Weekly-ish notes on navigating big change

I’m on the front page!

Edited to add: and again this morning (7.17.08), I'm on the front page!
It's this Treasury, featuring the Independence yarn.

frontpage7.16

So, the front page of Etsy is kind of a big deal. The admin at Etsy select Treasuries to feature on the front page and Treasuries are made by Etsy users. Only the prettiest pictures get in Treasuries (in theory) and only the prettiest Treasuries make the front page.
And my Sunshine yarn did it!
Yay!

Finished Quilt

Today my very best friend is getting married.
Jamie and I have been through high school orchestra, family vacations, deaths, parental weddings and divorces, college graduations and my wedding together, as best friends.
Closeup of handquilting
As I sat with this quilt, her wedding gift, in my lap, I thought of all the hopes and worries and happiness we've shared. The giggle fits and camping on the beach and loud singalongs to Les Mis.
lines of handquilting
I wanted this quilt to symbolize so much: the warmth that our friendship has brought me, the years of letter writing we've engaged in, my hope that she'll enjoy husband-snuggling under a blanket as much as I do.
Making the quilt was a ritual I needed; to stitch our friendship into something tangible, to allow myself to believe in our new lives, to physically labor my prayers and happiness for her into something she could hug.
Jamie's wedding quilt, finished!

The quilt is comprised of 12 blocks that are 16 in square.

Separated by 400 miles, I purchased 4 fabrics, 1/2 yard of each while my mom did the same. We met up to exchange fabrics and buy the border. We retreated to our own homes and Mom pieced 5 blocks and I made 7; neither of us using a pattern, just throwing together the 9 fabrics however we wanted.

When I stayed with my mom during the weekend of Jamie's bridal shower, we sewed together the blocks, added the 6 inch border, purchased the batting, backing fabric and bias tape. I brought it home and handquilted the entire quilt by myself in 3 weeks.

Corners of quilt
The border is a double fold bias tape, machine-stiched on the front and hand blind-stitched to the back. I am SO proud of my handstitching – this was my very first time quilting or blind stitching anything!

I'll give it to her today, her wedding day, hoping that all of my thoughts, prayers and wishes make it out of the quilt and into her life.

Local Lunch

  • Spring Salad Greens from Abingdon Organics
  • Strawberries from Bishop's
  • Farm Fresh Herbed Goat Cheese from Oak Moon Creamery
  • Dried Sweet Cherries from the guy at the JC Farmer's market (no signage, no business card)

Not pictured:

  • Toasted Rosemary Focaccia from Scratch
  • Sumatra from Cooper Coffee Co.


PS. After searching for each of these vendor's websites, I am struck that only 1 has a website or even a small little information page! People, websites are imperative! What do you think is keeping these small businesses from embracing the technology? Lack of knowledge? Perceived cost? This is something I would really love to help other small businesses with and I wonder what the barrier to entry really is!

Inspiration Monday #10: Quilty Goodness

As I've been spending most of my weekends with quilt in hand, making tiny, tiny handquilting stitches, I'm a little woozy with the quilting bug. Here's a bit of the inspiration that led me down this rabbit hole:

I'm 7 out of 12 blocks, and then I'll do a few rows around the border, and then it's time for the bias tape (which I hear is pretty fun).

Maryland Sheep & Wool


I'll be here all weekend.
And on Saturday, at 11:30, I'll be at the Ravelry meet-up, hoping to (finally) meet Lolly!
Will YOU be there? If so, drop me a line so we can meet up!

PS. The shop will continue as usual, anything purchased Friday – Sunday will be shipped on Monday (which is the usual way it goes)

Inspiration board


Susy's post on Inspiration Boards really has be rethinking this board in my office.

I've read/seen/thought about making boards like this in the past, but not until reading this was I struck with the necessity of it. These weekly inspiration posts are a method of keeping all of my inspiration together, but I think I also need a visual board, one to continually inspire. I have a board both in my office (at the dayjob) and one in front of my sewing machine and both are pitifully bare. So to start the inspiration-fest, I've been checking out others!

Hanna's board is SO much cooler than the typical pinboard.
Design For Mankind's zine on inspiration boards is a plethora of goodness
The Flickr pool is not to be missed

Despite all the great inspiration boards out there, I don't see any that really “go” in an office like mine. Most are arty/crafty or fashion-based and while I love that for home, it just doesn't fit in with my work life…any suggestions?

I’m off

..for the rest of the week; for a drive to Ohio, for coffe-sipping with Mom, for quilt-making, for a bridal shower, a bachelorette party, and and and…

Enjoy your weekend!

Target Markets (+ stuff)


Miscellany

  • A (brand new) local knitting group met last Saturday, in Jonesborough (that's us up there, I'm the one on the far right). I considered not posting the photo, but I figured I'm swallowing my self-consciousness and saying Hello! That's me!
  • My Storque article is up: all about defining your Target Market.
  • Come chat about the target marketing in this thread.
  • Sara (of Etsy) has asked me to write an article about the weekly Fiber Friday threads, if you've taken part in the past, leave a comment about why you like it, what you've learned, etc.

Free Yarn

When I started to write this post, I had sold 95 items, now it's 97!
I am so very near 100 items, a number that I want to celebrate! So, to show my appreciation, the 100th item sold will be FREE, with NO shipping!
It doesn't matter how many you buy, if you purchase the 100th, I'll adjust your invoice and the 100th be
free and the entire order will have no shipping!

If you want to know if your item will be the 100th, just take a look at the shop, on the far right:

This prize is a big sloppy Thank You! kiss to my wonderfully supportive, slightly yarn-addicted customers! To ensure that you get the free yarn and shipping, leave me a note in the “Message to Seller” part of the transaction.

Have a great Wednesday!
(edited because I had a LOT of exclamation points)

Inspiration Monday #9: Surface Design



I fell into a craft vortex today. I'm suddenly obsessed with surface design, specifically stenciling and stamping. It happened innocently enough:

I've managed to resist this far, but I'm dreaming of carving my own stamp for my business cards and notepads….
As soon as I figure out which color ink to order…

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