Sunday, January 30, 2011

Not a whole lot going on here this week, but I thought I would drop in and say hello anyway;) 

The hubby and I went out hiking and geocaching again this week. I clocked in just over 5.5 miles on one round;)  That's the farthest I've been able to go in a long time;)  The feet were MAD by the time I got back to the truck, but it was well worth it;)

I have a habit of forgetting to talk about our dog, Aeon. Oscar usually steals the show at home, but when we are out on the trail, she is the Queen of "I think I'm working here".....
She's got her backpack on and ready to go;)  She loves that thing;)  When we start getting ready to go, she starts making excited noises and starts shaking with anticipation.  She will mope if she gets left behind knowing that we left with our hiking gear;)

On the quilty front, I tried an experiment with low contrast.  Not sure if I am impressed with this or not.....


Here it is in black and white so you can see the lack of contrast better....


I'm not too keen on it, but it's done.  I think I have a fabric that will go with it well enough to call it done. 

I don't know about you guys, but as much as I love some of these new fabric lines they have out, the color pallette really limits the ability to pull from the stash and match the color temperature really well.  I have that Valentine's day quilt waiting to be bound, but I can't find a pink that is the right tint/hue.  I will have to see what I can come up with, or it might just get bound in tone on tone muslin, or with the same fabric as the backing and just call it done. 

I got two of my tote's sold off this week....this one...


and this one....

I don't think I made much of a profit, but I know for sure the cost to make them was covered.  I figure that as long as I cover the cost of materials, when the money comes in from selling them, I can make something else.  I have come to realize that it's the act of creating that makes me happy, not making a killing off of the stuff.  But that could come around and bite me in the arse.  But I do charge a premium for my goods at the quilt show I sell my stuff at.  The hubby raised an eyebrow at the price I was charging for the tote's until someone came along and didn't bat an eyelash when I told her how much I wanted for one...and bought it.   That quilt show is coming up again this April.  I need to get busy and get some more stuff made.  I have some chickens left over from last year, but I need to come up with some hot items for this one.  I have no idea what to do.  Mug rugs are really popular.  Ornaments.  Small quilts.  But I need a hot item that quilter's and non quilters alike can't pass up.  Any ideas????

I am going to call it a night, pour myself a glass of red wine, and go kill things on XBox.  Hope you all have a wonderful week of quilting, stay warm, and be happy:)

Happy Quilting!!

7 comments:

Liriopia said...

Ok, so what color pink are you looking for and how much do you need? I have quite a bit of pink fabric in different shades. If I can help you out, I will. Let me know.

Liri

Ruth said...

I'm not into the new style fabrics at all. I think I'll stick with civil war style for now most of the time! The bags are great & I'm sure will make someone happy. It's hard to know what people will buy - good luck with that!

Katie said...

I know exactly what you're talking about maching colors. I had a tough time finding something to back my soon-to-be raffled quilt and ended up in the Easter section to find something to my liking! Congrats on selling the totes and walking 5.5 miles. As for the quilt show goodies, I'm really liking these fabric banners I'm seeing on blogs everywhere (the Moda Bakeshop even has a couple of tutorials!)...they'd be pretty quick and easy and you could tweak them to whatever holiday is coming up soon.

Beth said...

Good for you going over 5 miles. SO happy to hear that, I remember when walking at all was painful for you. Glad you have gotten so much better.
Congrats on the sale of your bags.
I am not sure what would sell, but those mug rugs seem to be a big thing. Also at the shop it seems that table runners are really big right now.
Happy stitching!

Marsha B said...

Aeon looks quite happy to be out doing her "job". Glad to hear you had a great time and did over 5 miles. You are getting better! It's great you were able to make a couple of sales, your bags are beautiful! The low contrast quilt top is pretty up close, but the black and white pic really shows the contrast problem. It will be warm and serve a purpose. Enjoy your game time!

---"Love" said...

Isn't it fun to have a dog that loves to do what you do? I had one that looked like yours, and she was so much fun! Your picture made me miss her again!
Good luck with your bags; I'm sure they will do well. I really like the blue and white one.
I'm not crazy about the new colors and prints either; I'm sticking with my pinks, greens, and blues, and mostly roses as my favorites. I can't afford otherwise with the stash I have of those!
Sometimes we all make mistakes (that's not really the best word) in our fabric combinations; we just don't get enough contrast to let the pattern design show. I've done that many times. But as BC Quilter (Alice) always says, just think of the learning experience you gained. ---"Love"

Sandy said...

I think most dogs are happy when they have a purpose in life. What kind of dog is Aeon?
Congratulations on selling the totes. Mug rugs seem to be very popular, as do small fabric wallets. Canuck Quilter made a neat little one recently. I'm sure you will come up with some great ideas.

Sandy