Works in Progress

So lately I keep waiting until things are done to show them off, but this is a work in progress post! I've got a couple of different things in the works right now, all are small, fun projects.

First off, I'm almost done with this Pacific Crest quilt from the book Beyond Neutral.

I originally bought the fat quarter bundle for geofabulous because I loved it, but I had no idea how to use fabrics with such big, bold designs. This pattern showcases them well and came together very quickly.

I even got to take advantage of the spring weather and do some of the cutting for the project on my deck.

And of course, must show Ms. Pepper showing off.

Oh, here's one more shot of the quilt top in better lighting, except it turned out I was holding it sideways!

This is definitely a perfect couch quilt, so I went with fleece on the back.

Here are the different fleeces I tried out:

None had quite the right shade of blue, but they all had very cool geometric patterns. I ended up choosing the chevrons because they exactly matched the shapes on the front of the quilt. And it came in extra wide so I wouldn't need to patch any pieces together for the backing!

I decided to go super basic on the quilting, partially because I am fairly sure I do not want to keep it for myself. I just did diagonal lines every 5" or so.

Currently the quilt is mostly done, it's just waiting for me to sew down the last bit of binding.

I am either going to donate it or sell it. I know a lot of people opt to donate because selling is a pain and you only get a pittance. I did a search on Etsy for quilts and the prices are really pathetic. No one could possibly make a living for that...there were custom queen quilts for $200. What?! That doesn't even cover cost of materials!

But here's the thing: I spend a lot of money on my quilting hobby, and it would sure be nice to not be in the hole quite so badly. If I could break even on this quilt I would be happy. I calculated that I spent about $100 for materials so I'm thinking of pricing it at $250. I kind of think I will put it on Etsy and see if it gets any interest, and if there isn't any after a set amount of time, I will just donate it. I don't hold out a lot of hope because I don't have any previous sales (and thus reviews, proven track record, etc), so someone would be making a big leap buying my quilt. But you don't know until you try.

And yes, I've read about the "We Are $ew Worth It" campaign and I hope you have too. It's a great campaign. But you can't simply ignore market conditions. I could say my quilt is worth $1,000 but if nobody is willing to pay that amount for it, it's not actually worth that much. Economic principles play a role here. 

And of course it won't go on sale if I don't finish it...the binding has been 75% sewn on for at least two weeks now! And then I got distracted by this project...

More on this soon!