How to Earn $ From Sewing and Quilting – Quilting for Others
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Welcome to Day 16 of How to Earn $ From Sewing and Quilting! Today we are on to the next topic in our series, Quilting for Others!
When I first learned how to quilt, I loved the piecing part and hated the quilting.
I missed the class on free motion quilting, which was when we were making our hearts…
We were stitching in the ditch on most of the wall hanging, but Evelyn taught how to stipple in the middle of the heart to make it stand out.
Like I said, I missed that class for some reason and there was NO WAY I was going to spoil my beautiful heart by trying to stipple in it!!!
Isn’t it pretty?
Of course I was quite envious of those who could free motion quilt… and Evelyn was like, of course you can Joy… but I was too scared to try on a “real” project and for some reason it didn’t occur to me to use a practice piece! (I’m a bit slow sometimes.)
When I got back to Australia, I heard that there were people that would finish your quilts for you… but then I heard how much they charged and thought – I am NOT paying that much to finish my quilt! (Yes, I’ve got a bit of a tight streak in me!)
Because I am also slightly stubborn (you didn’t know that did you?) I decided I had to get over my fear of free motion quilting and actually started… on a quilt that I didn’t care so much about… the dreaded paper pieced quilt I mentioned before.
Here is my first attempt at stippling (aren’t I brave showing you this?!):
Ugh… pretty bad, eh?!
And then since I can’t help but make myself do silly challenges, I decided with this next one I’d put a loop in each and every 2″ square… loopy hearts in the border, and a flower in the corner:
I always tell my students to keep their early quilts because it makes you feel so much better later on in your quilting journey 🙂
So from that wobbly quilting beginning, to actually quilting for others… well, I never would have believed you if you had told me that is what I would be doing one day!
More on my “quilting for others” story another day 🙂
This week I’m going to be looking at how you can get started quilting for others, what type of machine you need, keeping your customers happy…. and I will be featuring a few ladies who have been doing this for a while! It’s going to be a fun week, and I know I am not going to cover everything I want to, but I will try my best!
As always, any questions on this topic, just ask in the comments or email me!
Come back tomorrow for Quilting for Others – What Kind of Sewing Machine do You Need to Quilt for Others?
PS Please remember I am answering your comments in the comment section below and not via email like I usually do. Sorry for the hassle, but I am hoping this month we can share ideas!
PPS The main page of this series is here along with links to each post for this series.
PPPS You can download the FREE EBOOK of last year’s series, 31 Days of Quilting UFOs HERE!
I look back in horror at some of my early (and not so early ) quilting attempts – it’s always rewarding to see how far we’ve come, isn’t it! It’s so rewarding to finish your own quilt but I totally understand those that send theirs out! I look forward to seeing your next posts on this topic 🙂
The only reason I keep my first attempts is to encourage myself! I also understand those who send theirs out – if they love piecing they can just keep working at what they love… and not end up with UFOs because they don’t like the next step! xx
This could be interesting!!!!! My first quilt was sort of machine quilted (wadding in the 70’s was vile stuff), then the next few were hand quilted, & now as you know, on Bubs. See you tomorrow.
Thank goodness the batting is much better quality now! It’ll be your turn to be featured soon 🙂 xx
It’s good to look back and see the progress. I even notice it a lot in my hand stitching and piecing. I started quilting for the same reason as you and I was so proud of my early not so good efforts… now I laugh at them!
Hugz
At least we can laugh at them and not cry! Yes, my piecing and embroidery skills are much better now too… thank goodness we improve. So one day I will be brave and do needle turn… really I will… 🙂 xx
I missed that class too–were we together????? I am still afraid to free motion. You need to teach me how to not be scared. And I still need to quilt that stained glass thing!!!
Yes, you do need to do that stained glass thing!!! You are the last in the class now to finish I think, even S finished hers!! You will do great at free motion once you get going.. trust me… 🙂 xx
The blue heart quilt is stunning. Where can I buy the fabric or the kit to make it?