IS IT HARD TO SELL A QUILT?

A FRIEND ASKED ME LAST NIGHT...Is it hard to sell a quilt?

My first reaction was Well yes its hard to SELL a quilt. People do not understand how much time effort and expense go into the making of a quilt....so its very hard to get the money that its worth for a quilt. Quilting has to be one of the most labour intensive arts there are. Fabric costs a lot of money. and time is money they say... so it costs a lot of money to make a quilt..and a lot of money to sell a quilt and get that money back..and make some money for the artistic and creative aspect of the art. Is there ever enough money to have to pay for the hours that you spend in the making of any art.

Calendar 2014

I sold this quilt. Its a calendar that I made in 2014. I made one block a day. marking time in fabric. It was in a show and was purchased by someone..I don't know who bought it or where it's gone but I am so honoured that someone liked it well enough to pay money for it and I hope they had a good spot to hang it.
In my head I have a picture of it hanging in a long hallway or maybe at the top of the stairs. Its colourful and interesting and I hope that the owner appreciated it. I think they do.

And then I realized that my friend was asking.  Is it hard to sell a QUILT? Is it hard to let it go? Is it hard to let go of something that you have spent so much time and labour making? Maybe.. maybe its hard to let it go into a new world where they might not really know why that quilt was made and appreciate all of the little decisions that made that quilt appear. Decisions about fabric choice and colour representations. Why you chose to do what you did when you made the quilt.

Is it hard to let it go? For money?

Calendar 2015

How long did it take you to make this quilt is a question that comes up frequently. And the answer is difficult. Sometimes a quilt takes a very long time from conception to completion. A deadline helps.

Well this one took a year--its a calendar representation of one year in my life...one block a day ..every day ..for a year.  That's a commitment that I didn't know I could keep. I am not a committed person.  I don't like to do the same thing at the same time every day. I am easily bored with routine.and I committed to making one block a day..every day for a year.

And I did it again.

And the third time I tried to start another one I failed. In January 2016 I decided not to start another one. I just didn't think I wanted to do it. Then in late June I decided that I would try again. It really doesn't matter when you start. So I started on July 1.and I worked for about a month and a half on my new project but I just really didn't enjoy doing it and I abandoned it mid August.

So now we are coming to the end of another year. I think I am ready for another year long commitment. I am going to start another calendar quilt.

 These are my rules.
 Fabrics from my stash..that's a given. I have lots and lots of fabirc in my stash.
one block a day..every day..no going ahead..or falling behind..one a day...
I think that I  will alter the layout a bit this year. I would like it to be more bedshaped ..I am not sure yet how I will arrange the block but I think it will work out.

For the other two calendar quilts I stitched the blocks together by month,,but I don't think I will do it that way this time.. and I stitched them together as I made them. I will do that for sure. I don't want to be left with a huge bag of blocks that need to be assembled at the end of the year.
And maybe I won't stop at the end of the year..maybe. I am leaving the finish date open. I might keep going for a little longer. (Ahhhh such optimism at the beginning of a big project)

Wish me luck.

Bloom where you are planted.

Some days I just wish I was in Paris....

Sitting at a table in a little cafe. Eating a croissant ....watching the beautiful Parisian women strolling by.
I have my dress..Its silk. it's printed with French themed graphics. The Eiffel Tower, bridges, French words. I am not sure where it is from or who made it..it doesn't have a label. It has that lovely warp construction that changes from copper to brown to purple depending on how the light hits it. Even the lining is lovely. I bought it in a thrift store.  I love it.....It will never fit me..

and here is a closeup.

It"s lovely. and I will probably cut it up someday to use in another project. But today I will just look at it.

I don't do a lot of dressmaking any more. I used to but now I find it just too easy to buy t shirts and jeans which form the staple of my wardrobe.

Instead I will sit in my little house near the corner and look out the window to this lovely display of early works by Jack Frost.

Thanks for stopping by. Keep warm.

Using what you have. Making do.

I love receiving fabric scraps from friends.I love little bits of leftovers and do-overs that my friends save for me. They save leftovers from their own projects and give them to me. Sometimes they are just tiny bits, sometimes larger scraps. Most of the time they are fabrics that I would not purchase myself. Someone else's taste. But that really is the special challenge of receiving them. Doing something meaningful--at least for myself-- with something that would otherwise be tossed into the landfill.


Recently a friend gifted me with this lovely kit.

It's a collection of hand dyed cottons and a pattern to make a quilt inspired by the quilt of Gees Bend. All contained in a lovey little screen printed bag.

The quilters of Gees Bend have come into notoriety because of their unique style of quiltmaking. Their quilts were made in isolation from the larger world. Their quilts were made of castoff fabric and worn out clothing. They were made in a very poor community in Alabama. The women are descendants of slaves.

And their work is strikingly beautiful. Graphic. Bold. Original. Unique.

The women didn't buy kits. They didn't buy patterns. They took what they had and made it fit. And in doing so they created their own beauty.

So what am i going to do with this kit?

I have decided to make a quilt with what I have. Make do. I won't follow the pattern. I will make my own pattern.

Many years ago my husband and I bought two quilts at auction. They were new, hand quilted. I loved them. I remember the day we bought them as if it was yesterday. A bold crisp autumn day. A little chilly but I wore my new jean jacket. I think it might have been 1989 or 90.

This is one of them. Its a bit bedraggled. Its been well used. Its been dragged about. Its comforted us. Its seen better days.

This is going to be the backing for my new Gees Bend inspired quilt. Making do.

I am going to put this on the longarm machine because i am going to use what i have. I am going to give this old friend a new coat. i am going to flip and fold strips of new hand dyed fabrics over the old quilt log cabin style and cover it completely. No machine stitching to show.

Now if you think well that"s easy--she has a long arm --how hard can that be? There are some logistical problems that i will have to solve as i go along. The beauty of the longarm is that the quilt will be supported on a frame. This also can be a bit problematic. The seams that run parallel to the frame will be easy to stitch. The seams that run right angle will be harder. there will only be about 18 inches to work on at a time. i will have to roll the quilt a few times to finish these seams--especially as the strips get longer and longer.

I pieced this center strip on my sewing The gold is from my stash.  I laid it onto the quilt following

the lines of the hand
quilting. I didn't measure.or center it. I just picked a spot. and then i started adding strips. Its a little harder to sew straight lines on the longarm. I have tried the channel locks which are just rings that attach to the wheels but don't find them convenient. you have to walk around the machine to adjust them every time and i find it annoying. Some longarms come with a button on the controls--something to investigate when purchasing a machine.

I am almost finished. I am going to make a few strips on my sewing machine before i go any further. I want the strips to be pieced and i can't do this without some machine stitching showing if i just flip and fold.

and them maybe I will do a little bit of hand stitching--maybe--

I will post more pics as the work progresses.
Thanks for stopping by...