining is a "terry cloth" on one side and PUL on the other side.  I chose to line the bag with this to give it some more stability (the printed PUL was thinner than I have worked on in the past), and to give it a "towel" theme in relation to it being a swim bag.

Again, here is a palm to the forehead, because I can't give you a final picture.  SORRY!

I have also been super busy with these:


These are the cut outs of the fleece blankets that I sell on my Etsy shop.  I have sold most of my inventory, and needed to get some more done.  Two separate times, I would get one done, and post on my Etsy site, and it would sell within 24 hours.  One was a Winnie the Pooh pastel print, and the other one was John Deere green print. 




I sell more pink camo baby blankets that I had my husband get the whole bolt, because this fleece sells out fast in the local fabric store.  I also have had to order it on-line once in order to keep up with the demand.





So, to reiterate, I have been busy in my sewing room, just not much of the normal blog interest.

Warmest....