Quilt Campus

I'm very excited to announce that my stained glass quilt class for Quilt Campus is now scheduled and ready to go. I'll be teaching a technique that I came up with last year while working on a stained glass quilt for fun.

In my technique the stained glass pieces are quilted down so that adding the black bias, the leading between the glass, is easier and the quilt is more stable.


Students will also learn how to add bias strips so that they begin and end on top the quilt without showing and get plenty of practice designing so that they can make their own original quilt or modify a quilt pattern from a different designer.

Now doesn't this sound like fun?  It's a three week online course that walks through each aspect of making the quilt.

There's a forum so that students can get to meet and know each other and share their trials and successes.  I'm told that many international students take these classes, so we'll get to meet folks from other cultures.  As the instructor I'll also post to the forum to answer questions and talk students through any issues they may have.

At the end of the class, students post photos of their completed quilts.  I'm especially excited to see how many different quilts we come up with in the end.  It's going to be tons of fun for students and for me!

And the good news: it's very reasonable--$24 to take the class!  Of course, you have to purchase the fabric and materials, and you must have the equipment, but a class for $24 is one sweet deal.

If you're interested go to www.quiltcampus.net to check it out. Go to the class list and scroll down--I'm near the bottom.  Click on "more information" to see the supply list and class outline.  There are other classes available, but I certainly hope to see you in mine!

Old School

Ever have a really hard day at work?  Yep, that's about what it's like to be a teacher on the first day of school.  Oh, don't misunderstand me, our day was really good!  The kids were well-behaved, the other teachers most helpful (I am new to this school), the parents supportive.  But my old muscles haven't work all summer.  In fact, I am probably at my softest ever.  So, just the standing and smiling and walking back and forth was more than I can handle.  My feet are dead, legs sore, and arms achy.  But I had a great day!  So this is it, instead of really writing, I'm going to post a few Etsy old school finds....things I remember from my school days.

How many of these do you recall?  

An Etsy Afternoon

Lunch today consisted of lots of chicken since lots of people were coming by.  A sister or two, grandchildren, children, daughters-in-law, and maybe even a few I missed.  At some point Audrey, one of my great-nieces, counted 17, which is so many after all.  Eventually they all left and I grabbed a nap, then I managed to find a few minutes to work in my Etsy shop.


I've been reading quite a few blogs and Etsy newsletters in an attempt to figure out how to make the shop more visible.  Write a blog and get lots of followers, promote the shop constantly, write the titles and descriptions in a certain way--it's a non-stop job of promoting and writing and keeping current with the newest trends.  I wonder when the successful Etsians manage to create and make anything to put in the shop.


I thought that if I worked really hard through the summer, I'd manage two goals: to attract more followers to the blog who would eventually find their way to the shop and to organize the shop and descriptions so that people could find what they were looking for in my shop.

Apparently I missed the mark by a long shot.  Well, one at least.  With 100 followers, I'm satisfied that there are a few people out there who are reading my blog occasionally (THANK YOU, FOLLOWERS) and have discovered the beauty of giveaways.  (Yes, we'll have to do that again soon. It was fun!)


But then the Etsy traffic isn't so great.  Some days I've had over 100 pageviews but no sales.  I think I'm in a catch-22: people won't purchase because there aren't enough sales to convince them it's a good shop, there aren't enough sales because people aren't making purchases.  Hmm, now what to do about that?

Here's what I'm going to do: not stress.  School begins again tomorrow, and I'm lucky enough to have a job I love.  If it happens, it happens.  If not, well, I tried.  Maybe there's someone selling on Etsy who doesn't have a job and that person is getting my would-be customers.  I'd hate to be taking those customers from someone who really needs them.  Besides, I think sometimes the sales are just an ego thing for me: a compliment on my work, so to speak.




I guess I could just let people say they like my work here.  You know, compliment me in comments and not worry about sales.  Then I won't need the sales to believe the work is good, the comments would do that.  So, yeah, let's go that route for a while.....leave a comment and I'll not stress over Etsy sales.  Do feel free, however, to jog over to Fleur de Lis Quilts and make a purchase....I will be okay with that!


Happy Quilting,
Mary

Play for Marley

Jenny came home with a bag of fabric yesterday, which can mean only one thing for me--sewing for her!  It turns out she purchased a couple yards of children's novelty fabric--Dora the Explorer and Minnie Mouse, who happen to be Marley's two favorite cartoon characters.  


She had also found a pattern, but we're pretty sure that we already have that pattern.  The only problem, of course, is that we can't put our hands on it.  So this one will have to do instead.

