HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY

Every year we host Thanksgiving dinner for our family and as everyone's children have grown our group seems to be getting smaller and smaller. This year there are 8 coming to dinner and we plan on having plenty of leftovers to send home with everyone and to have that always looked forward to turkey sandwich late tonight.

Menu is:

Roast Turkey w/ dressing
whole cranberry sauce
fresh green beans
fresh candied yams topped with marshmallows
fresh mashed potatoes with sour cream
fresh corn
rolls
assorted drinks

Desserts

pumpkin pie
pumpkin cheesecake
apple pie

all served with whipped topping

How Time Flies

Wow! I can't believe it is already going to be Thanksgiving and I haven't posted anything since the 9th.

I did another craft show and once more it was not that great. I think craft shows are on the back burner for awhile and I will concentrate on my Etsy shop and doing some custom work for local customers.

I made these great aprons and I really love them. They each come with a set of potholders that are also very cute, if I do say so myself. I have posted them in my etsy shop so they are available for sale.

I am making some more that are bib aprons for those really messy cooks, like me. LOL

Custom Orders and a new Quilting Machine

I have two more custom orders to finish up this week and am looking forward to getting my new HQ quilting machine. The machine should be in this week and now I am starting to feel the butterflies in my stomach flutter around. I have been wishing for this machine for two years and one will finally be sitting in my sewing studio. I can hardly believe it is coming.

I got 3 more items listed on etsy today and I keep praying that sales will improve soon.

Thank God its Friday

It has been one very long week. I finished up 2 of my custom items, one I sent off with DH this morning for delivery and the second one will be delivered tomorrow.




Baby quilt for customer


I am quickly learning about pricing items and I feel that I have serious underpriced some of the items that I have made. Live and learn. The only plus is that I hope this gets my name out there and will bring about more business. Another learning curve has been the timing, sometimes people decide to give a quilt as a gift and it is on short notice so I am getting some last minute orders. It is difficult because I want to produce quality products as I am sure that is what people expect but it is difficult to do when I am pressed for time.

Just got a call from the customer that ordered the baby quilt. She loved it "I wanted to cry when I saw it, it is so beautiful". I am so happy that she was pleased with the work and she has already mentioned that she will be ordering another in Feb. for a neice that is expecting a baby. She promises to give me more time on the next one.LOL

Well, I am off to sort out my sewing studio so I can get working on my next project.

What a Week!

I haven't posted anything for awhile because I have been busy, busy, busy. I am working on 4 custom items 2 of which are due this week and I still have a way to go to finish up.

I spent this last weekend at the Houston Quilt Show and I had a blast. I met up with some forum friends and caught up on what had happened since we last met in Houston and planned on getting together again next year. Shopped till I dropped every night and took a class on Long Arm Quilting with Pam Clarke, all that left me totally exhausted and I have been recovering since.LOL

I have posted some new items in my etsy shop and still hoping that customers are encouraged to start buying Christmas gifts. Taking pictures of items for sale can be very time consuming and I still need to keep working on getting that perfect picture.

I purchased an HQ16 mid arm quilter and it should be arriving sometime this week and I am really looking forward to playing with my new toy. I took that class in Houston so that I would be ready to go when my machine arrived and hopefully wouldn't be too intimidated by it.

The newest design I am working on is a "tossed nine patch" pattern made with 4 inch blocks instead of the usual 5 inch. This quilt is a doll quilt in red, white and blue, that a customer ordered to decorate a bench in her home. I will post a picture tomorrow of the finished quilt.

Great Gift Ideas

Here are some great and inexpensive Christmas Gift ideas you can find in my Etsy Shop at quiltingfrenzy.etsy.com


change purse or mini makeup bag

Cell Phone Caddy

Baby doll and Doll Quilt Combos

Camo Clutch or makeup bag

Work, Work, Work.

I have been busy working on items for my upcoming craft fair and I love the new items and will be listing them in my etsy shop as soon as I am done with this show. I have been working hard on the new babydoll pillows and matching quilts and it has been so much fun putting them together. This is a great way to use up my noodles from swaps that I have been part of. I have so many it is hard to decide which ones to use first.

