11.12.06
Chalkboard Vinyl Possibilities
At the Craft Bazaar at my alma-mater Saint Bernard High School yesterday, many of the customers were excited about the possibilities in my chalkboard vinyl placemats and name sign message centers and had lots of questions. Chalkboard vinyl is a material that has been out for a few years and quilters have jumped on the possibilities. I have seen several different quilt patterns using chalkboard vinyl to make placemats. After playing around with it for a little while, I came up with a smaller placemat with simple borders and built-in chalk pocket for sale at my fairs. I decided last year to incorporate these vinyl panels into my name signs. An option I offer to customers ordering a name sign is to have their sign turned into a message center. The chalkboard panel hangs under the name and a pocket runs along the bottom to hold chalk and other messages. Though I have hung this sign at different shows this year, yesterday was the first major interest it’s gotten this craft fair season. I have a bunch of samples posted on my website in the name signs section. I was thrilled yesterday to have people so excited about the possibilities! Some lucky children are going to be receiving personalized message centers at the upcoming holidays!
10.25.06
Personalized Quilted Name Signs
Children LOVE to see their names. Personalized items are always a hit. Several years ago my neighbors asked me if I would make a quilted name sign for their younger daughter. Their older daughter had one made many years ago by a woman who no longer does it. I looked at the sample they had and immediately started planning what I could do differently.
I played with letter sizes, fonts, different colors and fabrics until I came up with a workable pattern for how to put together a nice quilted sign. Their daughter loved the sign I made. I enjoyed making it and began the search for nice “child-friendly” fabrics that would be appealing. I started making samples and taking orders. Fabric stores everywhere have contributed to my large name sign fabric stash. Themes such as ladybugs, flowers, trucks, fish and flames have been added bit by bit. The samples can be viewed at Beth Sullivan Designs.
The children who approach my booth are always so excited to see their name or the names of their friends. I take orders at craft fairs or through my website. When a child wants a new color combination, their sign gets immortalized on the website for all to see – at least for a time. They really are lots of fun.
Lucy learned to spell her name by looking at her sign on the door to her room. “L,U,C,Y” were the first letters she started to recognize. We’d stop there at least once a day and point it out – “L-u-c-y spells Lucy!”
10.23.06
Selling Ourselves Short
At a fair today a customer told me that she makes quilt tops and sends them to a long-arm quilter that charges about $30 a quilt. It made me so sad to hear that. In the same way I am sad to think about the poor workers in China making next to nothing to “hand stitch” cheap quilts, I am sorrowed to think of a woman who has so undervalued her work.
I have used a long-arm quilting machine in my business to quilt the custom T-shirt quilts. I know how much work and money goes into it. The machines are VERY expensive with many of them costing more than a small car. When quilting on a long-arm, it’s not like you can throw the top on and start stitching. There’s so much more to it than that. There is at least an hour of preparation involved in getting the machine ready, pinning up the quilt and backing, testing thread tension, winding bobbins, measuring, basting, etc. all must be done before the stitching can begin. Thread breaks, bobbin changes, etc. add to the time it takes to quilt when actually stitching. It made me sad that a professional quilter would so grossly undervalue what she’s worth.
10.20.06
Red Sox Quilts and More
I am a Red Sox fan. My husband roots for the Yankees but I try not to hold that against him. 
Last night I had the pleasure of meeting Rosemary Bawn who came to Thimble Pleasures Quilt Guild to speak. She is best known around New England as the “Red Sox Quilt Lady.” Her quilts are really quite stunning. Her most recent one “Reversing the Curse” has won a number of awards and recently hung at the New England Quilt Museum as a part of the “Best of New England Guilds” Exhibit. I was also fortunate to have my “Challenge Star” hanging as part of the same exhibit.
