May in Review

This month seems to have flown by and here we are on the cusp of summer -- it's supposed to be in the mid 80's here all week and limited chance of evening thunderstorms. I have to rub it in some because I know some of my readers may be in the area that got SNOW last weekend -- though hopefully none of you are in the area of Texas that saw massive flooding. Summer time to me means something a little different this year as I am trying to get out to more festivals and events and in between times find time for family and crafting and perhaps even a small trip somewhere (but I am quite a homebody). 

So what did I accomplish this month ----

• participated in 2 craft shows (one went better than the other) 
• Joined along in the Easiest Sew Along Ever hosted by Kim and completed my project timely -- I even fought with the metallic thread for this one 

• I completed the Zakka project for my Guild's swap -- everyone brought in a bag of scraps to exchange and the we made an item that the initial owner of the scraps wanted to receive. I was "lucky" to receive the guild leader's scraps of Kate Spain Central Park. There were very specific instructions that went along with these scraps but I think I pulled it off. She requested either a small pouch, basket or piano runner -- so here's what I came up with (and that runner is reversible)
  
  
  
  Not many finishes but items that I am happy to have created. June goals are looming but I think I am going to focus on getting into more events and finishing up some of those UFO's and maybe try my hand at a few more pouches -- though I am still not a fan of zippers but I feel more warmly about them than I did before. 
  
  
  Happy Quilting everyone --- What's on your table for June? 

Where you going May?

Does it seem crazy to anyone else that it is already the 20^th of May? I know it sure does to me, next week is Memorial Day and then we are staring summer in the face. I have no plans for the summer but I would like to make it to the Quilt Expo in Raleigh again this year. I am looking at several classes right now and trying to justify the costs to both myself and the hubs, with the Expo, class fees, hotel, travel, food and of course shopping – it all adds up rather quickly. 

My showing on Friday went well and I am looking forward to the next 3^rd Friday event coming up next month.  Sold one piece, got a custom order and had some other people interested in making purchases. It was a good opportunity to be out in the community and meet some fellow artists. I am thinking of making up some wall hanging quilts that mirror the barn quilts I have seen in the area as this might have a well reception. I tried out my large rolling tote and find that this is a much better way to transport my goods instead of bags or smaller bins. My ladder is a nice display but for these smaller events I needed something more portable and got a large drying rack to try out at my next showing.

 

In other news I finally upgraded my phone – I’ve had my Dare since it was new to the market and it is starting to struggle some with basic functions like taking photos and group messaging. I hate the Verizon store because that place makes me very anxious and last time I had to just leave because of the negativity I was getting. Best Buy was so much better – no commissioned sales person trying to force things upon you that you don’t want and they are knowledgeable about different plans as well as the phones. I got the newest IPhone and so far I love it and once I figure out some of the basics it will be much easier for me to adjust to the newness of this technology.  

 

This weekend I saw Star Trek Into Darkness and it was AMAZING. Treckies and non can all appreciate this movie.  As a self proclaimed movie snob this one comes highly recommended. Last weekend I saw Iron Man 3 – also very much worth seeing. I didn't think it was as good as the other Iron Man movies or the Avengers Movie but still a good way to spend a few hours. I am thinking about seeing the Great Gatsby sometime soon because I have been told good things about it and DiCaprio usually makes a good movie.

 

With the showing Friday night, getting a phone Saturday and going to the movies it didn't leave much time for actual creating but I did get the top of the table runner ready for the zakka swap later this month and need to finish that up this week. I also need to finish up my candy crush quilt for the easiest sew along by the end of next week. I am going to be using all my spare minutes this week to accomplish these goals because the in-laws are coming next weekend and I will be rearranging the craft room probably Saturday morning  to make room for the air mattress but at least I’m off Monday and can get some sewing in then.  

 

Happy Quilting Everyone 

A Curve ball, a Win, a Delay and re found Team Spirit

This weekend I spent a good deal of time in the sewing room catching up on my Bible Studies blocks offered through The Quilter's Loft  I was more blocks behind than I thought and ended up putting together 7 blocks instead of the 4 I thought I was behind on. Then this week they threw us a curve ball and released 3 more blocks. I have 2 finished already because I precut the pieces over lunch and sewing went quickly. I have one more cut but some of the pieces are tiny – there is a flying goose piece that will be about an inch and a half on the long side when finished and there are 4 of them in the block. Can’t wait to show you all how that works out. Here is a pick of the blocks I have finished (prior to these last 3). As I have mentioned I am making these out of only scraps of neutrals which I feel is making them more interesting.

Also this weekend I worked on my Easiest Sew along Ever Project that is being hosted by Kim who blogs over at http://www.windsorandmain.com/. I again went to my scraps for this one because we were using what we had to see what we could create. I took it a little further and did a random open in a magazine to determine my project. So far this is my progress and I am happy to report that I was selected as the midpoint giveaway recipient and look forward to all those goodies that are coming my way. Now I have to keep plugging along and finish it up by the end of the month. Candy Crush Quilt

I still need to work on the Zakka project for the guild meeting coming up in less than 2 weeks – that’s a project for this weekend. Here’s my inspiration project from Pinterest. Can’t say much more about it because she might be reading but I will post pictures at the end of the month once she receives her gift.

