Buying at a Market or Craft sale

 In my last blog, I wrote about selling at a market or craft sale.  This week I would like to give some ideas about being a customer of a market or craft sale.

If the craft sale is big and you will be doing a lot of walking, forget fashion.  Dress comfortably.  And if the sale is in the summer, dress cool.  Remember to wear shoes meant for walking. 

If you are going to be there a while especially in the summer, bring something to drink.  Make sure it has a cover on it, so it doesn’t spill on anyone.  And ask before you put a drink on a vendor table.  The last thing you want to do is have your sticky sweet drink spill all over a vendor’s product, especially product that cannot easily be cleaned like fiber or fabric. Remember this product is the livelihood of the artist.

Know that not all vendors will have credit card capacity, so if you are planning on buying something expensive or a lot of items, bring enough cash and maybe your checkbook (many vendors will accept checks if they cannot do credit or debit cards.). And remember to bring small bills.  Most vendors will have enough cash on hand to make change but if you hand them a $100 bill and you are purchasing something for $5 or $10 that could wipe out their available cash.

If you have children with you, watch out for little fingers.  Lots of things craft vendors sell are bright, shiny and colorful; so tempting for little eyes to see and little fingers to grab.  And this is too where you want to watch for sticky fingers.  One little boy at my craft booth thought the fleece fish toys (for cats) were nice.  So nice, he took every one of them out of the basket they were displayed in.  When his mother asked what he was doing, his answer: “Going fishing”.  His response was cute, even to me the vendor,  but not if he had chocolate ice cream all over his fishing fingers.

The same idea goes if you bring your dog to the market, watch them as well.  Small shiny colorful items can look like food to them.  One gulp and you are on your way to the emergency vet. And don’t blame the vendor; it is not their fault they are selling something attractive to your pet.  Also remember that not everyone loves your pet as much as you do.  You will find people, including vendors, who will avoid your dog’s friendliness.  Maybe they have had a bad encounter with a dog so they are afraid or maybe, and most importantly, they are allergic.  I like dogs and cats but get me near one and I start sneezing and wheezing.

Remember if buying at a craft market that you are not just buying the material in the craft or art work but the labor as well.  Yes, artists and craftspeople enjoy, even love, what they do but they are also trying to pay the bills.  You might be able to buy a similar item in a store but it will be machine manufactured not hand crafted.  I will admit I am biased when I say; hand crafted is much more valuable.

If you know how to do a particular craft, know that not all people do things the same way. Don’t consider a knitted shawl, for example, is inferior just because an artist uses a different stitch or yarn than what you would use. So in other words, don’t criticize the artist’s work.

Selling at a market isn’t easy for the vendor but it makes it worth it when you, the buyer, want something hand crafted and one of a kind. So if you get a chance, go shop at a market. And thank them for the work they do.

 

©2017, 2022 Cheryl Fillion

 

Selling at the Market

Selling at a Farmers market or craft festival is a lot of fun and a lot of work as well.  If you are thinking of doing that, here are some tips and ideas that I have gleamed from my years of selling. 

Before you start selling, make sure you have all the fees or licenses needed.  Some communities will require that sales tax be collected and paid.  This means you need to fill out the proper paper work with your city, county or state (usually it is just one form).  The same may be for business licenses.  Each city will have different regulations so check what is required by the city you live in or for the market or festival where you will sell. 

Using a canopy or market umbrella is always a good idea, especially in the hot months.  It makes it more comfortable for you to be there all day but also give a little shade for your customers.  Weather can be unpredictable so make sure your canopy or umbrella is secured.  If you do not have it staked to the ground, then make sure that there are weights on each leg of the canopy or on the stand for the umbrella.  For example, a wrought iron stand that weighs 25 pounds is not enough to keep a market umbrella in place on a windy day.  I had one big wind tip my umbrella over at an outdoor event and pull it about 8 feet away.  Check again with your event rules as to what is required.  Usually the requirement is 30 pound weights on each leg of the canopy and 50 pounds on an umbrella stand. 

Dress comfortably.  If you are going to be standing on your feet all day, wear shoes that don’t pinch or hurt.  If the event is outside, I think the customers will forgive if you have on tennis shoes. And dress for the weather.  If it is cold or rainy wear clothes that will keep you warm and dry.

