If you don’t include procrastination, I finished the blue crochet bag, relatively quickly. In terms of work hours, that is.
Of course, since the blog kind of acts as ‘evidence’, I’m forced to admit that I started it before August 2011. I posted about it then but I don’t actually remember how long it was between finishing the crochet part and posting about it.
In the end, let’s not focus on the procrastination. Let’s focus on the finished product since it’s pretty darn awesome!
New item will soon be for sale at Fleur de Pixie….except that I don’t like the pictures I took of these. With my camera, I need to take pictures in the day, with a few other lamps to help otherwise I find the pictures look dull and these coasters are so nice, they shouldn’t look dull. As soon as I have a chance to take a picture in daylight (either before I leave for work or next weekend) then they will be in my etsy store for $12 for the set of 4.
In other joyous news: ViBri Stained Glass made its first sale today!! Woohooooo! Lalalalalalala! Yeah that’s right!
It’s a work in progress but the shop is up and running! Updates will come as soon as I find more time. What happens to time? Where does it go? Why does it keep running away from me so fast??
Look what I just started and finished in 1 night! Pretty nice huh? It’s blanket number 1 of the 2 blanket gift for my friend’s baby shower. I wasn’t planning on making a whole quilt tonight but the fabric called to me. Plus it’s only 30in x 27in. Babies are small. Once the baby grows up, they can use it as a wall hanging or something. I cut some corners but I didn’t seam rip anything. As Helen had told me when I said ‘but it’s not perfect’, ‘who cares’! Well it’s not really what she said. I’m paraphrasing. But the point it, it’s not perfect but it is handmade. And that’s the most important part.
Here are some pictures. I should probably take better ones but I’m tired. I got more practice with the free motion quilt foot to make the hearts in the light fabric. The backing and is a nice soft beige flannel and I zigzag stitched the binding instead of sewing it by had with an invisible stitch. Different results but equally as nice. Plus this method drastically cuts down on fabrication time (manufacturing time? making time? the time it takes to do it?). Ok I have to go to bed. I’m rambling.
And of course, I signed the quilt. I signed it upside down but I decided against seam ripping it. It adds to the handmade charm.
I don’t normally do this but I’m posting during my lunch hour. I’m finding that time and energy is a bit hard to come by these days, especially at night, so it’s time to be creative with my schedule. Therefore, I amskipping the gym today at lunch in favour of eating a bag of cheese curds and blogging. I’ve got my priorities straight!
First of all, let me show you what I was working on. Then after that you will get to hear about what I’m planning to do over the next little while. Sounds good? Ok, here we go! — That bag of cheese curds is making my writing gooder, yes it is.
So one of my cousins has now become a Fleur de Pixie elite customer. She’s elite because she’s ordered three things so far! First a diaper bag, second a wall hanging for her daughter and third a wall hanging to give as a gift for her friend’s son’s first birthday. Thanks to her (and her mom who ordered a yoga bag and a clutch purse for her niece, and her sister who ordered baby wipes for her new baby in May…can a baby be anything other than new?), Fleur de Pixie is flourishing slowly but surely!
She had a good idea of what she wanted which made working with her a lot easier. It’s always better when the customer knows what she wants! And thanks to the internet, we were able to email back and forth for fabric options and design ideas.
The final design looked like this on paper:
I didn’t like the shape of that sun so I made a more symmetrical one: 
Since this quilt is significantly smaller than anything I’d made so far (12 x 14 inches) and since the shapes were full of angles it was important to preserve, I decided to use the Heat&Bond + Zig zag stitch technique Helen had shown me. On bigger pieces, like M’s wall hanging I prefer tucking the edges of the fabric under the appliqué. There’s probably a correct term for this but I don’t know it. I learned my sewing off the streets, yo.
So without further ado, here are a few more pictures of the process as well as the finished product!
As a nice finishing touch, I’d asked her if she wanted me to stitch anything in the back. For M’s wall hanging, I stitched her birth name, birth date and weight at birth. For Quinn, she went for his name and birth date. And of course I always sign and date my quilts. I didn’t used to but I find now it’s important. I’m an artist after all!
So voila! With this order done, I’ve got a few more coming. Two baby blankets for a gift from a friend and I to another friend of ours (so it counts as an order because she’s paying me a share of the gift). Then baby wipes for my cousin who’s due in May. And I’ve also got a yoga bag for another friend of mine and of course, Sasha and I need to find more time to work on her Secret Garden.
In the midst of all this, I’m learning and discovering more about Etsy through ViBri Stained Glass. It’s fun and I wish I had more time for it! And it has made me decide to open Fleur de Pixie on Etsy as well. It will take me a couple of weeks to get that up and running and I won’t have much inventory at first but it will make it easier to manage orders, even if they come for family or friends. They will be able to pay me through the store and it will build up my business slowly. And I’ll post a few items that might intrigue strangers and entice them to buy Fleur de Pixie. Then, after a couple of years, I will take over the world with my crafts.
It’s important to have plans and think big.