Someone's gonna do a lot of eating ..

I just finished a large custom order for 12 placemats. The hand binding alone took me almost 2 hours each, who'd have thought making placemats could take that long. I hope you like them.



Someone will do lots of entertaining, or possibly they have a very large family. I like the thought of a lot of people sitting around a table and using my placemats.



The backs (2 of each colour scheme)



I hope you like them.

Love, Nadine

Blushing twice

Hello all you lovely blog readers,

I just realised I haven't actually shown you the latest Etsy additions. I have listed 2 quilts, both made with the gorgeous designer fabrics from the Blush collection by Basic Grey for Moda. I loved their papers and when I saw they released these as fabric I hunted it down, literally.

I made 2 quilts with it so far.

The Blush in Monaco Quilt





(with organic Monaluna fabrics from the Monaco line and lots of Kona solids on the back)





and the Blushing Poppies Quilt





(with Laura Gunn's Poppies on the back), which is actually a reversible quilt as you go project.





Both of these quilts were made entirely by hand and I love them to bits.

I hope you like them too.

Lots of love,
Nadine xx

Last chance

Last chance for the 20% off Quilt Sale, it ends today. So better get them while they're cheap.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/QuiltedBlissByNadine

Maybe this one:



or this one:

On the ETSY UK Front Page again

My Treasury The Mermaid's Tears is on the Etsy UK Front Page today, all day. Hurrah.

http://www.etsy.com

If it takes you straight to the US Etsy you can change the country at the bottom of the page on the left hand side. and you can easily change it back to your country or any other country if you like. xx

Doodle stickers

Hello everyone,

thanks to all of you who voted for my Treasury Lucifer's Thumbprint on Etsy. Unfortunately, I didn't win, but maybe next time.

I want to show you a quick sneak peek at something I have been working on lately. I am planning on opening an Etsy shop for paintings, prints and drawings (and stickers, accessories etc. made form those) and have done a lot of doodling lately.



This is an A4 sheet of stickers made from an original drawing which is ca. 14" x 14" in size. I have been playing with the actual stickers and made other artwork from them which is really exciting. I hope you like them.

Lots of love,
Nadine xx

Finalist Treasury - please vote for me!

Hello everyone,

I made it to the final, so please go to the STATTEAM blog and vote for me. The poll is in the top left hand corner. The poll is only open today.

Thanks and have a wonderful Sunday.

Love, Nadine

Katy's Wisdom

Katy from I'm a Ginger Monkey posted a great blog entry on how recipients of quilts just do not appreciate the crafter's time and skill not to speak of the cost of the material that went into a quilt.

And right she is.

We live in a time when you get everything cheap, mass produced in China and we have lost the understanding of handmade value. Most people just don't "get" handmade. Sad but true.

I have given hand sewn doublesided quilts as gifts many times, never to see them again. They now live hidden in some closet and I spent up to £100 pounds in material and several months of my time handsewing the quilt. Just makes me sad.

and angry.

http://imagingermonkey.blogspot.com/2011/09/interesting-reading.html

EDIT:Katy's post was a reaction to a post by the girls at Ink & Spindle about THE FORMULA on how to price handmade work. You can find that post here: http://inkandspindle.blogspot.com/2011/09/formula-how-to-price-your-wares.html

If I did the maths for let's say a large double sided hand sewn quilt like this one or this one 'the formula' would mean I'd have to ask loads for it.

Let's do the maths for the Sand and Sea Quilt:

Fabric: 2 Jelly Rolls, binding = £50
Wadding: = £30
thread, tools etc.: estimate =£20

= £100 materials

Time: well, I can't remember exactly but probably about:
2 hours cutting
2 hours design
15 hours hand piecing
2 hours basting 
5 hours hand quilting
4 hours hand binding.

= ca. 30+ hours at let's say £10 hour = £300

Cost (time + materials) = £400
Wholesale price (Cost x 2) = £800
Retail price (Wholesale x 2) = £1600

So according to the Formula I should ask £1600 for this doublesided hand sewn quilt. Sound right to you?

Is anyone willing to pay that? NO. Is anyone willing to pay half that? NO. Is anyone even paying LESS than a quarter of that (less than the COST as in time and materials)? Not yet. But maybe one day?