When JT and I left for Costa Rica at the end of April, I closed down my Etsy shop temporarily. I knew that I wouldn't be able to fill orders while we were gone, but more importantly, I wanted to use the R & R time to brainstorm. HoneyBee Quilt Co wasn't taking off like I had hoped.
The projects were big - time consuming and expensive. It was difficult to manage alongside my full-time job. I also quickly discovered that quilts (custom or not) are difficult to sell because of a limited market. Most people love quilts...at thrift store prices. The main group of people who understand the cost and worth of a quilt are, well, quilters. And what quilter is going to buy a quilt that they could just make themselves...am I right?
Quilting will always be a part of what I do. Whether it remains a hobby or someday becomes a source of income, I will never stop loving the process of designing, piecing and finishing a quilt. However, in order to establish a career - or at least extra cash flow - I desperately needed to find products that I would enjoy making, but would also sell.
After a few pool-side planning sessions with JT, I decided to order my first round of FOE (fold over elastic) for hair ties and headbands, and enough supplies for a large batch of fabric keychains. Once we returned to North Carolina I tried to motivate myself - working on hair ties and organizing my studio. However, I still struggled with time management as my job got busier and we slaved away at home preparing for our yard sale.
Another little hitch in my plans was that my sewing machine was down and out - and still is by the way. So what little time I had to work was spent tying elastic, which is not exactly fulfilling to my creative brain. Once we found out about our move to Colorado, all my sewing stuff was packed up until this week, when I finally got it all organized in our small but cozy bedroom (shout out to my awesome hubby for letting me take up the entire dresser with sewing supplies).
We drove to Denver this week to drop my sewing machine off, and hopefully by this time next week I will have a simple and inexpensive diagnosis. Also, please note that I still consider myself a beginner...but experts don't always know what they're talking about either. I've been told by two different quilt shops to use two different bobbins. The nice woman at the shop in Denver informed me that I have to use a special bobbin because I have an older model machine. Gee whiz! Maybe that's my problem!
Enough rambling. What I'm trying to tell you all is that my Etsy shop is now open once again!!! At the moment you will only find no crease/FOE hair ties. These make fantastic gifts for party favors, stocking stuffers (in August? I don't even know), and even bridesmaid gifts. If you are interested in a custom order to coordinate with your party, wedding, etc, please message me on Etsy or email me at honeybeequiltco@live.com
And now for the best part...COUPON CODES!!!
valid through August 30, 2015
NEWNAME for 10% off your purchase of $10 or more.
NEWLOGO for 20% off your purchase of $20 or more.
NEWSTYLE for FREE SHIPPING with your purchase of $30 or more.
Please shop responsibly!
LB
Welcome back! And it seems that you have more time now to focus on your quilting, or at least more than before. I hope you continue to embrace your passion for quilting, and don't think twice about sharing those with your followers. Keep on selling them, so that you can continue to have an incentive to improve upon them even more. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteGerard Reese @ Kafe Digital Marketing