Between the devil and the deep blue sea....

I've posted before that I'd like to make sewing and all other things quilty, provide me with an income...so I've made a few things and listed some of them on Etsy and on Madeit.  I priced them according to the value of the actual materials it cost me to buy as well as a cost per hour for the time it took me to make them (and I have to say the cost per hour was exceptionally low - I could make 3 times as much per hour serving in a shop - this is not a moan, honestly, just wanted to highlight that my cost per hour is not over the top).

I was super excited that I sold one of my pouches, and looked forward to perhaps selling some more - but unfortunately, to date, that hasn't been the case....I seem to have a few viewers of my stuff, but no takers.....are they too expensive?, are they naff?, have I not adequately highlighted the care I've taken in making them?, is my taste in my bum?..and today I finished a couple more items that I'm going to list and I have worked out how much they cost me to make (materials and time).

bright baby quilt with matching soft basket

pastel baby quilt with matching soft basket

My quandry though is one that I am sure everyone who has attempted to put a price on a handmade item has experienced - where is the line between value for money and expensive?  I really don't want to completely understate my time and effort but if I undercut my per hour rate further, I will be earning less than those working in sweatshops in 3rd world countries!

Obviously, I'm assuming that the reason no-one's buying is because of the price - but maybe it's because I don't have a big enough audience, or maybe it's because there's a recession on, or my stuff doesn't stand out from whatever else is on Etsy or Madeit - maybe I need to offer items at a vastly reduced price to 'get my name out there' and go for volume - but this then means I can't afford to spend as much time per item as I do - something will have to give.  I tell you, it's a real quandry.

I'm currently reading:

The Handmade Market Place:

How to sell your crafts locally, globally and onlineBy Kari Chapin

recommended by the lovely Kathy and hope to have further insight into 'selling handmade' success, as well as reading the Etsy 'boot camp' lessons that I filed away to read another day - obviously need to digest the pearls of wisdom provided.

This on-line selling is very much a learning experience but I will persevere....anyone out there have any pearls of wisdom for me?

Back from AWOL - a bit of a mish-mash of stuff

I feel like I've been away from the computer for ever - but in reality, it was only last week, but I haven't caught up with my blog reading nor emails - I've been quite busy - lots of things to see and do - but I got some mail today that I couldn't not share...

Some time ago I received a lovely note from Fiona, my secret partner, to tell me that the MCTS I made for her had been happily received (so glad you liked it Fiona!).

I eagerly awaited mine - and seeing so many beautiful runners in the swap, I was happily anticipating all of them!  However, on November 20th, a photo appeared in the Swap Flickr group that got me thinking that surely that one was mine - red and white (my favourite combo) and stars - and guess what arrived today??  Lynne, from Ridge and Furrow got is sooooooo right - I love it - and the 2 little tree decorations in the parcel are just fantastic.  It's beautifully made and the rich reds in the runner go so well on my dining table........

Just gorgeous - thank you to Lynne for reading me so well and thank you too to Susan for her wonderful Swap bee - I really enjoyed every bit of it.

In other news:

Me and my BFF went to Australian Quilt Market last weekend - we stayed in the city as the market opened early and it was on for 2 days - in the end, we only attended on the saturday -  lots of gorgeous new fabrics coming in as well as threads, patterns and clever tools - we met Saffron Craig and saw her new range, listened to distributers and what they could provide, we were inspired by various talks and bought some fabulous fabrics (no photos of anything - forgot the camera and put everything away when I got home trying for some semblance of order in my sewing room house).  We're also planning to become on-line fabric sellers so we've been looking over the fabrics we want to stock (Echo by Lotta Jansdotta is on top of the list!) - so more on this new venture at a later date.  When I got home and told me husband about the new idea, he FULLY supported it - funny, I've been married to this man for almost 30 years (aaaagh!!) and he STILL has the capacity to surprise me.

On the Sunday, me and my BFF went to the DFO's at South Wharf in Melbourne - Lizzy picked up the bargain of the century at Fossil - a big, gorgeous black leather handbag - for 50 bucks!! - she really is the bargain queen.  We had a great weekend - no-one to please except ourselves - and the weekend incorporated sewing, quilting, fabric, food, movies (The King's Speech, Young Victoria and Oranges and Sunshine) and chocolate - and BFF's - so sensational all round really.

I finished a couple of things...

a flashy tote bag

a new pouch for the Madeit shop

 I sorted out all of my hanging clothes as my son fixed the rail.  So there was a pile of clothes for family to pick over, a pile of clothes (and shoes) for the bin and a pile of suits for a charity that kits women out and prepares them for job interviews.

The 'family' pile has been picked over and the remainder was sorted into 'recycle' or 'op shop'.  So all is in order again - I even found some clothes I had completely forgotten about - and due to me losing a couple of kilos (without even trying - what's THAT about???? - I only want to know so I can be sure to keep doing it) they fit again - woo hoo!

