Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Interesting Article!

We were away this weekend, so no sewing to report, but I did get the strips cut in order to sub-cut them into smaller pieces. The first step in a long series of next steps for this quilt.

I must admit that having run out of the white fabric, I'm worried about running out of the rest of the fabrics also. I guess I'll cross that bridge if/when it happens. I do have to stress that I ran out of the fabric due to MY errors. It's no one else's fault but mine.

A member posted this article on our guild Facebook page. It's a longish read, but a very interesting one on "quiltonomics". I have to say that I found myself agreeing with most of the people quoted. I just don't think it is possible to sell your quilts for their true value.

http://www.mooreapproved.com/2015/02/quiltonomics-the-real-cost-of-quilts/

Quilting for me is a hobby. I do not generally sew or quilt for others and on the odd times that I have, I have always regretted it. As mentioned in the article, you are lucky to recoup the cost of the materials let alone your time. Also, I find that I apply too much pressure on myself when sewing/quilting for others. To me, it sucks the joy out of the whole experience. I am too self-critical to enjoy making something on commission.

The cost of quilting caused me to make some changes a couple of years ago. I love the sewing and the gratification that comes with it, but boy, I was turning out a quilt every two months. At $200 a pop, I could just no longer afford it. So, I made a decision to make fewer quilts. I wanted to make fewer, but more intricate and skill stretching quilts. In this way, I would be spending less on materials but have something to work on all the time.

How has this decision worked out for me? I think it is working pretty well. (Although, I did complete 5 quilt tops last year one of them was made almost entirely from scraps so had very little cost and a couple of others were started in the year previous.) The Double Wedding Ring and Aurora are good examples of quilts that stretched my skills but not my pocketbook.

There is a downside to this decision, though. When I am into something tough I sometimes regret the decision to work on harder things. Sometimes mindless sewing is what your soul needs. Perhaps the solution is to have 2 projects on-the-go? One straightforward scrappy one and one tougher one for when you are mentally/emotially ready for it.


Ciao!


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