The Evolution of Atlas: A Breeding (and Chat) Thread

[speckledhen]

Some of the stuff that hasn't sold is here, except the western lap quilt that I just gave to one of my young great nephews:

There are more, but I just haven't put them on anywhere, I guess. They were on Etsy at one time or another.
This one is not on there, though. It is a wallhanging with sleeve, but could also be a couch throw. The colors don't translate in photos as nice as they are, unfortunately. Maybe I should have photographed it outside.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@speckledhen
Not sure if anyone else is having problems, but the video won't work for me. Can you post a link?

It's 4F. here. I hate when the temps go from the 50's to the single digits. It doesn't give the animals time to acclimate.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Also @speckledhen
On the quilts...I'm not too far from an Amish area and there are stores in the area that sell their quilts. I believe that the are not just from the local Amish, but from other parts of the country as well.

Now I know that you aren't Amish, but I wonder if any of those stores would be interested in purchasing your quilts for their inventory...

I would still like to see all that you have that might be large enough for twin, full and queen beds. I'm not sure if you have any that large. If you do I'd love to see the inventory and prices.

 

[kitkat5505]

I used to crochet baby blankets, hats, booties and sell them but people don’t want to pay enough for handmade items to make it worth the time and effort so I stopped and now only make them for my kids or occasionally as gifts. My mom also has an Etsy shop for crochet items and nobody buys things because of the price, which she only charges what would be minimum wage, people don’t get how many hours something like a full size blanket takes.

 

[speckledhen]

I had changed the view to private for some reason, sorry. Link below. I have one full/queen and one twin/daybed size done. I don't do enough quilts to put them in a store. I would think they want inventory enough to turn over, plus I am not perfect at machine quilting. An antique dealer bought one of my hand quilted table runners and surely sold it for double what they paid me for it.

Most of those in shops are either hand quilted (really pricey) or they are computer-machined. Mine is a mechanical, one-stitch high speed machine, all me doing it, no computerized pattern you input and sit back and let the machine do it.

Here is the full/queen size (I rarely do queen size):

The back of the queen:

And the twin/daybed size, which is flannel-backed.

 

[speckledhen]

I used to crochet baby blankets, hats, booties and sell them but people don’t want to pay enough for handmade items to make it worth the time and effort so I stopped and now only make them for my kids or occasionally as gifts. My mom also has an Etsy shop for crochet items and nobody buys things because of the price, which she only charges what would be minimum wage, people don’t get how many hours something like a full size blanket takes.

Exactly. I've sold a few shawls on Etsy, a hat or two that was a little different, but it's usually folks who really appreciate the work. When you can buy a knit cap at Walmart for less than $5, it's difficult to make it feasible to buy yarn, take an hour or two to make a hat and sell it. The yarn costs about as much as the product at Walmart.

 

[speckledhen]

I wish shawls would come back. They are handy in a chilly house and can look elegant depending on the shawl itself and what you pair it with.

Here are a few of those I've made. Some are almost extra wide scarves and can be worn more that way. You can also use a scarf pin, which is like a long wooden hair pen that goes through sort of a big button to hold it in front.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Wow, you have made some really nice things. I understand why you may not want to just donate them to anyone. They are so nice they need good homes.

It's -26 wind chills. Was -14 but is warning up to -7. I realized as I was taking some chicken out of my freezer I could put my chickens in the freezer to warm them up. It would feel balmy to them.

 

[speckledhen]

Wow, you have made some really nice things. I understand why you may not want to just donate them to anyone. They are so nice they need good homes.

It's -26 wind chills. Was -14 but is warning up to -7. I realized as I was taking some chicken out of my freezer I could put my chickens in the freezer to warm them up. It would feel balmy to them.

I don't mind donating the crocheted things like hats for women and children with cancer and I have in the past. And I've made cat beds, too, and donated them to two humane societies, plus donated a crocheted cat cave for the local HS to auction off to raise money. But the quilts are a little more difficult to let go, being much more time-consuming and costly to construct.

To the chickens-warming-in-the-freezer...

 

[Pyxis]

I had changed the view to private for some reason, sorry. Link below. I have one full/queen and one twin/daybed size done. I don't do enough quilts to put them in a store. I would think they want inventory enough to turn over, plus I am not perfect at machine quilting. An antique dealer bought one of my hand quilted table runners and surely sold it for double what they paid me for it.

Most of those in shops are either hand quilted (really pricey) or they are computer-machined. Mine is a mechanical, one-stitch high speed machine, all me doing it, no computerized pattern you input and sit back and let the machine do it.

Here is the full/queen size (I rarely do queen size):
View attachment 1218742 View attachment 1218743
The back of the queen:
View attachment 1218749
And the twin/daybed size, which is flannel-backed.
View attachment 1218745 View attachment 1218746 View attachment 1218747

I absolutely love the quilts you make. I've tried my hand at quilting before and was able to make a few very simple block quilts for friends. I really should look into learning how to do more complicated quilting because I enjoy it. I had to teach myself how to sew and use the sewing machine because unfortunately the one grandmother I had who knew how to do those things herself lived 16 hours away from me, and has since passed. I miss her a lot, and wish I still had her, because I find now that I'd like to learn things like canning and sewing, and she would have been the perfect person to learn from. I miss her and all my other grandparents.

Wow, you have made some really nice things. I understand why you may not want to just donate them to anyone. They are so nice they need good homes.

It's -26 wind chills. Was -14 but is warning up to -7. I realized as I was taking some chicken out of my freezer I could put my chickens in the freezer to warm them up. It would feel balmy to them.

We are plunging into the negative teens here too. I have to bring the rabbits into the garage tonight because they all live alone, and can't deal with it being this cold alone without the body heat of another rabbit.

I'd put them together but I really don't need baby rabbits in January