Springtime

Today's feature is this gorgeous hand-quilted wallhanging or lap quilt, inspired by nature...

Spring in the Woods!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/234779167/green-modern-lap-quilt-hand-quilted

Website is Finally set up for Rose Tree Quilts!

I finally got my website set up today, so excited! 

Virb allows integration of my Etsy shop into the main website, which I love; I was also able to set up a simple gallery showcasing a few of the many, many quilts that I've made over the years.

Go check it out, please share via Facebook, Pinterest, etc:

http://rosetreequilts.virb.com/

My quilts are now carried by Liz Daly Designs in DOWNTOWN GREENVILLE!

In case you can't tell from the title, yes, I'm super, over-the-moon excited that my quilts were chosen to be carried in the wonderful Liz Daly Designs Art Gallery/Gift Shop/Working Studio in DOWNTOWN GREENVILLE on MAIN ST!!! Right next the famous Reedy River and near the Falls Park, Peace Center, Poinsett Hotel, and many other highly-visited landmarks.

My quilts for sale at Liz Daly Designs!

When you walk in the front door, they are in the back right corner.

I am, again, very honored to have my quilts carried by such a wonderful place. Even if you don't buy one of my quilts, please take the time to stop in the shop, they have every kind of unique, handmade gift items, jewelry, unique home decor, paintings, etc, etc. And don't forget the incredible glass art of Liz Daly herself!

Liz Daly Designs

If you live anywhere in the SC/NC area, please go check them out and see if one of my wonderful, handmade, heirloom quilts is for you! Currently priced between $55 and $200, so get them while the prices are still low!

Photography for Selling

I've received compliments on my quilt photography, and been asked how to do it... I've spent a lot of time experimenting; here's a little of what I've learned and can think of:

***Use natural light if possible, take it outdoors if you can. If not, turn every light in the room on and spotlight with lamps... flash can do funny things but is sometimes unavoidable. I almost always take the same shot both with and without flash-some of the photos I'm putting here illustrate the difference.

***Take multiple photos in different poses, from various angles, different lighting, etc. For the 5 that get put on Etsy, I usually take anywhere between 15 minimum to sometimes 50 or more.

***For photos without flash, my camera anyway, takes longer to process and take the photo, so if I just hold the camera, the photo turns out fuzzy. So what I've been doing is steadying the camera against a solid object or setting it on a counter, chair, etc, to keep it still.

***Something I've been working more on is showing the item in use, with appropriate props. For example, a quilt on a bed with coordinating pillows, the fall table runner I just listed, I went all out and set the table like for Thanksgiving, with all the good dishes, centerpiece, serving dishes, etc.

I saw one hint somewhere from an Etsy seller... she tries to find unusual props for her jewelry (her current one is a teacup/saucer set on a table) and photographs her entire line on that prop to make her whole shop consistent for that season. The quilts I make are way too varied to do that with... but maybe I should start traveling around with them and find pretty mountains and old barns for a background, with a old fence, lol!

***Edit the photo afterwards till it looks right-if you start off with a decent photo, it usually only takes a little tweaking with color, focus, and brightness to get it right. It doesn't take a fancy program, I use  the basic one on Windows and then put the copyright text and maybe 1 more "auto-tweak" in Picasa-Google's free program. When editing, use your undo button as much as the others.... it makes it less fearsome to try something out and see what it looks like.

***And take odd ones... sometimes they are just for fun, like the one here of my quilt top with the sun shining through, and sometimes that one shot turns out to be the clincher that catches people's eyes.

There are also some wonderful hints and tips out there, here are a few good ones:

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=161

http://content.photojojo.com/tips/product-photo-tips-for-ebay-etsy-instructables/

http://handmademarketing.org/best-etsy-photography-how-to-take-online-photos/
http://www.handmadeology.com/jewelry-photography-tips-for-etsy-sellers/

~Andrea Harper Kuznicki, BSN, RN

Red & Cream Quilt... 1st big quilt I machine quilted :)

I finished machine quilting this lovely red and cream quilt on Friday.... it is truly one of my favorite quilts ever. I've never quilted this closely together on so large a project; this is also the largest quilt I've done on my home sewing machine yet.

The quilt top, before quilting, isn't it lovely with all the light shining through the colors??

I absolutely am thrilled with how this quilt turned out

"The Path Less Traveled Through the Corn Fields", approx. 60" square

It is loosely based on a pattern called "Times Square", by Pam Lintott & Nicky Lintott.

UPDATE: Not available anymore, sold and in a private collection in the Atlanta area.