If you are doing a sale alone, make sure you have something to eat and drink. It will be a long day without any refreshments.  Often times your market/festival neighbor will keep an eye on your booth area if you have to go to the restroom so make friends with those around you.   

Make sure you have more than enough money to make change.  If you think you need $50, bring $100.  And be prepared to have someone hand you a big bill for a small priced item.  If you can, get a credit card reader.  If not, be willing to accept checks.  In all the years I have sold crafts, I never have had a check bounce. 

Try to have various priced items.  You will be more likely to sell many lower priced items than one big priced item. And you will be more likely to get people in your selling area if you have a variety of items.  Do you paint?  Have little 5” x 7” canvases as well as a big 18” x 18”.

I found that if I was making something at the booth, people would walk up to see what I am doing.  So if you can, create something while at the sale. If customers see you making an item you also sell, they can see the work involved and know that you actually do the work.

When someone comes close to your booth area, start a conversation.  Say hi, ask how they are doing that day, offer to show them something on your table.  Let them know YOU are interested in them.

 If you were a Boy or Girl Scout, then you remember the motto “Be prepared”.  Have emergency items such as a first aid kit, tools needed to fix a table or canopy, duct tape and twine, office supplies (paper, pens, markers, etc) a plastic tarp if it rains and don’t forget the business cards. 

And finally, have fun.  It is a lot of work and you might enjoy the making of your craft more than the selling but selling can be fun.  You meet a lot of interesting people in the customers and the other vendors. And you gather lots of wonderfully memories and, oh yeah, you make money.

 

©2017, 2022  Cheryl Fillion

Quilt Shows are Back

After two years of a pandemic, our quilt show here in Tyler , Texas came back.  And it was wonderful. 

 We had quilts, we had vendors and we had lots of visitors.  We have our quilt show to coincide with the yearly Azaleas blooming.  Because of the colder than normal start of the year, our Azaleas were still in hiding but the quilts in the Auditorium of the church where we meet were not.   I don’t know if our members were especially creative while social distancing these past years or if it is just that I haven’t been to a quilt show in a while, but this show was especially beautiful.  

 We had traditional quilts, modern quilts, quilts with designs inspired by other cultures.  There were art quilts and pictorial quilts (due to copyright laws I can’t post any pictures.).  You name a style of quilt and we probably had it.

 And while the quilts were wonderful, it was being around like minded people that made me smile.  I spent much of the two days of the show demoing yoyos;  how to make them and what to do with them.  I like doing this because I get to share this style of quilting which I enjoy but I also get to hear stories of our visitors’ memories of yoyos. The stories are fun to hear but seeing the smiles associated with those memories are nice to see after these past 2 years of no quilts shows and due to masks very few smiles.

I would probably still be quilting even If I had no guild but I realized after the quilt show that being with our quilters is what my soul needed most.  To be with others who understand quilting and fiber arts language, who appreciate what goes into a quilt and the skill in making award winning quilts is such a wonderful sense of community. 

As I wandered around just looking at the quilts, I hear what others think which gives me a new perspective.  I learn what other people see in the colors, designs and stitches of the quilts.  There was one amazing maze design quilt which mesmerized me but if I hadn’t been eavesdropping on the conversation next to me, I never would have noticed a tiny mouse applique in the middle of the quilt (Oh I wish I could show you a picture.)  The little mouse was an unexpected surprise. 

I enjoy spending time with the other guild members.  Yeah, I see them every month at our meetings but at a quilt show as we can spend more time together where we are not rushing around.  It is nice to hear about them and their families, their quilting, what they bought from the vendors (I then learn about some need-to-have item I missed as I shopped.).

So while I enjoyed the quilts and the vendors, it was the people who made this quilt show special for me.  If you are a quilter, make sure you go to a show not just for the quilts and the vendors but for all the people you encounter there.   That will be good for your quilting soul and I think I can guarantee it will bring a smile for your face and we need a lot more smiles in the world.

©2022 Cheryl Fillion

Take In A Show

After two years our local quilt guild is having a quilt show.  The pandemic put a lot of things on hold including big attendance events like the quilt show but now as we get back to some sort of normal, we can celebrate quilts and quilters again.  I am so excited. Have any of you been to a quilt show?  It is a fun place to go if you like quilts or if you like color, patterns and texture.  But it is also a good place to go to increase your creativity.

