The last six months have been crazy busy, especially considering I am a "retired" person. In reality, I only retired from owning a retail quilt shop. I still have a wholesale book and pattern company. I host a yearly retreat for quilt shop owners from across the U.S and Canada called Sewposium. I also design rulers for Creative Grids and this spring I have my name on a fabric group from In The Beginning Fabrics. Why retire when you love your job?
Any one of those responsibilities can be all consuming. Together, they keep my sewing room in a constant state of total craziness - and I love every minute of it. However, I do hope that the last few months will not become the norm. I've done nothing but chase one deadline after another.
The Glamour of it All
The Crazy part started when Creative Grids released my newest set of templates at Fall Market in October. To release a Creative Grids product the designers are required to have companion patterns ready for sale. No problem. BUT these fun new Crazier Eights templates are capable of SO MUCH more! I knew that I had to write a book!
You won't believe what these 5 crazy shapes can do!
You can purchase both the book and the templates in my Etsy shop:
Making the quilts for the book is easily the best part of the project and incredibly fun!
My line of Scrap Crazy templates (there are 3 different sets) are designed to help you use up scrap fabrics, leftovers or even yardage. My sewing room floor was littered with piles of fabrics, sorted by color, type or style for several months. It was a glorious mess! But look at some of the results!
The book has instructions for 8 projects, from table runners to bed size quilts.
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Once the quilts are pieced, quilted and bound, the really hard work begins.
Writing instructions, proofing instructions, drawing all the diagrams and then laying out the pages.
The real challenge for this project was getting the photos taken.
Between closing the store and finishing the book, we moved from
Pennsylvania to Florida.
I left behind a great group of quilting friends, but I also left a well crafted
group of professionals that understood my work.
In this case, I was missing my photographer.
For instruction purposes, the quilts must be photographed flat and square.
That is best achieved with a good solid surface, a tripod, special lighting,
and the technical expertise of a pro.
After a few unfortunate attempts to find someone that understood that these
were technical photos and not style shots I became....
Honestly, with a deadline looming I started to PANIC!
My husband - simply said "We can do this".
"This" required a suitable flat surface in a well lit area.
One that could be pinned to or have a quilt spread out,
flat on a vertical surface. Due to high ceilings and very high up,
south facing windows, this new house simply doesn't have
an uninterrupted wall large enough
where we can control the lighting.
We learned that lesson filming the product video!
You can watch the edited version of the video here:
Coincidently, I had just ordered a king size headboard for our guestroom.
That required dismantling the bed to attach
the new headboard to the base frame.
My can-do husband had an idea!
He carried the box springs from the king size bed
downstairs and out into the backyard.
Those were placed on a clean sheet and leaned against the privacy fence.
A heavy towel was placed over the space between them
so that sunlight didn't filter through.
Using nothing fancier than the camera in my cell phone,
we began a photoshoot that still has our neighbors scratching their heads.
We got it done!
He was right. It wasn't a fancy studio shoot, but it worked.
I learned some new photo editing skills and was able
to meet my publishing deadline,
just in the nick of time.
Now the book is back from the printer and ready for you to enjoy!
Me, I'm going to get to work on a SECOND book
using this same set of templates because there are
even MORE great things you can do with them!
If you have made something with the Crazier Eights template set
Don't be shy, show me your stuff!
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