My mom placed an order for her friend for Christmas.  This is the snapshot I took for her approval.  The jury is out, and I'm awaiting the verdict...

from Proverbs 1:

       8 My son, hear the instruction of your father,
      And do not forsake the law of your mother;
       9 For they will be a graceful ornament on your head,
      And chains about your neck.

I just love this set of baby blocks, don't you?

Some time ago I saw some baby blocks made out of a presumably old quilt in a Pottery Barn catalog.  I tucked that idea away until a few months ago, when I learned that a young couple at church were expecting their first baby.

Immediately I set to work expanding the concept of those mail-order blocks to what you see above: a set of 6 blocks designed for each color of the rainbow, each featuring a different quilt block pattern.

For some I had to modify or simplify the quilt pattern to comfortably fit a 3½-inch square, and I selected (or scrounged up) 6 different prints in varying shades and/or values of each color.

After creating the pattern on card stock, I transferred the shape of each piece onto the fabric with a water-soluable pen and cut them out with a wide margin for a seam allowance.  After hand-basting them together, I sewed them with a size 24 stitch, trimming the allowance down to ¼ inch.

Once each side had been pieced, I hand quilted them to some natural colored fabric, opting not to include any batting between the layers.  Then I transferred a 3½-inch square with the water-soluable pen onto the back of each quilted square and set about the tidy business of sewing them into a cube.

Having left just 2 sides of the cube open, I stuffed the 4-inch foam cube inside and set about the tricky business of handsewing it closed.

Once they were all complete, I tossed them into the washer, then dried them on low heat.

The basket really completes the set, and I couldn't have done without it.  I've realized from experience that some gifts are so much more enjoyable in the long run when they come with a container.

This basket was the perfect size, and as it happened to be kicking around the house and under-utilized, I took a bleach solution to it and cleaned it up a little.  Getting wet also helped stablize the old fibers and restore it from its sagging shape.

Then all it needed was a liner trimmed with eyelet and secured with elastic, both of which had been awaiting their usefulness within in a plastic box in storage.  And doesn't it all look so pretty!

You may remember that I've vowed not to undervalue my work, so I estimate that this little gift is worth upwards of $500.  Not that I could sell it for that, but at least I have the satisfaction of being able to give a gift that I couldn't otherwise afford to purchase.

from Isaiah 57:

   14 And one shall say, 
      “ Heap it up! Heap it up!
      Prepare the way,
      Take the stumbling block out of the way of My people.” 
   15 For thus says the High and Lofty One
      Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: 
      “ I dwell in the high and holy place,
      With him who has a contrite and humble spirit,
      To revive the spirit of the humble,
      And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

Recent bargain purchase from IKEA: 3 yards of fabric

(found also as pot holders and dish towels, so my new skirt is quite comfortable

hanging next to the bargain curtain-skirt.)

Homemade, handcrafted items today just aren't worth what they used to.

Sure, industrialization has replaced the need for many of us to create for ourselves what we can purchase at the store, especially if it's inexpensively assembled and imported from unscrupulous and exploitative sources.

But there's another, equally serious cause for the devaluation of our handmade things, and it's closer to home than we may realize.

It's us.

We sew a skirt, piece a quilt, or string some beads, and we have created something that cannot be found in any store.  But then to what do we compare the fruit of our labors?  To those very skirts, comforters, and jewelry that have been inexpensively assembled and imported from unscrupulous and exploitative sources!

Sometimes we even question whether or not the project was worth the investment, simply because we might have purchased something like it for far less cost or effort!

Is this the proper perspective?  What is the best way to determine value?

The editor of the Beads and Beading Blog describes how to price your work.  The suggested equation is as follows:

• Three times your materials cost, plus...
• Design and creation time, plus...
• Name recognition, plus...
• Intrinsic value!

When we estimate the value of our projects, we unwittingly underestimate the cost of our materials.  Materials cost includes not just the amount on the receipt, but also the time spent in selecting them, as well as gas mileage and depreciation, besides any other cost incurred while gathering them together.

But design and creation time is where we devalue ourselves the most.  We come up with all sorts of reasons why our time isn't worth that much: "Oh, I was just creating it because I enjoy it; I was going to do it, anyway," or, "I'm not that good," or, "It's just for my family," ad infinitum.

The fact is, we need to recognize how much we actually do value our time.  Is it worth only the minimum wage?  I didn't think so, or more of us would be working outside of the home.

One method I've used to determine the value of my time as it relates to the nature of the task is to ask myself: "Would I accept x dollars to spend x hours doing this job for someone else?"

So once we calculate the first two criteria and add in the second two criteria, we usually end up with a staggering figure.  "No way!  There's no way my homemade stuff is actually worth that!  That's what you'd pay at a boutique!"

Exactly.

It's about time we saw our handcrafted items for what they're worth.

I found this to be a great encouragement when I was laboring over all the gathers in my new 4-tier prairie skirt.  Even though I'd found the 3 yards of 100% cotton fabric in the "As-Is" bin at IKEA for $1, I now have a well-constructed, one-of-a-kind skirt worth well over $100.

And while I wouldn't walk into Nordstrom's and buy a skirt for even half that, there are plenty of people who would pay at least that.  They don't all live in major metropolitan areas, either, which comes back to the Beads and Beading Blogger's point:

If you don't value your work, no one else will.  If you value your creations only as they compare to the products you see at major discount retailers, then they will certainly lose out to the bargains.

But give your work the worth it's due, and your not-much-of-a-bargain project turns into a well-earned splurge from the boutique!

from Colossians 3:

23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.

 

Jewelry personally handmade with cane art glass, summer 2005

I was a mess.  If I'd had a shower that morning, you wouldn't have been able to tell.

The humidity of the day and the heat of the kitchen had all but melted me, and the stains on my apron betrayed my penchant for making messes.

Yet, when Paul came home from work that day, he greeted me with a warmth that exceeded the temperature in the house.  "You look really nice!"

"Oh, yeah, it's because you see me wearing an apron," I teased him.

No, it turns out it was my jewelry. 

"It's like you were waiting for me to come home."

From Isaiah 61:

¹⁰ I will greatly rejoice in the LORD,
      My soul shall be joyful in my God;
      For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
      He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
      As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments,
      And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

It will be dramatic, yet wonderfully homey.  It will be old-fashioned, yet tastefully contemporary.  It will be the showcase of our bedroom, the very thing to inspire me to keep the bed made.

I must be dreaming.

Indeed I am, and the time has come to materialize these dreams.  Yesterday I got out my fabric scraps and began to piece together a scrap quilt in the Tumblers pattern.  After working on it last night and today, I have two full-width rows sewn together.

By my rough calculations, I shall have to sew together 1,976 pieces before the top is complete.  So far I have 104 sewn together.  It appears that I have a little more dreaming to do, but when it is finished, it will be beautiful, and by then I will have Quilt Dreaming.

from Proverbs 31:

       31 Give her of the fruit of her hands,
      And let her own works praise her in the gates.