Penny Halgren asked:


Have you ever looked at a box of memorabilia or trinkets and wondered what to do with it - other than close the lid and put it back on the shelf?

Maybe you have a collection of hankies from your grandmother. Or what about the bowl of buttons and the box of lace you’ve been saving for some project? Or maybe your husband, son, or boyfriend has a box of military medals.

You can easily share those treasures in a wall hanging style quilt.

Basic quilt blocks are the foundation for these memory quilts, and you will find an expression of creativity and soul as you develop the layout of your quilt and devise methods for attaching the objects.
Designing Your Quilt

Your collection should be the center of interest for your quilt or wall hanging. The first thing to do is pull your collection together and lay it out on a table.

Decide on a theme for your quilt. If you have a collection of gloves, your theme might be elegant parties. A collection of buttons might reflect memories of childhood. Those military medals might be to honor a soldier hero.

You might even want to make notes about your theme and thoughts to guide you as you make your quilt. Think, too, about keeping those notes as a journal for future generations to appreciate your creation.

Fabrics

Select fabrics that relate to the theme of your quilt - both in color and design. For example, you might not want to include a bright fabric with fire trucks in your memorabilia quilt with gloves representing elegant parties. However, that truck fabric might be perfect for a quilt with buttons from childhood.

Use a variety of lights, mediums and darks to give your quilt an interesting background, keeping in mind the mood of your quilt. A quilt with a somber mood might not be the place to put a wide selection of bright, fun fabrics.

Size of Your Quilt

Let your collection determine the size of your quilt or wall hanging. As you lay your collection out on the table, you will get a sense of how large your quilt needs to be in order to display your memorabilia in its best light. You may decide to add or remove some of the items; or even to make two quilts with your collection.

The Shape of the Quilt

Be open to a unique shape that might develop as you design your quilt. Your button quilt might be round; a quilt with military medals might take on the shape of a medal with the ribbon. Or, your collection may be perfect displayed on a traditional rectangular quilt. A hankie or collar quilt might have scalloped edges to echo the shape of the piece.

You may discover that the blocks within your quilt are different sizes, or even different shapes. For example, you may attach each glove to a block. You may place a short glove on a square block, while an elbow-length glove is better suited for a rectangular background. Be open to those different shapes, and know that you can always place strips of fabric around or between the blocks to piece the quilt.

Overall Look

As you design your quilt, keep in mind the idea of repetition in your quilt. By repeating themes, shapes and / or colors, your quilt or wall hanging will have the continuity of a traditional quilt while displaying the uniqueness of your collection.



EARNEST

Conleth Onu asked:


Are you intrigued by the idea of starting a profitable business, doing what you love to do? Perhaps you’ve had the idea that you can make crafts and sell them for profits.

As you may know the crafts industry is growing at an astronomical rate. Many people all over the world are earning great income by selling crafts that they make. You too can turn your crafts into a full time or supplemental income.

A large number of people are constantly searching for new, imaginative and decorative items for their homes and offices. Many people travel to remote places in search of interesting and unique craft items. This can be a unique opportunity for you to start your own crafts business.

Creating crafts is a fun and rewarding hobby that can be turned into a profitable business.
Craft items are in high demand. There is a huge and hungry market for the craftsman. Crafts include such items as quilted comforters, pottery, gift items, ceramic sculptures, toys, jewelry, lovable dolls, stained glass, etc.

You need a business name. The name you give to your business can make the difference between success and failure. It is better to select a name that will tell people something about you or your business. Jane’s Dolls, Jane’s Decorative Crafts, Creations by Jane, are all good examples of names that tie in with what you make. Potential customers will know exactly what you are selling by just seeing your business name.

Once you have registered your business name and obtained your business license, if it is required in your area, you’ll need a business checking account. It is essential that you do not use your personal checking account in your business transactions. Use your business checking accounts to make payments in your business.

You need good looking business cards. Your business cards act as your introduction to potential customers, and will serve as their connection back to you.

Before you start selling, visit several crafts shops and shows, in order to gain insights on how a crafts business is operated, how and where to place signs, how to decorate the location, and merchandise display. Talk to the people running the business. Find out how they set their prices. Then price your own merchandise accordingly.

There are numerous outlets for crafts. These include swap meets, home parties, craft shows, wholesalers, mail order, department stores and online marketing.

In order to sell your products, you have to advertise. Your prospects will never know that you have available, craft items that they want. So you need to advertise.

You can advertise in newspapers and magazines. This type of advertising is essential because people who buy craft items read newspapers and magazines to locate them. Another effective way to reach your potential customers, is word-of-mouth advertising. Also, putting notices on bulletin boards will attract and direct people to your business location.

Keeping accurate, easy-to-understand records is very essential for tax purposes, and it tells you how your business is doing.

The crafts business is a lucrative business. Shouldn’t you be getting your share of the fortune?

