Elisabrat

are they Christmas chickens? wearing santa hats?? a chicken tree skirt um.. table cover sure interesting idea if its a chicken tree skirt

DustysMomma

You know I'm messing with you, right? I'd never give you chickens for Christmas decorations unless they were Christmas chickens, which these aren't. I might be able to make them Christmas chickens by cutting them out of Christmas fabric though, lol.

I saw something interesting online this weekend. It was a purse made from a Santa hat. You cut off the top, then the bottom becomes the top of the purse when you box out where you cut it off. Make a lining out of another Christmas fabric and sew the top you cut off in with the liner to make a flip over closure & put either a snap or a magnet in it to make it close. Cute idea if you're into such things.

Elisabrat

oh if your grand child was the right age that would be adorable. quick send marytoddliz that pattern she will love it! she makes all sorts of holiday thingies for her little one. That is a very happy spoiled little girl I might add. Grandma's princess

nancia

just because a child has things made by her grammi does not make her spoiled! my 2 olivias are the sweetest things ever! o'lala finally was able to talk to me! she has had a trouble with shyness so i suggested my daughter play dolls with her and act out social occasions and that would give o'lala the words and actions she could use in real life, and it's working! my big thing, and i mean REALLY big, is to never force a kid to kiss or hug someone they aren't comfortable doing that. but if a hand is offered they are to shake it. i hate when parents make their children hug a perfect stranger. even tho' they are family the child may not have a relationship or knowlege of the person.
i will post pictures of o'lulu when i upload them from others' files. i was busy and didn't take any pictures myself.
today we went to the ross perot museum of science and natural history. the building is waaay cool! reminds me a bit of the boston aquarium in that it is all wrapped around the core. basically you either take the elevator or escalator to the top and then work your way down. it is nearly completely interactive, even as you walk in from outside! there are xylephones and a pebble instrument and an instrument that runs on rain power. they had a wet area with lots of levels and puddles and a waterfall, bridges, islands, steps, just super! and there was this little boy flat on his stomach getting a drink from the waterfall! lol. tons of children and adults. it's all done by appointment so it is never overcrowded. oh, we had lunch at a normally wonderful mexicam restaraunt, and it was a disaster. first, they had a flashing light from a fire alarm--if that gives you migraines, raise your hand, mine is waving! then my soup was brought cold, so she took it back and brought it back tepid, took it one more time and it was so hot i had to blow on it to eat it. success! but by then everyone was finished and eating the sopapillas, so forget the soup and go for the good stuff! everyone else was pleased with their food ( i was beginning to wonder how many 'spitties' were in my soup by then!)
i bought some jelly rolls and black kona and will make a quilt top while i'm here. there's enough room my bedroom to bring in the sewing machine and table so i can get some done in quiet hours as my dgd sleeps!

Elisabrat

hey I am dying to spoil a grandchild. what do I know? sounds like that museum was wonderful. Was it your first time going? Yeah I hear you never send your food back more than once you just don't tip much. or you talk to the manager as that is ridiculous. If you ever watch that restaurant show the one where they stake out the restaurants to see what is going on when the owner is away.. oMG last week some girl who was a niece of the man thought she was all that. She didn't like a customer they were in big trouble. One guy she was so mad at she went in back to pick up his burger and took the bun and rubbed it inside her bra and armpits then put it back on the burger. I would have to have more than words with a person like that. le brat takes out her boxing gloves. gross central. now I am thinking be careful what you ask your wait person to do. I sure hope they are not all like that.

ok on a happy note.. its 3 am and I can't sleep. I figured get up til I am tired and maybe get two more hours of sleep otherwise I am here staring at the ceiling getting nothing but frustrated. I am finishing a wacky dq and then a few blocks tomorrow and hopefully able to start picking fabrics for my fall runner. time flies when your having fun!

DustysMomma

I emailed Patrice for permission for the 3rd swap this morning. I'm adding a couple stipulations based on a couple issues we've had. The theme will be "any holiday", so start thinking of what you might want to ask for!

DustysMomma

Have any of you ever sewn a commissioned quilt? I was contacted by someone who saw an in progress photo of my maze throw quilt and has asked to see some more of my work in anticipation of getting me to make him a throw as well. I'll be honest, I've no clue what to charge him. He's a business owner in NE Atlanta, and it could lead to selling some of my smaller pieces on a regular basis (car seat quilts, runners, and mug/candle rugs especially) if this goes well. This is someone I know casually, but am not "good friends" with. If anyone can offer any help or suggest who to contact, please let me know.

No word back yet from Patrice. I'll let you know when I do!

Elisabrat

No clue Jaba might know and I know Marybeth knows as she sells them sometimes so try those ladies

I figure they never want to pay you for the time that goes in it so its hard to sell things for what they are worth. go to a website that does sell them say etsy and see what people are asking.. good luck and can not wait to see what the new swap I will get myself into is !

DustysMomma

This is true. I've read that in the past. Thing is, it seems like the smaller pieces are more profitable, so if I have to give a little to possibly make a side venture of it that I enjoy, it's worth it. I'd much rather sew full time than what I'm doing now. At least then I'd know I'd get vacation.

So while I was throwing together a folder on Dropbox for him, I figured I'd share the link here too. Much of it has been seen before in my profile album, but there's a few additional things...

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/iotdl8greyxtzuf/7Azy8svW9H

jaba

Dusty'smomma is really depends on the market in your area. A good rule of thumb for me has been the cost of the material and supplies doubled. You never can recover your hourly wage, or at least here you can't. If the fabric costs $60, batting $15, thread $5..total $80 then I would be charging $160. If you can make it in 8 hours total, you're getting paid $10 an hour. Also depends on the pattern, if it's easy fine, if lots of cutting and pieces then I add more on for that. If I have to ship it they pay that on top of this price. It's kind of tough when you can get a quilted comforter at JCP for $49.95...............If you think it will bring you $ for your smaller items like placemats, table runners, etc. Then it's worth it, the smaller items are where you can make the cash. Easy to put together and not much time involved. There have been a couple of ladies around here that have advertised making quilts with a "you buy the supplies and I charge so much an hour". All good and fine but some people are faster than others and needless to say, they don't have their ad in the paper anymore so I presume they're not sewing too much.