In fact, attending any craft or art show is a good idea for the same reason.  You can see what is trending in patterns, designs or colors. You can get inspired by a different way to do a design.  One quilt show I went to many years ago, displayed a quilt with a skeleton of a dinosaur which had its head and tail extended off the main body of the quilt. I never thought of having part of the design expanded like that.  

Something you see at a quilt or art show might just click a memory of yours that you would like to capture in paint, or ink, or fabric.  It might give you an idea of something to make for a loved one. With quilts, it might show you just the arrangement of quilt blocks that you were looking for or just the pattern you wanted to make.

Even if you are not a quilter or a painter or photographer, going to an exhibit or show can still give you ideas.  The artist or the quilter’s perspective may show you a different way of looking at or thinking about a subject matter or just the world in general.  

 When you go to a quilt or art show, you are supporting the arts in your community and that in itself is a good thing to do.  If you are reading this, you are probably interested in creativity in one form or another.  Think about how your life would be without what you create.  Don’t you want to make sure creativity in all its forms is available for everyone?

So do yourself and your community a favor: go to a show.

 

©2022 - Cheryl E. Fillion

Prayer Flags

I thought with all that is going on in the world these days, that this blog would be a good one to repost.  I am seeing a lot of people creating art with sunflowers (Ukraine’s national flower) or the colors blue and yellow which is the colors of their flag.  All this is being done to show support for Ukraine.  Prayer flags can do the same thing and if you believe the idea of a Prayer flag. The message of the flag will reach Ukraine.

I like the idea of Prayer flags or Peace flags, as they are sometimes called.  In Tibet, small squares of fabric with different symbols and words are hung on a long line of rope.  The idea is that the message of the flag is then carried by the wind to the rest of the world. The positive message could be for yourself, your family, community or the world.  It is a simple way to send out good wishes and thoughts.

Now you don’t have to go to Tibet to hang your prayer flag (although that would be a great trip).  You can make it and hang it outside your home, give it to someone or even hang it inside your home from a curtain rod, for example. 

I have made a couple of flags myself.  I did one when I was hearing a lot of criticism of my work but also just general negativity.  I did the design and wording free hand which was something new for me and did it with pigma ink pens.  I created a fringe at the bottom with some hearts drawn on each piece of fringe and added some purple yarn at the side as a simple tassel (the orange yarn was to hang it on the inside of my front door).

Then when the bombing occurred in Paris in November of 2015 and then a second one in Brussels in March of 2016, I made simple flags with a spool knitted peace sign for each of those events.  I tried to imitate their national flag as the base. I didn’t know what else to do. Prayer flags don’t have to be painted or drawn, you can also appliqué fabric or spoolknitting (or couched yarn) on them. 

 The first step is to decide what you want to say in your prayer.  Is it for you or a loved one?  Maybe healing from a disease or a break up.  Or is it for your community or the world.  Are you praying for peace or unity?   What symbol would work for what you want to say in your prayer?  I used a butterfly in my Speak Kind flag and a peace sign in my two little country flags.

Now a prayer flag can be any size you want.  The two flags for Paris and Brussels were about 6 by 7 inches.  The Speak Kind flag was closer to 9 inches.  Whatever size you make it make sure it is big enough to show your prayer and has enough fabric at the top or side to be able to hang it.  In other words, account for the hanging sleeve.

Your flag can be any color you wish it to be.  Do you have a favorite color or does the recipient of the flag?  Remember if you are using markers or colored pencil, the fabric needs to be a lighter color so the design can be seen.   Once the design is decided, now create your flag.  It helps if you meditate or pray your message while making the flag. 

Once it is created, hang your flag.  Put it somewhere outside (or inside, if you prefer) where the wind will catch it and start spreading the message around the world.  If you give it to someone, send a little note explaining the flag and what prayer flags are supposed to do.  You might also want to include a way to hang it like a small rod or string or yarn through the sleeve of the flag, so it is easier for the recipient to hang it. 

This is something you can do on your own or even get children involved if it is a prayer that they would understand.  If you are making a prayer for a friend who is ill, gather other friends and each create a flag.  Think of how loved that recipient friend will feel when she or he sees a whole string of flags wishing him or her well.  And think of how much better you will feel having sent your love and prayers in a creative way such as a prayer flag.

