Undecided

"One Square Inch" (C)  2010
Commercial cotton, hand-pieced, machine quilted

I have a little quilted piece;

I made it twelve by twelve.

Put in an online auction but

Alas, it didn't sell.

I took it to a show and sale

Among my other wares.

Though it received a lot of 'looks'

There were some puzzled stares.

Another show is coming up;

I gather inventory.

This little piece presents itself:

Will someone hear its story?

I have some canvas, nicely stretched,

On which I could attach it,

But still...does it look out of place? 

No other pieces 'match' it.

I like this little quilted piece,

So different from the others.

It makes a statement -- rare for me --

Alone among its brothers.

And so, perhaps, I'll leave it home,

Just put the rest on show.
They say, "Consistency's the key
"To selling art, you know."

I have a little quilted piece;

I pieced it all by hand, 

Remembering one quiet place

In a large and noisy land.

To learn more about One Square Inch -- the quietest place in the United States -- click HERE.

Thoughts While Waiting for the Plough

And the sander to clear the roads of drifts and ice...

Terry Grant recently posted on her blog about selling her work.  Directed there from the SAQA Yahoo Group conversation, I was smitten, and wrote this as a reply to her Yahoo post.  Then I thought perhaps I'd share my thoughts on her thoughts...and hope you go over to her blog to read too.

Thank you, Terry, for directing me to your blog.  I read that post on selling, and the one on drawing and the one on growing old(er).

Two of those three things have happened to me in recent months.  In September I turned 60 which for a very long time seemed "Old" (yes, with a capital 'o') to me.  Now -- especially since I am in better physical shape than I've been in years -- not so much.  

Then last week I sold a piece I made almost 3 years ago, based on a class I took with Pamela Allen at Quilt Canada in May 2010.  It was bought by a long-time (I nearly said 'old'!  ) friend, sight unseen (except the photo) as a house-warming gift for a gal both of us used to work with, and with whom I've lost touch.

As it's only the third piece I've sold (the others now living away from 'home' were either sold in the SAQA auction or given away), the process engendered a little thrill -- not so much from the money (though that's nice) but from, as you put it, the fact that someone valued my work so much that they wanted a piece of it -- and not only that, but they wanted to give that piece to someone else, certain that someone else would like it too.  That's a kind of trust I've never before experienced!

And about drawing -- it's not something at which I excel.  Certainly, the 'almost-a-photo' type stuff -- but I do sketch, and 'draw' a bit with fabric and thread.  I used to draw a lot -- back when I was your grand-daughter's age...but as I got older and had a class-mate whose drawing drew crowds of admirers and learned that 'you can't make a living doing that' and 'you'll never be good enough at that to get anywhere'...well, you know the drill.  I became a nurse, and then a businesswoman/wife/mother/care-giver/widow instead.  

And then I went back to art, and -- so far -- live happily ever after.