Be sure to check the laws to know which, if any, apply to you, and what your responsibilities are. Contact the appropriate office in your area to find out if any laws will affect you.



JOSEPH

Ruth Zeman asked:


Search online for just a few moments using words like “work at home”, “make money online”, “online business opportunities”, and “how to make money online”. What I’m sure you’ve found is millions upon millions of …of what? Real opportunities or real scams?

If you spent any money looking into this you’ve probably decided they are all scams. If you’re still just looking…you are a better person than me. I’ve fallen for a good ad more times than I like to think.

Before you waste anymore of your hard earned cash, let me share with you some things I learned during my search.

Start with your “WHY”. I’ve been attacked by well meaning MLMers that make you tell them what kind of car you want and other such nonsense but that’s not what I mean. Why are you looking for a business? It quit your job? To make more money? To retire early? Because you love, knitting and want to get paid doing it? That’s the why I want you to hold onto.

Now, if your why was just to make more money or quit your job you don’t need to look very far. But you do need to be very careful. Scammers want you and they have money to spend to find you.

If your why was specific then just start with, “What are all the other knitters doing” and “How can I do it better/diferently”.

One example I have from real life is this. My Aunt loves to sew and knit. My husband wants to buy a fly fishing lodge. Together they are looking into creating a “Seperate Vactions, Together” resort. For all those men who want to go fly fishing while their wives want to sit around gossiping….oh yeah, quilting/sewing/knitting. It’s a business based on their why of “I want to….”.

For the rest of us, that just want to make money. It’s overwhelming.

To make it easier I’ve decided to start asking myself questions.

What kind of online business do I see myself having? I chose online because it’s cheaper to start and overall more forgiving if I make mistakes.

Do I see my self selling my own products, someone elses, or information?

I personally went with information that is part mine and part someone elses. I did this because I needed to learn what I was doing from someone else.

Following in someone elses footsteps is by far the easiest thing to do. In fact don’t do anything else at first!

All the major books pertaining to becoming a millionaire tell you to get a team. A think tank, a brainstorming team. Your support, your lifeline, your path to riches.

It’s not as easy as they make it sound. However a good online opportunity doesn’t want you to fail so they build the team into the program. This is partly why some MLMs do so well. Doing it alone ***** and is the path to failure.

But teams come in many diferent shapes and sizes. Books can mentor and online forums can support. So how you build or join your team isn’t important. Just having support and encouragement is.

So, start by following. Know your reasons then find others with similar reasons and join them.

If your why is to make money. Then start in forums and searching through blogs. Don’t spend money first. Know your why and find others. Then spend money. After you’ve educated yourself with your new team.

Let them share their mistakes so you don’t have to make them. Let them share their success so you can follow in their footsteps. Then after you understand the terrain. Aim and shoot for the stars!



DOMINIC

R.t. Markovsky asked:


What is machine quilting? It is using a machine to sew a quilt together. Think in terms of a very large sewing machine that is very flexible. If you have already been making quilts by hand and giving them to friends and relatives you may want to explore going a step further. You may want to take the plunge and start selling your wares.

So how does one transition from making quilts totally by hand to using a machine? For the small shop that does one quilt at a time and still wants to retain the more personal touch there are manual quilting machines. They allow you to create quilts that are very personal and still allow you to have the freedom to let your imagination run wild with your creations. In turn, going to a machine versus doing the work totally by hand will allow you to increase your production.

Looking further down the road, if your hobby/business keeps growing, you may want to look into getting a computerized quilting machine. With this, you can program in all the information about the quilt you are making and it will do the rest for you.

You can certainly count on there being manufacturers that create the machines to any level possible.

A good quality quilt is something that everyone loves and hands down from one generation to the next. Normally it would take a long time to make a quilt that people will want to pass on to their kids. With the use of quilting machines, you can dramatically increase the number of quilts you can make. With the manual quilting machine, you have greater control for the more personal touches that will make your quilts something that can be handed down.

There are websites and online forums that you can contact about your quilting machines and quilting business for futher advice. You don’t have be alone in the process of starting and building your business.

One of the best, and least expensive, ways for people to find out that you are there and what your product is to participate in local craft and hobby fairs or shows. There are probably a number of nearby craft shows where you can set up a table and be lucky enough to sell all the quilts you brought with you. That will let people see and touch your quilts so they can see the quality of the quilts for themselves.

This will give credibility to your quilts in ways that advertising and the internet can never do. Once people begin to know your quilts and their quality, they will begin to spread the word to their friends and relatives.

The principles of marketing and advertising will hold the same for quilting businesses as it does for any other type of hobby/craft business. You will need to define your target customers. Then figure out the best ways of reaching them while staying within your budget. Don’t underestimate the power of “word-of-mouth” advertising.

Many successful craft entrepreneurs have found that having parties at their own homes or those of friends or relatives provides more than enough business for them.



RUSTY