I love machine binding

Hello everyone,

how do you bind your quilts? Do you hand stitch the binding or do you machine bind? I used to do my binding by hand for many years and never even considered trying machine binding. I have to say I used to be quite snobby about it and considered it cheap and lazy.

Wow, how my views have changed and I now only do the binding on the machine. I really prefer the added safety and I love the process of stitching on the binding. It is one of my favorite steps in making a quilt.

What do you think? Do you hate it or love it?
N

Here are some photos from my first machine bound quilt now quite some time ago.

Quilt challenges - What's on your To Make list?

Hello everyone,
today I want to share with you what's on my To Make list and what patterns and designs I really want to try this year.

I have to say, I am a creature of habit. I always end up making the same sort of designs, with slight variations, and I rarely try something I consider difficult or where I am just not sure how to go about it. I guess most of the time I really just don't know how to sew those things and I find instructions often quite unhelpful. So here is my list of projects to tackle this year:

I really want to make a Spiderweb quilt (here some inspiration by Jenner Sampou).

I am also determined to try Foundation Paper Piecing soon and I have bought the pattern for the Cadence Court quilt by Sassafras Lane.

Curved piecing is also something I wanted to try for ages but have been shying away from. And I really want to make the Glam Clam Quilt by Latifah Saafir.

What is on your To Make list? Are there projects you always wanted to try and have been shying away from?

Lots of love.
Nadine

What do babies want?

Hello everyone,
as you might know, I have been on Etsy (https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/QuiltedBlissByNadine) since 2011 and love it. I can spend hours snooping around and checking out amazing shops and items. Sales have been sporadic but that is to be expected with the amount of  competition and the way Etsy seems to be changing algorithms constantly and it's so hard to keep up with all the requirements.

 I am adding a few examples of quilts that either have sold or that are still in the shop.

But it's fair to say Baby Quilts sell the most in my shop and I need to maybe do some more market research about trends and what buyers actually want.

So now the question is of course "What do babies want?" or maybe it should be "What do new mums want?" or maybe what do people want who buy gifts for new parents?

Should it be lots of cute fabrics with animals and toys etc.?

What about colors, very colorful and bright or rather muted baby pinks and blues? My tendency is to go with very colorful fabrics as that is what I like but maybe that is not what buyers want. I have seen how the quilts that have sold over the years have been fairly colorful but then my sales are quite sporadic these days so maybe colorful is just not in anymore.

I have also joined Mumsnet.com and tried to find out what people want but have not had a lot of responses. The ones who did respond said they don't actually use quilts at all, they all use those little onesies for baby to sleep in. I am not sure how representative that is and whether that is only a specific group of mums. They also said they prefer muted pastel colors, so is that the trend now? I have made some quilts in greys and peaches just to see but they have not had much attention yet so maybe those are not quite right either.

Any advice? What would you want? Sorry, of course I know you are not a baby :), but maybe you are a new mum, or a mum to be or you have friends who have a baby. What would they want? Or maybe you know what works well with babies and toddlers? What would a toddler like? 

If you know how I could get some more information on market research and how to find out what buyers want I would also really appreciate it.

Lots of love,
Nadine

Ready to ship or custom baby quilts?

Hello all,
I have been wondering what my customers really want and what products I might make to appeal to the new mum/baby shower/new baby gift market.

All my quilts are ready made ship next day but I have noticed many customers say the baby is still on the way and they are not even bothered about quick shipping. So I am wondering whether custom baby quilts would appeal to more buyers.

I could offer modern baby quilts using mainly solids and I could let them choose form a number of different options.

So for instance they could choose Half Square Triangle quilts like this one (but smaller).

Or they could choose the stripes option like this one:

Or other shapes like crosses for instance.

And then they choose the color scheme and I would probably provide a number of options as I can't possible have all colors in.

What do you think? Do you think that would appeal more to buyers of baby quilts? Or do you think they prefer ready to ship quilts? I really need to do some market research but have no idea how. Any advice would be very welcome.

Lots of love,
Nadine

My obsession with Quiltography

Hello everyone,
I am sharing something with you today that is very dear to my heart and has given me so much joy over the last 2 years or so. My Quiltography app on the iPad.

It is so much fun to play with block designs and quilt concepts or to experiment with color schemes. I can spend hours on it and it pisses the Monkey off when I am on my Quiltography in the evening when he wants us to watch a good film or a TV show. He hate sit with a passion, but only because I can't keep away from it too long.

This is the finished layout for the stars quilt published in QuiltNow (and now living in its forever home with a lovely customer in the US).

I love that I can upload my whole stash and then play with blocks made with images of my stash ( I have to admit though, I have given up on uploading everything I own (my stash is huge and it would probably break the iPad).

I can also create my own blocks or use traditional blocks the app already provides.

Here you can see the concepts and blocks and the finished quilt layout for the improv quilt that was published in QuiltNow (not sure which one, would have to check).

I know the app is quite pricey but I think it is worth every penny.

Let me know if you use it as well and how you get on with it.

Lots of love,
Nadine

PS: This post is not sponsored, the app designers are not aware of my passionate love for their product.

Rustic southwestern = trendy?

Hello all,
I am not sure whether you've noticed, if you've been keeping up with Instagram or the shop, but I have really been getting into this sort of rustic southwest trend with browns, oranges and blues and I have recently made quite a few things (and there are more to come) in that type of colorway.

There is something about those colors in a modern or even rather retro environment that looks really appealing to the eye. I think it's maybe that we see that kind of look everywhere these days and the southwestern, rustic or even tribal look is everywhere. I follow quite a few interiors boards on Pinterest or Instagram and you just can't avoid that trend at the moment. And as resistant I am with trends normally, that one seems to have hit a nerve.

What do you think? Do you like this trend? Are you into the whole rustic, western tribal look yourself? I would love to know what floats your boat (or horse) at the moment in terms of color trends and interiors.

Love, Nadine

I have made a few quilts that fit this trend, like this one:

Or like this babyquilt:

 And I have also made a few heart garlands in that colorway, like these two:

I'm all heart

Hello everyone,
yes, believe it or not, 2 blog posts in the same week, incredible, eh?

I have a few different items for you today. I have also been working on my heart garlands as those are very popular and everyone keeps suggesting I should make some in different colorways. So that's what I did. I created 13 different types of garlands and today I'll share just a few. Some are fairly monochromatic and some combine colors which I thought go well together. Let me know what you think about these. I will share some more with you another day.

Lots of love, Nadine