Friday, March 29, 2013

Littering and...


A new pattern posted to my Etsy store. I cannot get enough of this pattern making program.

No word yet on whether my Diplomat Friend has received my package yet.

Steady progress made on custom cross stitch.  The picture below is out of date.  I will post another tonight... she said optimistically. 

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Braving the Post Office

Wow.  I just had the most wonderful experience.  At a post office, no less.  I wanted to send a package to my Diplomat Friend, who is living in Peru.  And while I like to think of myself as a savvy internet person, the USPS website was, let's just say, less than helpful with this endeavor.  I was very close to just giving up altogether and saying screw it, I'll give her the gift when she gets back in August.  But then I realized that my huge ego wanted validation that NOT ONLY did I hand make a quilt for her baby, but I was thoughtful enough to make the effort to figure out how to send something to Peru!  As it usually does, my ego won out and I decided I should just suck it up and go to the Post Office.  Which is usually the most dreadful experience.  Long lines, stupid people.  Not today.  The place was deserted and the guy behind the counter was dazzlingly knowledgeable and fast with the customs forms, labeling and everything else I needed.  So while I did nothing really at all, I'm feeling quite proud of myself.

Here's a photo of said quilt:


 No big deal.  (I'm practicing my humble brag)

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

March Madness

Well.  Haven't the last two months zoomed by.  I'm not quite sure how that happened.  But I can say that I have spent a lot of time on my *fab* new Etsy shop - pieces of candy crafts aka https://www.etsy.com/shop/piecesofcandycrafts


I had a few quilts lying around that I decided to try and sell online.  The photos came out, well, crappy.  So the ads do not convey the well crafted snuggliness of said quilts.  But I have a few baby gifts that I need to dole, so I suspect all will work out for the best.

The main products I am schilling on pieces of candy are cross stitch patterns.  I could probably spend weeks on end playing around on MacStitch, my cross stitch pattern software program of choice.  *buzz market*  The most popular pattern is that of a baby announcement that is very simple and modern, with a little elephant design.  These designs are certain nothing ground breaking and I will have to keep my day job.  But I like them, they make me happy, and the 6 or 7 people that I have customized the pattern for seem happy as well.

I was commissioned to stitch a few of these for a nice woman in NY.  I am waaayyy undercharging her (basically just for the cost of materials plus about $10, which works out to approximately $.00000001 per hour of labor), but they are fun to work on and I like the idea of my work hanging on someone's child's walls. 

So we'll see where this goes.  I'll have to post photos of the Fetus Charlie's Hungry Caterpillar quilt - the only other project I've been working on lately.  I boldly decided to free motion quilt.  I had a lot of faith in my Husqvarna quilting machine. *buzzzz*  I won't keep you in suspense - it turned out beautifully!  It seems pinning the crap out of it yielded great results.  I loved the way that you couldn't do it wrong.  Unlike stitch in the ditch or lines at right angles, anything went and you didn't have to sweat the small mistakes here and there.  The most annoying part was that my thread broke alot - I don't know if I should have been using a heavier thread or what.  Something I will have to investigate before my next FMQ project.

And for good measure, here is the Rupper: