Where have you BEEN?

Well, I've been very busy. Sorry I haven't posted. My last post was a rant against Artfire. I did leave that site, and haven't regretted it since. I have gone back a couple of times to looks at some items from other artisans, but I can honestly say that I don't like the new look or format, so I really do not feel that I am missing anything. That said...

I was also very gun-ho about getting ready for Christmas. That hasn't happened either. I was approached a couple of months ago about making a custom quilt for someone. Now, as you can maybe tell from reading this blog, I've never really explored my quilt-making persona. I can make quilts, I have done applique and patchwork, even so far as making pet beds with quilted tops and built-in zippers. In February I decided to make a quilt for our home. It's still in limbo, waiting for me to finish the others. Long story short, I volunteered to alter a wedding dress for a friend, which led to her recommending me to make a quilt.

Now, I have heard how things, like cats, find us but we don't find them first. Apparently, my quilt-making skills while still blossoming are in high demand. Especially in the t-shirt quilt category. The custom quilt I just finished is a baby t-shirt quilt for a baby's first birthday. The next one (or two) will be memory t-shirt quilts. I'm excited about these, but before they come along is a quilt I'm making in trade for piano lessons for my girls. So I've been sewing, and quilting, and designing, and researching - quilts.

I also want to mention that along with all of this, I have been organizing and running a charity that sells cookies and using profits to purchase Thanksgiving dinners for people in our community. There is so much more involved in this than one would imagine. We have to calculate every little cost, price the cookies accordingly, bake many dozens of cookies for shows and individual orders. Once all of that is in place we have to track what we sell. Once the total profit is calculated we track down people to give the dinners. Now we're in shopping and delivery mode. It's been a long trek since September.

So we've been busy, but ready to get back into the business of running a handmade studio (with potential quilts included) and selling online. Happy holidays to all of you, and hoping to post more often!