Thanks again for everyone that helped pull me out of the funk I was feeling after the poor response at my last event. I am doing a smaller even this Friday in Yadkinville on Main Street by the Art Gallery (if the weather holds out) – there will be music, wine, food and crafts what more could a person ask for. If you want details, message me or check out this posting on facebook

Small steps

I am happy to announce this is my 50th post and I just hit 3400 views and I'm going strong. I've met some great people in the last 4 months and look forward to he adventures ahead in blogging and quilting. 

My adventures this weekend will probably include working on these projects 

• Complete May block of the Month
•  Sew Along Project – ongoing this month
• Zakka project for the guild swap (due 5/28)
• Catch up on Block of the Week Blocks
• Complete Star Wars T Shirt Quilt -- quilt and bind.
• Complete City Scape – finish quilting and Bind
• Elephant Parade Quilt –quilt and bind
• Make another guilt donation quilt (maybe by 5/28)
• Start Craftsy Block of the Month (could be donation quilt)
• Start Scrappy Trip-A-Long 

I hope everyone has a wonderful mother's day weekend and gets to do plenty of quilting. 

Big Girl Panties

This is not a blog about child rearing -- it's about self doubt and self loathing both of which I have been doing quite a bit of these last few days. You might ask -- "why so glum chum?" 

Kerners Folly did not shape up like I had expected. This was my first outside event and 2nd event total and I busted my tail to get things done on time so that I would feel that I had more things at a lower price point to incise buyers that perhaps weren't ready to make a quilt purchase. In actuality if I didn't sell a quilt I wanted to sell something to help at least cover the charge of attending the festival. This did not happen - total sales were a big fat goose egg (that's zero for those of you that don't speak southern). I had some decent traffic and what appeared to be genuine interest in my good and many accolades on my work -- but this was not a buying crowd. Other vendors around me were struggling as well but both very nice ladies on either side of me did eventually turn a small amount of profit and I could see that other's were not fairing much better. This coupled with the winds made for a dreary and difficult day -- it's quite difficult to be equally nice to someone at 5 or 6 pm as you were earlier in the day when your spirits are way down. 

So what's a girl to do --- this one chose to wallow in self doubt for the last few days and doubt myself as a crafter. Saturday evening, Sunday and most of Yesterday I contemplated throwing in the towel -- only make things for swaps, guild charity and gifts unless a commission comes my way through Etsy and I would list the current merchandise there until is sells. 

But wait a minute -- that's not who I am, that's not why I quilt and create. I do it for the love of the process and the joy that it brings both to myself and others. Some of the best people I know are creatives and trust me none of us are getting rich off our talents. So after about 48 hours of this funk I decided it was time to snap out of it and "put on my big girl panties" --- so I told myself there are other shows coming up and the weather will be different and people will be different, you are not a quilter Katie Yoakum so get back in there and give it another go.

I went to my LQS last night for a monthly meeting and felt some better and then today I got a call about doing another show in 10 days here  in Yadkinville. The set up fee is low and I hope to be able to at least get my name out there a little more and hopefully make some sales. I am looking to other events coming up and also revamped the ETSY store. 

I am hoping to get back to my sewing machine this weekend to help me cope with it being mother's day (a very difficult day of the year for me). I have at least 2 projects I need to complete this month and one is for a guild swap and the other is a sew along online so I am looking forward to both of those. 

Thanks for sticking with me. Happy Quilting everyone. (Happiness is what it's all about) 

Friday at the Folly

So no sales for Friday night at the festival but there was a good deal of traffic and interest. I did sell some raffle tickets for the guild -- so not a total wash of the evening and met a very lovely lady that wants to bring a fabric store to Kernersville. I thought I would share my set up this evening and let you all know I will be back out there bright and early in the morning about 8am. I'm across the street from Main Street Baptist Church (under the Willow Tree --- how neat is that) next to a lady selling tutus. I'm gonna do a little bit of revamp work tomorrow on the set up to have a space behind the tables for us to sit and have food or trade out monies -- it might help me not come across as so in your face and make the space more inviting to customers.

Happy Quilting  Everyone

and then there were 5

It's the BIG day -- Kerners Folly is tonight and I am so glad took the day off work because it really helped me complete many of my Projects in Progress.

• Teacup Pincushions -- done
• mug rugs -- done
• X marks the spot quilt -- done
• Designer Star -- done

So that means that my UFO pile is considerably smaller

1. Elephant Parade -- needs quilting and binding
2. T-Shirt Quilt -- needs quilting and binding
3. Finish up Cityscape -- 1/2 done with quilting at this point
4. Zakka Project -- due 5/28 -- plan in place
5. Small Koi Mix UP -- needs sandwiching, quilting and binding

Storm at Sea Projects are both currently being used as display at Sewingly Yours for an upcoming Shop Hop -- so for now I'm not counting those