Coming Soon to quiltingfrenzy.etsy.com

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I love this new babydoll pillow I made for my craft sale. She makes a great gift for any little one and a wonderful bedtime buddy ready to have some sweet dreams.

I will be at the Live Oak Civic Center in Live Oak, TX on October 25, 2008 at the Randolph Air Force Base Officers Spouse's Club, "Deep In the Arts of Texas" Arts and Crafts Sale.

It's been a long day.

I slept in late this morning after staying up until 2:00 am waiting on my daughter to get off of work. She doesn't have a car so I had to go pick her up at 1:30 am, not my idea of a restful evening.

Today I went to Hancock fabric store and picked up a few odds and ends and some fabric for a tote bag for a Christmas gift. We went shopping and stopped at Whataburger to get something for lunch and then went home to start sewing up some potholders for the craft show.

I had posted pictures of my pin cushions and needle books in the Quilt In A Day forum and I actually got a sale from that. Someone on the forum sent me a message asking if I could sell them a set and send it to a friend of theirs as a gift. You never know where that next sale is coming from , so I guess it is a good idea to get your products out there as much as you can. I haven't had any more etsy sales so it felt good to see that buyers were approaching me from other sites.

Tomorrow I will be working on those pot holders and a few other kitchen items to go along with them. This is my attempt to add some lower price point items and hopefully an easy sell when it comes to the craft sale and my etsy shop. Somewhere between working on items, listing items and creating patterns I need to get caught up on my sleep, which may not be an easy thing to do. I feel as if time is running out to get things done for the craft sale on the 25th of this month and the more I want to do, the more that seems to come up to take my attention away from my work. I probably need to take a day off of working and just veg out in front of the television.

"Quilter's Block"

I think I am experiencing a road block in my creativity.

I know that I want to have a wider price point in my shop, especially for the upcoming craft sale, I need more items that people can give as gifts and not just buy for themselves. I spent today making pin cushions and needle books and tomorrow will be spent sorting through fabrics trying to get inspired.

I don't know if it is just a sign of the times and the economy that is keeping things from selling in my etsy shop. I had one sale and then nothing else has caught anyones eye, or so it seems. I will post some more stuff on Sunday and see how that goes, it certainly isn't time to start getting discouraged.

SALE!!!!

I had my first esty.com sale this last weekend. I logged on to my etsy shop, quiltingfrenzy.etsy.com and was surprised to see a convo (message) from someone waiting for me. A customer wanted to know if I had other designs of the Halloween candy bags that I have listed, she wanted "non-scary" ones.

She purchased 5 bags, which really made my day. I have had my shop on etsy for about a month and a half and with no sales, I was beginning to think that it had been a big mistake. She even asked if I was doing some for Christmas, because she is interested in buying some then also.

I finished up the Christmas stockings last week so now I am concentrating on doing some of these Christmas gift bags and some Christmas gift totes. They make great eco friendly, reusable gift wrapping and, if I do say so myself, they are also very cute.

This bag is quilted in 100% cotton fabric and 100% cotton batting, measures 9 X 9 X 3 without the handles and will also be available as a custom item.

Craft Show or Bust?

Well, my first show as a vendor was a bust. I guess it can be labeled as a learning experience of what type of shows to stay away from and that made it a success.

Don't get me wrong, I am not giving up and crawling away to hide, if anything it has made me more determined to find the right niche for my craft. I love being a quilter but there are only so many quilts you can keep for yourself, so I have to find a market for my creations.

The next show is at the end of the month and now I have to start adding Holiday items to my inventory but as always, I have more ideas than I have time to work. I have made up some Christmas stockings and have several others in progress along with some Christmas door decorations. I am devoting this week to small holiday decorations and next week I will move on to larger items such as lap quilts and wall hangings.

