Monday, March 3, 2008

good monday morning!


Had a great WIP weekend. Almost as productive as amandajean, but not quite. ok, not even close. But this is not a competitive sport, right?
I made one more block on my Dad's quilt, (see below) but then I got bored with teal, so:

I did some fun stuff, like turned a $2.99 placemat into a purse
And I worked on this quilt, which I call "Hella Pink" because my son blurted that out when he saw the collection of fabrics I had for it! As in, "those aren't just pink, they are 'hella pink!'"The design is a simple pinwheel block - the quilt pattern is from "Fabric Shopping with Alex Anderson" In her book, it is a monochromatic yellow. I wanted pinks. A wee bit of estrogen in my testosterone-laced world. I have collected the fabrics for a few years - every time we are in another town, on vacation or business travel, I pick up a bit of pink for it. I have not repeated any fabrics yet, and I have 21 of the 42 blocks done. I am going to try to not repeat any in the entire body of the quilt. The border is going to be half-square triangles, set in a sawtooth design, separated by a stripedy narrow border. For the half-squares, I may use the fabrics from the body of the quilt.It's kinda crazy, but the more blocks I make, the more I like it.
I also got a wild hare and made some yellow and blue half-square triangles by using some pre-printed triangle paper. Have you tried it? It's wicked fun. I had nothing in mind to do with these triangles, but for some reason, last night at about 10:30 i decided to make this tulip thing. The center block is 11.5" and now I think it's a bit too large but who knows what I may or may not do to it. . . into the ufo pile? maybe I will make it into an Easter table runner? I dunno. It may have to wait until tonight's crazed inspiration strikes. I work better in the morning, but I do quirky thinking at night. Not that a tulip is so quirky, but ya know what I mean? I did also start drafting a pattern for a tree that appeared to me in a semi-dream, semi-awake moment. It's kinda Jane Sassaman-esque maybe, but with more geometric shapes than organic. I started planning it but who knows if it will get past my sketchbook and become a quilt. Many, many ideas have never escaped the sketching phase. mwa ha ha. locked up tight.
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Alright, so here is a bummer. I know, it's Monday, who needs a bummer? Well, I just have to share because I know you will understand, and I also get to throw out a shameless plea for sympathy -- the flower garden quilt I helped make for the school auction (see previous posts) did not do so well.
I have made several quilts over the last 5 years for this school - each one sold for over $500 with the highest being $1200. Well, this one only fetched $125 and the person who bought it was my friend who helped make it!! I am so upset. (not that she won it - I am happy about that) It's just that so much work went into this and I thought for sure it would go for more. Part of the problem was that in the program it was described as a table runner, with no mention that it was handmade and that it was quilted. It also was displayed folded up on a table. ARGH! I wish I had been there - I would have grabbed the mike and started talking about it, and taken it around to each table to show it off. ok, now I will be accepting blog hugs.
the only cure is retail therapy. I went to etsy and bought some cool jewelry. got on ebay and bought some other stuff. got some espadrilles at smartbargains, got on a swimwear site and . . . nope, couldn't pull that trigger! ha ha.
off to work now. thanks for playing along, we have some lovely parting gifts.
Kristin

2 comments:

Lisa Boyer said...

Awww...a big virtual hug! Don't be discouraged--this happens to me all the time, too. My quilts sell for very good prices in a retail quilt store where there are appreciative customers--but at raffles or auctions to the general public--meh. Years ago, I decided that I would sell the quilt at retail and donate the money after that. It's a win-win situation.

Don't let it dent your enthusiasm. Quilt for your soul and then whatever happens to the quilt after that is not so important.

Mar said...

Lisa has the best advice! Here's a (((hug))) for you! Some times it's just the wrong crowd and then there's the presentation thing, it's all out of your control so you have to let it go.
Love your pinks! Have fun at the shops today! Wave to me when you drive by, I work in Antioch!