Sunday 12 October 2014

Quilting Mojo: Lost .... and Found?

Hello everyone,

I can't believe how long I haven't written a blog post. I think it's probably a pretty obvious sign that I had been struggling with my quilting and that I have not beeing very productive.

I had lost my quilt mojo completely, questioning why I am doing this. The shop is pretty much dead, nobody is buying anything and I honestly have no time to invest in some serious marketing which is probably what it would take to make some sales at all. And even if I had some time to work on the shop I wouldn't even know where to start.

And I think all of us quilters ask ourselves sometime, what am I gonna do with all these quilts? Of course some of us have large families and constant birthdays and celebrations to make quilts for but everyone I know already has at least one quilt or more and many people are just not that keen on quilts, they are maybe not modern or trendy enough to show off in a home and I can understand that my family and friends just roll their eyes if I present them with yet another quilt.

Besides, only quilters really understand what such an item is actually worth. Of course, everything is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. But considering the amount of money we spend on the materials, the sewing machines and the hours upon hours upon even more hours we spend on making our quilts, not having our work appreciated is heartbreaking. I guess it isn't always obvious how much goes into a quilt.

Recently, a friend of mine asked me to make a quilt for her unborn baby. She sent a specific image of a quilt set she found on Argos and said she can't afford the 75 pounds they are asking for that quilt (plus bedding, sheet etc. - the poor quilter who made that set was what I was thinking but I kept my mouth shut). In the same sentence she said she would of course pay me the 'going rate'. Ha, I thought someone had punched me in the stomach. I guess she had never seen my shop and the 'going rate' I normally charge. I guess that puts it all into perspective. When our own friends think a quilt might be worth 20 or 30 pounds and we invest a lot more than that in fabric alone not even counting how much our time is worth, then we need to reevaluate. But it's not their foult how would they know, right? I keep telling myself that all the time.

So you can understand I had taken it quite slow lately with quilting as I have so many, and I mean SOOOOOO MANY quilts already and don't know what to do with them. I was getting to the point where I thought I needed to find something to do that does not cost so much money time and effort and I need to stop creating things, large things that take up lots of space in our tiny house.

So that was my frame of mind, you see I was not in the best quilting moods, and then Katy Jones of ImAGingerMonkey came along and asked whether I'd make something for her new magazine Quilt Now! And bang, all of a sudden I felt I had a purpose again.



I am sure you've seen the magazine, it is gorgeous and taking the quilting world by storm right now. Issue 3 featured the first cushion I had made in years out of Kaffe Fassett scraps. I love how Katy posed the cushion and how nicely it fits into the magazine amongst amazing quilts and features on quilters and designers I have admired for years.

I was ecstatic, as you can imagine and dare I say it, there might be even more of my things in future issues, maybe. :) I am so proud to be featured and it has given me my passion for quilting back. I have been working on a number of projects since and will show them to you in good time.

So please go check out the magazine, you won't regret it, it's awesome.

Lots of love and happy crafting.
Nadine




2 comments:

  1. Congrats.....so exciting!!! What a great way to get your mojo back.

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  2. Hello Nadine, just spent a long, long time admiring all your colour sense & hand works on sale in your Etsy shop... which now leads me to here, your blog spot.
    I don't even know if these words will reach you. ( I am VERY old...lol) a poor computer user... BUT a great lover of textiles.. fabric & colour and the 3 dimensional uses we as designers, get inspiration from, and where we can take them on to....

    It makes me weep when i see time and time again similar comments, as your friend made to you...re the Argos 'expensive' @ £75 baby bedding set. Don't think I will ever get over the despair this type of mis-understanding comment ALWAYS gives me. You seem to be more pragmatic about it. ..but the punch in the stomach....maybe not.... i know that feeling so well.

    Maybe ( but not in my lifetime) the days of import quota restrictions will return so our UK could once again compete on a more even commercial basis.



    I just caught the end of the good times in british fashion & textiles manf. (early 70's -early/mid 80's) Art college in late 60's/fashion & textiles; days of fabulous colours; very interesting times

    Ok, I ramble on...lol sorry, I am retired now BUT cannot let go of textiles fabrics sewing etc etc etc...
    I managed to make my living in clothiing manf, ladieswear & a bit of childrens wear....now I make and give stuff away rather than face the 'insults' of costing & charging...(IMPOSSIBLE) unless we want to charge out our labour @ ?10 p per hour...including electricity and other overhead costs....lol... nevermind the actual cost of good quality raw materials!!! sigh.... sorry...
    anyway the reason I wanted to contact you was this...
    you mentioned possibility of making a clothing item; I couldn't work out if you meant for yourself, or say a childs tunic? ( in my day we called them little pinafore dresses) It occured to me with your fabric and colour sense, quilted little girls pinafore dress (simple style) may be a useful way to sell your love of quilt..
    If you need a pattern I would be so happy to help, NO CHARGE!!! just for a fellowtextilelover...
    I live in south east Leeds... would be happy to meet say? Tadcaster? for a lunch a chat...

    my email is PamelaFranic@aol.com ( am worried if you reply via google blog I am too much a computer dummie to pick it up...)

    Once again many thanks for this mornings lovely enjoyment your work has given me.

    best regards
    Pam

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