Thursday, November 27, 2008

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

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

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

Sunday, November 9, 2008

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.



Friday, November 7, 2008

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.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

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.