Category: craft business

Live life on your own terms

July 30, 2025

You only have one life. Live it to the fullest. Stop trying to meet other people’s expectations at the expense of your own peace. It’s not sustainable. Quit worrying what other people think. The only person you need to answer to is yourself. Did you do your best? Are you happy/satisfied? Did you leave things a little better than you found them today? For me, this is what truly matters.

We’re encouraged to “do our thing” while various well-meaning folks proceed to tell us what they think we should be doing instead. It’s a no-win situation with these people. The best way I’ve found to deal with it is to limit any information shared, maintain a healthy distance and keep on doing my thing.

My retirement “thing” is constantly evolving. Therapy dog work and quilting are still the main activities, but they, too, have changed over the past 3 years. I truly enjoy the read to a dog program that finally got established at Park Street School earlier this year. Sadie definitely thrives on having 1-2 visits per week. Should the school-based READ program suddenly go away (not expecting it to, but things can change on a dime), there are plenty of other visit opportunities available. As next summer’s big quilt show gets closer, my involvement as a committee chair will certainly increase. I’m in the midst of planning those activities now. Rest assured, I’m engaged, learning new things and doing what I love to do.

Mid-August brings a return to therapy dog activities, new private sewing students and classes at the SQTM. I’ve had two referrals about memory quilts in recent weeks. Spent some time today running the numbers to see what services I could offer that make cents for me. 3 sizes: baby, lap or throw. 3 pattern choices: grid, mosaic or stacked columns. 3 FMQ designs: puzzle meander, loopy meander or boxy meander. Binding sewn by machine. Lots of infant items = extra charge. Personalization w/applique or embroidery = extra charge. By concentrating on smaller size quilts that work with my studio space and equipment, I can be competitive and profitable – at least on paper anyway. We’ll see what happens.

Photo by Brett Jordan on Pexels.com

Almost back-to-school time!

July 29, 2025

Do you have a friend or family member who is a teacher? This is the time of year when some are reporting for preplanning week or are getting a head start on prepping their classrooms for the upcoming year. If you have some extra time, ask if you can help move furniture, decorate or set-up learning activities/stations. Show them some love by picking up extra school supplies, tissues and disinfecting wipes on your next shopping trip. Unscented hand lotion, baby wipes, cotton swabs, individually wrapped peppermints and a big tub of petroleum jelly (Vaseline) would also be greatly appreciated for the classroom. Gift cards to the teacher’s favorite coffee shop, bookstore, Amazon, Wal-Mart or Target will be also be put to good use.

If you sew, offer to make classroom curtains, the black roll-up curtain (if required) to cover windows by the door, floor pillows for the reading nook, bookmarks, pocket tissue holders, fabric bins, tote bags, seat sacks or even a jelly roll rug. If your teacher friend teaches primary grades (PK-2), how about a set or two of alphabet letters? A pack and a half of charm squares, some batting and a set of 4″ bulletin board letters, plus your sewing machine, will make a fun, tactile learning tool for primary grade learners. Pinking shears, optional!

Personal items for the teacher to sew would be zipper pouches, padded tablet/ipad storage pouch, notebook/journal cover, personalized tote bag, coffee cup sleeves, covers for their “teacher” chair, etc.

Teachers in my local school district reported for teacher preplanning this morning. Traffic was heavier than usual this morning and it took me a minute to remember why. Can you believe school starts next Monday? Hard to believe my last official pre-planning week was in 2021. That seems like another lifetime ago.

I still buy school supplies every year – for use in quilting/sewing activities and for prizes to give out as part of the R.E.A.D. program. It’s the perfect time to stock up on glue sticks, school glue, Sharpie markers, composition notebooks, plus all the small items like stickers, bookmarks, erasers, fancy pencils and cute sharpeners the kids love. For three semesters, I taught storybook arts & crafts at a local homeschool consortium. (I definitely spent some money on school supplies!) Last spring, I stepped away from it to pursue more therapy dog opportunities with Sadie and to teach sewing classes at the SQTM. It was definitely the right move for us.

I spent about $25.00 on school supplies this weekend. Nowhere near the several hundred dollars I used to spend at the beginning of the school year when I was still working full-time! It’s enough to supply prizes for my public library and school based READ programs through fall break.

Sewing machine tariffs – revisited

July 26, 2025

I finally caught up on all the email that arrived while I was in Oregon last week. Apparently, Bernina has announced significant price hikes on all Bernina and bernette machines effective August 1st. They’re joining Janome, Brother and Baby Lock in hiking prices due to tariffs. My local Janome/Brother dealer raised prices 10-25% across the board a couple of months ago. Stopped in today after guild meeting (7/25) and was told the price on the Janome 9480 with ASR (very competitive), but was also informed prices would be going up again on 8/1. I questioned this as I know there’s inventory in the back that’s been there since last fall. The clerk responded it was a “business decision” that applied to all inventory, regardless of when received.

If you’re seriously in the market for a new TOL machine from a dealer, you may want to consider finalizing your purchase in the next week. The good news? Prices on more modest machines available through mass merchandisers such as Wal-Mart appear to be holding steady for now.

What’s a fair price to pay for a sewing machine? Only you can decide. Check eBay, Check FB Marketplace. Check patternreview.com. My personal rule of thumb? The sweet spot for a new machine is about 65% of the suggested retail price (less if you can get it). For a machine that’s used – no more than 50% of the MSRP for a current model. Classroom machines from consumer shows should have every option available and carry the full manufacturer’s warranty that a new machine would have.

Am I ready to move on the purchase of a Janome 9480? Absolutely, but not at $1000 more than what the same damn machine (still sitting in the backroom at my local dealer) was selling for last fall.

No thanks, I’ll pass. I can wait. Maybe I’ll get to the point where I don’t need a stitch regulator for FMQ on a domestic machine.