 

©2019, 2022 Cheryl Fillion

 

 

 

Community of Creatives

The pandemic disrupted a lot of things like work and school but also social groups like quilt guilds and artist groups.  For me it meant the end of some groups.  I recently joined 2 new groups and it has been wonderful to be active and social again.  It reminded me of a previous blog post that I thought I would share again.  If you have a chance to be part of a creative group, please join it.  It is wonderful to be surrounded by creatives.

Quilting bees were common in colonial days.  Groups of women getting together to sew and quilt bedding for each other.  It was a time of companionship but it was also a way for them to teach and encourage theirs and each other's creativity.

 These groups act as cheerleaders, pushing and encouraging the members to do what they want to do and, as with many dreams, what they need to do.  They help with brainstorming for solutions to problems such as where to get affordable supplies, how to barter work for training, where to display work, who to meet to achieve one’s goals.  They are there to cheer great successes and soothe the lesser successes (I don't like the word failure.).

You don't have to be working on the same type of creativity.  I can get just as much support from a painter or a writer as a quilter.  And you don't have to be at the same point in your creativity journey.  In fact, it is helpful if you're not.  The novice can see their future better with someone who has been creating their dreams for a longer time, and the experienced dreamer can be reminded of how far they have come.

You just need to meet once in a while and dream together.  Meet for coffee if there are just two of you or meet in a more formal setting if there is a group.  Allow each person to share their triumphs and disappointments, and allow the other members of the group to offer ideas.  Sometimes it is fun - if you can do it - to create together.  Plan a project together like a collage or just bring what you can work on and dream and create together. A recent memory I have of time with a fellow creative dreamer was the two of us finishing a baby quilt for a charity while talking through the snags in each of our very different dreams. 

 There is no reason to go at this creative journey alone.  Get together a group. You do want to make sure that the people you invite to your group are not the critics or just plain negative people.  That will just undermine what you are trying to do.  Make one rule of the group to be that even if you don't understand or enjoy another person's creative passion, it will still be treated with respect.

Don't miss the joy of a community of creatives - find or form a group.

 

© 2016, 2022 – Cheryl Fillion

 

Slow Stitch

 I have noticed on various internet platforms for embroidery the idea of Slow Stitching.  I looked it up and found it had a number of definitions.  One view is stitching by hand a piece where you make the design up a you go along; the idea of being improvisational.  Another view was stitching by hand any type of pattern or design including things you would normally do by machine like a doll or stuffed animal.  While the definitions seem to be different, the one thing in common is stitching by hand.  That is slow stitching.  You can’t go very fast when stitching by hand. 

And it doesn’t matter if you have a pattern in mind or you don’t.  What matters is to enjoy the process of stitching.  It can be very therapeutic to have the needle and thread go in and out of the fabric.  Just the fact that you need to be still when doing it is therapeutic in our fast-paced world.  Ever try stitching while on an exercise bike or while taking a walk; kind of hard.

This idea of slow stitching is based on the concept of mindfulness.  Mindfulness is concentrating on the act of doing something.  It can be anything.  Take washing the dishes.  How many of us really pay attention to what we are doing when washing the dishes? You just want the chore to be over.  Have you ever paid attention to how the water feels on your hands while doing the dishes, how the light reflects off the soap suds, or the wet dish or the flowing water?  Try it sometime and you will find that washing the dishes becomes a new experience.

That is how it is with slow stitching.  Pay attention to how the fabric looks in your hand? How does it feel in your hands?  Can you hear the thread sliding through the fabric?  Concentrate on the color of the thread against the fabric?  You are not looking at it to see if it contrasts or blends well but just simply how it looks.  Look at how interesting the piece looks with that one stitch that is just a little wonky.  Don’t rip it out.  You want that kind of wonky.  We are looking for contemplation in our stitching not perfection.  And you are not on a deadline so the piece you are working on could take a day, a week or even years.  That is all OK.  What you are involved in is the process of stitching, not the finished product.

Next time you want to try something new, just pick up a needle and thread and a piece of fabric and start stitching, slow and thoughtful.  You might find you come away feeling more relaxed, more inspired and maybe with something beautiful to look at.  Happy Stitching.