The hope is that Marley will crawl out of her Minnie pajamas and into her Minnie dress.  She fusses and cries when her mom tries to get her out of the pj's.  I'm thinking it might work, and Jenny is brilliant for coming up with a better plan than A) leave her in pj's all day or B) fight  and force her into something decent for daycare.  


Let's not forget that at $7 a yard and Grammy sewing for free, Jenny made a pretty good deal.  Where can you purchase a Disney dress for a little girl for around $10?  


That cute little neckline was a dickens of a chore, though.  I had to figure it out on my own since the pattern directions are AWOL along with the other pattern.  


Dora's turn tomorrow.  I've cut out the pattern and started sewing, but we had a trip to Lafayette that cut into half of the day.  Of course, Lafayette means.....you've got it, a trip to Hancocks and then to Hobby Lobby for......ding, ding, ding, you've got it again, FABRIC.  I'll try to get photos of the fabric I picked up for Dusti's curtains and for my new bag.  


Yes, Angie, I know, I have quilts to make for you!  I'm working on getting there, I promise!  Isn't Marley's little dress just too cute, though?  

Etsy Shop Profile: Felted Folks

Say hello to Tara of Felted Folks Designs.  Tara makes darling little creations from felted wool.  Using locally grown wool and her own handmade soap, Tara begins the process by first felting her wool.  A mother of four, Tara is especially concerned about how we treat our planet and using natural materials for everyday items. Her creations are especially nice when used for decorating and toys for older children.  Read more and visit her Etsy store by clicking here.

  
1. Where/when did you learn to make such beautiful felted art? I am a self taught artist. I love the way sheep fleece looks and feels so soft and warm. I like the fact that it is an all natural material. 


2. What are some of your favorite designs to make? I love making things for children. Each little figure that I make comes out different. I am drawn to making birds. I love being around birds in nature. I love to make mobiles for babies using birds. 

3. What are some unconventional ways that you or your customers have used your felted creations?  Mostly my customers use the things I make either for 
decorations or children's toys.


4. Who has influenced your art the most? In what way(s) did this person influence you?  I have a couple of friends who are felters who have both influenced me. One friend use to make figures without a wire core that were very lovely. She would dye the wool herself using all natural plant dyes and the colors were amazing. She was inspired by the seasons and would make things according to what the season was.

5. Is there anything else you'd like others to know about yourself or your shop? I am currently starting up a daycare and am excited to make the little people for the kids to play with.
Share your comments and ideas with Tara  by emailing her through Etsy or say hello here.  I'm sure she will love to hear from you!

AAQI to the sixth power

This is the sixth quilt for AAQI (Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative) that I've made.  A couple of years ago I designed several chicken blocks to make a large quilt, but after I drew out the blocks and made a couple I decided that I'm not into chickens that much.  

Lo and behold, I attended a couple of quilt shows and there was at least one chicken quilt at each show.  Then I discovered that one of the larger fabric houses has really cute chicken fabrics available.  So I guess I was on to something.  

What's Kickin' Chicken?

While cleaning and moving things around the studio, I discovered my drawings.  I chose my favorite to turn into a small quilt for AAQI, added some country fabric from mom's stash and had a blast working on it.  I wouldn't purchase this quilt for myself, but I'm hopeful someone will appreciate it enough to spend a few dollars on it.  

Knowing how popular chicken fabrics and quilts are, don't you think that it will sell?  I don't have any idea how the AAQI quilts are priced, but I hope that it will be priced low enough to sell.  I'd really like to see the quilt raise at least a few dollars for Alzheimer's research.

A Quilt Question

I recently came upon this quilt top.  It has an unusual block that reminds me of the bow tie block but the sides of the bow tie pieces are curved.  It doesn't look difficult but it does appear that the block has to be put together a little differently than the normal bow tie block.  Of course, if you break it down, the block consists of a nine patch on point.  

When the blocks are sewn together, a really unusual pattern of circles appears.  

Because this quilt is made of  a variety of different fabrics, cottons, rayons, knits and 

who knows what else, I am prone to think that it may be from the seventies.  

However, I haven't had it dated.  

The seams are machine sewn but are crudely stitched.  There are tucks and puckers all over the place, probably because the fabrics don't work well together and some were stretched as the top was sewn.

I haven't decided what to do with the top but I definitely want to quilt it.  Since I won't get it on the longarm for quite a while, I have time to decide how it should be quilted.  I do think it will have to be quilted fairly heavily in an effort to stitch down the many, many problems.

Now to the question: have you seen this block before?  If so, could you help me to figure out the name?  I haven't searched all my quilt books for the name, there are too many books and too many blocks to have gone through them all.  I'll continue my search, but was hoping that in the meantime one of you might have an answer for me or perhaps a suggestion of where to look.  I'd love a comment.