Anyway - I have to prepare for my lesson tonight - my students are on block no. 8 and really learning a lot, so I'm off.  While I'm not a prolific commenter, please forgive me for not leaving any this last week.

Cheers

WIP Wednesday #10

It's that time of the week again and although I don't always make it, I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced - it's her 1 year anniversary of WIP Linky posts - thanks Lee - a sterling job!!

We have had the mother of electrical and rain storms today - flash flooding, hail and lightning all over the place - it flooded the local community centre where I teach patchwork on wednesday evenings, so those who braved the rain came to my house to sew instead - it's still raining and the pool looks like it's about to overflow - and given the pool pump has seized (the man is coming out on Friday to either fix or replace it), we may be swimming in our beds!!  I'm also just a little concerned about my vegie patch - I was very happy about how things are growing out there, but the hail may have decimated it - I'll have a look tomorrow.

But, onwards and upwards....since the last time I reported on a WIP Wednesday, there has been some progress:

I made more hexies and cut out some 'plain' ones, so now I have 26 - I think another 14 or so and I can start putting them together with sashing - then a couple of borders and the top will be ready.  The hexies are hand pieced, but everything else will be done by machine.

I started and completely finished a quilt that will go into my shop (either at Etsy or Madeit)

Made a few more FWQA blocks (blogged about here)

I'm now over half way on these so that feels pretty good.

I finished a UFO (now in my Etsy shop)

I lined some pouches with my hand dyed fabric, and listed those in my Etsy shop

...and on the Long-arm side, I've quilted one very large charity quilt, a lap size client quilt and loaded a queen size client quilt ready for quuilting tomorrow.

Phew!!

To summarise:

Finished:

Whirleygig II quilt
Nest quilt
3 pouches

Quilts in Progress:

Blanket Box Hexies - total made, 26

4 FWQA - total made, 56

No action at all:

Class Sampler quilt - all blocks completed

UFOUFN's:

Psychedelic tartan - who knows??
Double diamonds - still needs something......
Which way to go - needs quilting
Dancing with the stars - needs quilting
Kimono mini - needs binding
Sashiko qayg - needs finishing!
Red and white challenge - needs properly starting

Please click on Lee's "Freshley Pieced WIP wednesday" button on the right to see what others are up to .....

On days like this....

So last night I loaded a commission quilt on the beast and given my son and his girlfriend now sleep next to the room I have the beast in, I thought to myself that I'd get it quilted in the morning - so as not to disturb them, you understand - and then I can be a bit domesticated in the afternoon - maybe hoover up the dust wombats (they're waaaaaay past bunnies).

My client wanted an all over meander, avoiding the appliqued train - so, started quilting this morning and it's going really well....I'm meandering like a good thing and avoiding the applique...then I thought I could maybe quilt a line about 1/4" from the train to really make it pop......so started to do that and unfortunately my 1/4" line became anywhere between 1/8" - 1" from the train....oh oh, stop doing that, unpick.  Start meandering again.....

I finished a pass and noticed that the top thread was running really well, a bit too well really, and when I went to cut the threads, I put my hand underneath the quilt and it didn't feel right - felt a bit fuzzy - so eased off the tension on the quilt so I could take a good look underneath......and here's what I saw..

OMG -  the correct terms for this sort of happening is 'eyelashes' - and these eyelashes belong on the main characters in 'Priscilla, Queen of the Desert', not on the back of my clients' quilt.  When I was unpicking my sort of 1/4" line, I must have inadvertently knocked the top thread out of the tension spring - aaaagh.

It was pretty easy to unpick, thank goodness, and it left a nice little pile of thread

Retensioned the top thread and off I went again - without incident this time...

gordon bennett i take a rotten photo!

here's the back - plain red and while it's not obvious, the thread i've used is variegated blues, through purple to red

 - but it totally put me off hoovering those wombats.  Instead, I gave the beast a thorough clean and oil, put in a new needle and loaded another quilt - this one is going in my Etsy shop.  Once this one's done, I have another commission quilting job, so looks like those wombats may become cows before I get to them.

Top and backing loaded and just waiting for me to attach the batting before I can pull the top up and start quilting.

I'll blog about this quilt once I've got it quilted.

Another leap (or is that 'Once more into the breach...'?????)

Well, I've gorn and done it now - I've listed an item in Etsy - my very first quilt, for sale, on Etsy - not the first quilt I made, you understand - that's on our bed in the camper trailer - it's also very suss in terms of construction and block placement - but this first is 'the listed on Etsy' first.

artistically draped over the barby

So, following my bliss:

• give up work in the finance industry - check
• provide long-arm quilting service - check
• teaching patchwork and sewing - check
• enrol for Diploma in Textiles next year - check
• selling my hand made items on Etsy - check

Now all of the above just has to start providing some sort of income over and above what I spend on fabric and my world, not to mention my dear husband, will be a happier place!

I love it when a plan comes together...