Friday, April 15, 2011

Etsy ... loving it

So here's the deal ... I've become absolutely obsessed with etsy.  At first I was incredibly hesitant to join.  It seemed like I would never be able to find myself in such a huge market with so many REAL artists.  I still don't see it as a giant potential money maker - I've been on there since January and I've sold two quilts thus far, so it's not a complete waste of time, but truth be told, I'm not in it for the money.

Here's what I've learned to love about etsy ... it's full of artists who care about their craft, and want to know how to make themselves, their shops, and their products better.  It pushes me to improve, to produce, to TRY something new, and I like that.  in fact, I like it a lot.

I like that people care.  I like that there's passion out there to develop and grow.  I've been very disconnected from all of that for most of my quilting life, just by nature of the fact that my mother and I were very isolated.  W didn't know any other quilters.  It's not exactly a popular pastime for girls in their 20s these days I guess.  But in etsy I found a community of artists who not only care, but appreciate the time, effort, skill, and love that goes into the work.

It's awesome =)

So that's my blurb for the day.  I've been so busy lately that most of my quilting projects have fallen by the wayside lately.  So instead of trying to muscle through something big, I've been concentrating on little things that I can finish quickly.  Right now I'm stockpiling mug rugs.  This past week has been filled with first attempts and I'll be posting pics soon =)

Monday, April 4, 2011

Problem Solved

So I've been waiting for days now to actually publish this post.

My fast-approaching deadline for Pria's baby quilt got postponed when she phoned to tell her shower-host that her kids were both sick and she wasn't going to make it.  So after rushing to finish, I suddenly found myself with a week of waiting before I could give her this:
After all of the hem-ing and haw-ing I'd finally settled on the spiral pattern.  I switched in a few brighter squares and used some of the more vibrant colors for the borders and voila ... a quilt that's both bright and colorful for Pria and appropriate for the baby =)

I finally saw her in church yesterday and ran to the car to grab the gift bag that's been sitting in my back seat.  She was so happy when she opened it that she actually cried.  The upside of pregnancy hormones I guess =)  Yay for another successful baby quilt =)