 

©2022 Cheryl Fillion

 

 

 

 

Quilt Block Challenge – Ruby Heart- Part 2

In the last blog, I wrote about our Quilt Guild block challenge.  The theme is Ruby Red Celebration for our 40^th quilt show.  I decided to do a pieced red heart with all dark fabrics that had the appearance of solid fabrics.

I call this kind of piecing – collage because it is what you do with a paper collage.  In a paper collage you have construction paper or poster card stock as a foundation and then you glue pictures on top until you cover the whole piece.  What I do is similar but instead of glue, I use needle and thread.

I always start in the middle with this type of work.  This time I start with a square of the accent fabric provided (the kit included a white background fabric and then 8” of an accent fabric so there would be consistency throughout all the blocks) and pinned it to the middle of the heart.  You can stitch it down but since the other fabrics will be sewn on to it, I decided to pin this to hold it in place. 

Then I cut a shape from my second fabric.  It does not have to be square; in fact, it will give some interest to the piece if it is not square.  The thing with sewing the pieces on is that you will stitch and flip the fabric so you want to make sure the fabric when flipped will go in the right direction.  I laid the second piece down and before I stitched, I held it in place with a pin, flipped it and instead of lying it next to the center piece, it flipped on top of it.   

 

What you want is to lay the next fabric over the sewn one, right side of the fabrics together. Then sew it and then flip it and it will lay in the right direction.

Once you start adding fabric you just want to go around the edges of the sewn fabric again and again until you get to the edge of your design.  

Every time you add fabric, make sure you are covering the raw edges of the pieces already sewn.  Raw edges will cause the fabric to start unraveling which will not look nice and may take out the sewing. The long lighter red piece on the left in the picture above is pulled back in the picture below to show the raw edges of the previous sewn fabric.

  As fabric is added, eventually I got to a point where it was hard to cover all the raw edges with the sew and flip method.  This ended up being along the edge of the design.  So I began to applique the pieces on.  This way I could hide the raw edge of the piece I was adding by turning the seam allowance under and stitching it down.  It also meant that the piece had a curve in its design which I liked.

So I kept adding fabric until the entire interfacing heart was covered.  I then traced the heart design on the red fabric of the design, so I knew where the edge of the design was to turn under and applique to the white background fabric of the block.  Because the seam allowance was thick with layers of red fabric (I added the fabric right over the seam allowance so no raw edges would show on the top), I decided to baste the seam allowance down.  This way I wasn’t fighting with it while I did the appliqueing.  

The last step is appliqueing on the background fabric and the challenge block is done.

©2022 Cheryl E. Fillion

 

 

 

Quilt Block Challenge – Ruby Heart

 

Every year our quilt guild does a Block challenge.  You are given a background fabric and an accent fabric to create a 12 1/2 inch block.  You can piece it, applique it, anything you want, it just has to be in the theme of the challenge which is usually our Quilt Show theme.  For this year our theme is Ruby Red Celebration for our 40^th quilt show.

When I heard the theme, I immediately thought of the jewel Ruby partly because it is my birth stone.  My second thought was of a TV show I had recently watched which contained a ruby in the shape of a heart as part of the story line.  And since I am rather found of hearts, I thought I would make a red pieced heart for my block. 

What I thought of was a foundation pieced heart, not really a paper pieced one, but more of the crazy quilt style of foundation piecing.  So my first job was to find a heart shape I liked.  I wanted a very rounded one so I enlarged my Heartfully Cheryl logo and chose the biggest heart to use.  I decided to create the heart and then applique it to the white background fabric.

With this kind of foundation piecing, it is good to use a sew-in interfacing or some light weight muslin.  You don’t want anything too heavy or it will make the appliqueing difficult to do and make the whole block too thick. I decided to use the interfacing. 

The first thing I did was  cut out the interfacing.  I traced the heart design and cut it about ¼ inch from the traced line.  Even in applique you have to have a seam allowance.

The next step was to gaver my ruby fabrics.  I decided I wanted the fabric in different shades of red but with very little other colors.  So I picked those reds that would appear from a distance to be a solid

So I have my heart pattern and my fabric, the next step is to sew the heart.  And that will be in the next blog so stay tuned.

 ©2022 Cheryl Fillion