Monthly Archives: February 2014

A – door – able

My sweet friends and family have noticed that I haven’t blogged in a while, so here’s a small update on what I’ve been up to. Firstly, I’ve been spending most of my time in bed getting over some kind of bug (ick!) but exciting things are still happening at my house. Like…

We have a new door! My ultra-handy husband installed this new door where there once was only wall. It goes from inside the garage to the side yard. As you can see there’s some stucco patching and other finishing touches that still need to be done, but we (he, with me handing him tools) got it done before the rains came.

Here’s the view from inside the garage. Woo! Oh, and there’s now a handle in it. Snapped the photo before that was installed.

I’ve been making little things for my etsy shop here and there as I can, too. Here’s the latest version of those card holders I like so much. They’re shiny! Here’s the listing if you want one (or three!)

There are a couple more fabric choices in these already made. You can find cute robin card holders here and blue bubbles card holders here.

I do custom work! Would you like some card holders for a special occasion? Perhaps a holiday, birthday, or bridal shower? I can make these in nearly every cotton fabric combination you can imagine. Send me a message and let’s get started.

As my health improves I’ll be doing more and will get back to blogging more often.

That Crumb-y Pillow is Awesome!

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I’m so blessed to have friends who will brainstorm craft ideas with me. This time it was the snowflake mini-group who helped me out. Soooooo… in addition to offering the super-cool letter pillows, state pillows are making an appearance in my etsy shop.

Founding snowflake, Trisha, ordered the first one so I could use it as a sample. She got a 16×16 inch square pillow cover. The crumb block is reverse-appliqued and in the shape of Wisconsin. Can you see the little heart? That’s over the city of her choice. I also hand-embroidered the word “Wisconsin” on it. Cool, huh?

Here’s a close-up of that heart button. It’s sewn onto a yo-yo and is a little shiny so that it pops out and can be seen against those crumb fabrics.

And here’s a close-up of the hand-embroidery.

Trisha didn’t need it, but I also sell the pillow forms. Order from me and it’ll save you a trip to the craft store.

You can have these be as simple or complex as you want. Just the state? Order that. The other options are add-ons for a few more dollars. What about getting a letter “J” pillow embroidered with Jaime’s name? I do custom orders! What’s your idea? Maybe a football with your team written on it, or a heart that says, “Will you marry me?”

Check out the pillow covers and more in my etsy shop. https://www.etsy.com/shop/QUILTArtbymegan

Follow me on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/QuiltArtbymegan

Coming soon: an update on the turtles and turkey quilts for summer camp, a portrait quilt of a dog and her owner, some baby quilts, and giving new life to an old quilt. Stay tuned!

I Don’t Approve Of This Message

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I’m all for humorous memes and silly jokes, but this one isn’t funny. “My husband lets me buy all the fabric I can hide.” This implies that he doesn’t know you bought it, doesn’t like that you have it, and even possibly that you’re using his money without his knowledge. Not okay!

Now, if you’re in this boat, here’s what I recommend:

Communicate with your husband! If you want fabric and you can’t afford it, discuss ways to increase your income and/or decrease your expenses. Spending money you don’t have and racking up credit card debt bites you soon enough.
Learn how to be thrifty. In the beginning, quilting was a way to use up scraps of fabric to make blankets and keep your family warm. Do you have scraps of fabric? I bet you do. If you truly don’t, try garage sales, thrift shops, guild sales, and remnant bins at fabric stores. I’ve seen amazingly beautiful things made out of jeans, lunch bags, handkerchiefs, baby clothes, and more.
Are you feeling guilty about your stash? Maybe it’s time to make some scrap quilts, or piece backings, or otherwise use up some of your abundant fabric stash. Or, if you’re really itching for the newest lines of fabric, have a sale! You won’t get the price you paid for those 90’s calico’s, but someone will be delighted to have them and now you have spending money.

30 at 30 Birthday Sale!

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I’m 30 years old today! I’m so grateful to be alive and to have so much. I want to extend a little bit of that joy to you, so here’s what I’m offering:

All heart and letter pillow covers in my etsy shop are now $30 even. They usually go for $35 plus $3.50 shipping, so you save a whopping $8.50 per pillow. Aren’t they cool?!?! To celebrate the first two days of my 30th year, I’m offering a coupon code that’s good through the February 6th. Use this coupon code at checkout to get each pillow for $30 even.

Ready? Here’s the code: 30 at 30

Not interested in the pillows? You can still use the coupon code for anything in my shop that’s $35 or more. You’ll save $8.50 per item. Items like these:

Again, type in the coupon code 30 at 30 during checkout before the end of the day on Thursday, February 6th to get this discount.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/QUILTArtbymegan

Crumb-ing with Ami Simms

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Look! I’m featured in Ami Simm’s newsletter!

http://amisimms.wordpress.com/2014/02/01/the-2014-crumb-quilt-challenge/

Here’s the youtube link if you just want to skip to my part:

E0l0Y

How’d that happen? Well, I went to a workshop sponsored by my quilt guild where Ami Simms was the teacher. (It was her twisted sister class.) As I usually do, I crumb-pieced blocks together as I worked instead of using leaders and enders. Ami asked about it and ended up filming my explanation. So cool, right?!?! She said that a customer asked about sorting and using scraps in the comments of her January newsletter. So, right place, right gal, right time… all of this fit nicely into the ideas that were already being formed for the February newsletter in response to that customer.

I feel honored that such a super-star quilter felt inspired by me and what I do. My award-winning quilt, “Picking Up The Pieces” even appeared in the mostly smart-phone-recorded video. What’s even cooler is that I’m helping to fill a need too. Win-win…. for the win! 🙂

Prep Work

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I painted my toenails just to stuff my feet into sneakers. I put lipstick on to sew in my pajamas. I do my hair up nicely to watch TV with my husband. I put a dirty fork on the counter so the sink can be empty. Aaand I cut up perfectly good fabric just to sew it back together.

These things may be a little nutty but they make me feel good. What are little things that make you feel good? I challenge you to do one of those things today.

Speaking of cut up fabric that’s sewn back together, I showed a sample of my letter pillows in this post. Well, the time has come to reveal the etsy listing. Get ’em while the getting’s hot!

Here are the options on the pillow covers. I’ll be adding more sizes and colors as we go. They’re envelope-backed. And yes, as part of my prep work for launching these pillows, I made sure they actually fit into the pillow form. Who’da thunk?!

Four background colors to choose from: Black, Beige, Grey, and Teal.
Buy just the 12×12 inch pillow case, or add-on a pillow form to save you a trip to the store.
I can do any letter, uppercase or lowercase. For now, it’s one letter per pillow.

I used Sam Hunter’s time-tracking method to help determine pricing. These pillow covers are only $35 plus shipping! What a deal.

Prices increase on custom orders beginning tomorrow, February 1st. Everything that’s already listed as a completed item in my shop will stay the same price. New items and custom orders increase by 10% tomorrow.