My shop at quiltingfrenzy.etsy.com is coming along nicely, although I have not had any sales yet. I am trying to rework the photographs and add some more inventory to both my on-line shop and my craft show items. I have started to check out other blog sites with similar interests as mine, I don't want to imitate anything but I do want to see what others are doing.

designing woman

I've been playing taxi for the family all this last week and I am ready to quit driving altogether. Everytime I pull into the gas station it makes me cringe to look at the pump just spining out of control with the ever rising price of gas. This week will be a stay at home week and I will be able to devote more time to what I really need to do and this concentrate on my business.

I have been busy trying to add creations to my inventory for the craft sale next week. I have spent as much of my free time as I can in my sewing studio cutting out fabric and putting together tote bags, lap quilts, cell phone caddies, and items that I hope will be of interest to the shoppers. I have researched new fabric lines and the upcoming winter clothing lines for inspiration while trying to keep in mind the customer base that will be going to this particular craft show. There is also the upcoming holidays that I need to consider for any seasonal items.

New Cell Phone Caddies: these have been added to my inventory and will soon be for sale in my quiltingfrenzy.etsy.com shop.

Labor Day

I have been busy laboring over my sewing machine trying to complete some of the projects on my inventory list. I have tons of stuff to get done and so far I have some women's tote bags and purses done with several more to finish. I have completed a lap quilt top and I plan to start doing the machine quilting sometime tomorrow morning.

I love the totes I completed today, I decided to give them a different look by rounding up the bottom instead of doing the usual box shape that I normally do. Last night I sat down and made a pattern and it worked out really great, making the cutting and assembly so much faster than the hit or miss technique of the day before.

I will have to do an inventory list on a spreadsheet so that I know what I have done and what needs to get finished, maybe a little organization will help my production efforts.

All of this is done between driving my daughter to school and to work, doing errands and housework. I feel exhausted and frustrated, not feeling that anything is getting completely done because of all the interruptions.

I am feeling apprehensive about this whole endeavor and I keep praying that it all works out, although I am not fooling myself that it will be a walk in the park. There are so many things that have to get done, one step at a time, is all I can do.

Entrepreneur

Definition: a person who organizes and manages a business undertaking, assuming the risk for the sake of the profit

I have never seen myself as a risk taker, if anything I have always been the one that stays on the "safe side" of the road. Perhaps after living with a husband and a child that are both ADHD the "risk taker" attitude is rubbing off on me. Whatever it is, I find myself wanting to take that risk and start my own business as I get used to the idea of "taking the risk for the sake of the profit".

Living with these two loves of my life has had it's ups and downs and I don't see an end to that road, nor do I want to. ADHD, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, there is a mouthful, I sometimes feel as if I live in a circus, in the clowns trailer. You know, the clowns that all crowd into that mini car and then start to climb out, you never know how many are going to emerge, and each time it is a different quantity. I have to admit that life has gotten a little more "peaceful" since they both discovered laptop computers. If there is one thing that can hold the attention of an ADHD person is anything that resembles a tv screen and if they can manipulate it themselves, well that is just heaven to these two.

When I first met my husband he seemed "normal", I mean that in the most loving of ways, stable, hard working, dependable, of high moral values, you know, all the good stuff. In the past 20+ years I have found that he is all of those things and more. When asked by my children why I married him the one thing that always come to mind is, "he makes me laugh" and he has brought out the "risk taker" in me.

Getting Started

Today my efforts to start my own business are under way. I have enjoyed sewing and crafting for as long as I can remember and now I am trying to see if there is room for me on the arts and crafts show circuit.

I started creating some new seasonal items that will be in my inventory for a craft show at the end of September. The first project consists of making a dozen Halloween bags. I hope there are lots of people with young children that want some Halloween bags for their treats. I knew I needed a new twist to my items, so I designed a bag with a witch and one with a jack-o-lantern and so far have had good reviews from family.

Quilts are really my thing, thus the name Quilting Frenzy. I will be adding quilts to my inventory and so far I have created one wall hanging and one lap/crib quilt and I have a few more projects in mind that will be easy and fast to create .

I have 3 weeks to create a complete inventory for this first show, my free time will definitely be limited.