Rosemary’s quilts are absolutely amazing. The attention to detail, creativity and workmanship simply awed us all. Her scrapbook quilts depicting the times in her life and in her children’s lives are beautiful. The Red Sox quilts are the most famous but by no means are representative of her entire body of work. She was an animated, funny and down-to-earth speaker. I know my quilt guild thoroughly enjoyed her presentation.
Her quilts left me equally inspired and intimidated. I spend so much time working on my quilting business, “Beth Sullivan Designs” that I rarely have time to quilt for ME anymore. I really need to make more time to do that. *Sigh* Right on cue, here comes Lucy!
10.15.06
East Bridgewater – Sachem Rock Farm
I just got back from a wonderful day at Sachem Rock Farm in East Bridgewater, MA. The weather was gorgeous – though a bit cold early on. I thoroughly enjoyed this fair. It was wonderful meeting people – especially the kids. I loved the 3 kids belonging to my friend Dina that had to sit with their fried dough just outside the booth at their mother’s request. The babies that gifted me with a smile were just the best. Chatting with people and hearing compliments on my and my mother’s work was a great boost.
For anyone contemplating going to this fair next year, the kids seemed to be having a blast. There were plenty of food items, pony rides, music playing, an incredibly talented balloon sculpture artists and of course – a great craft fair!
10.05.06
T-Shirt Quilt Summary
I am often asked by people exactly what a T-shirt quilt is. They think I had to scan and reproduce the shirt logos in order to get them into a quilt. I’ll try to clarify here a little bit about the process. More can be found in the T-shirt quilt section at Beth Sullivan Designs. When I make a T-shirt quilt for a customer they usually come to my home or send me their shirts. We decide upon a plan for the quilt including how big it will be, how big each block must be and where we need to modify the design to include more shirts or s-t-r-e-t-c-h existing shirts to make a bigger quilt. The fabric choices are also made. I then wash all the shirts and fuse them to an interfacing to make them have less stretch. From there, the blocks are cut and modified as needed. Once the blocks are “quilt ready” with any extra patches, borders, etc., the quilt top is assembled. I no longer quilt these large quilts on my home machine. Instead, I bring them to a friend’s house and rent her Gammill long-arm quilting machine. Once quilted, the blocks are machine tacked with my Bernina domestic sewing machine over the surface of each of the blocks about every 2 inches. Finally, the binding is added first by machine and then sewn by hand. An average T-shirt quilt takes me about 15-20 hours to complete from start to finish.
09.28.06
Craft Fairs
Autumn… A time of changing leaves, sweaters, Halloween and craft fairs! I began doing craft fairs 2 years ago and am at the start of my third season on “the circuit” I do around 10 craft fairs a year, mostly in the autumn months. This Saturday (9/30/06) I’ll be at Stoney Brook Wildlife Sanctuary for their annual Fall Festival. Today and tomorrow I’ll be busy taking inventory of my craft fair items, gathering things in one spot in my house and sewing a few last minute things. I have to make sure that this time I remember to bring masking tape. Nothing like being in the middle of a field without a crucial item! Despite the work – and often the cash box disappointment, I do love doing the fairs. I like talking with new people, setting up the booth, making sales and gaining customers. My mailing list is always out so people can sign up for my newsletter.
It’s a tough season for the crafters. We are trying to make a living selling “non-essentials” and there doesn’t seem to be as much money around to buy things. There are lots and lots of “lookers.” People are really cutting back. At the same time, the fees are going up on the tables and booth spaces. This year more than any other, I’ve noticed that there are fewer crafters around. More and more are talking about getting out of the business completely. Not an easy way to make a living! I make more money per hour working at Dream Dinners one night a week to be honest. BUT… There’s nothing quite like a verbal compliment on my work or even better, someone complimenting me with their hard earned money. I hope eventually to be able to do just a few fairs a year and really cut back. But for now, I plan to keep plugging along and watching the weather forecast every weekend! Here’s a list of my upcoming fairs… Go to Beth Sullivan Designs and click on “Upcoming Craft Fairs and Quilt Shows.”
