The time and skill to make a quilt whether it's geometric or a Crazy quilt requires time and patience. Add a cup or two, of love and we have a passion, that may even be considered an addiction. At least, it's a constructive activity that can bring great joy to the artist.
Constructive activities are preferable in today's society and what better way to pass time than through creating one's own crazy quilt? The choice of size and type of project can range anywhere. A few idea's to apply crazy quilting can go as follows;
- Clothing, vest, jacket, skirt, ruffles
- Home Decor, bedding, table runners, place mats, sofa throw, wall hanging
- Accessories, purse, travel bag, storage tote
- Pets, pet couture, pet carrying case, pet bed
- Holidays, tree skirt, stocking, wall hanging
- Gifts, birthday, anniversary, congratulations, baby shower, bridal
- Sports, yoga mat bag, sport tote bag, golf sock
Creating a crazy quilt doesn't necessarily have to stay in the realms of a quilt. It can be applied as a decorative edging to any project. Let your imagination explore the possibilities. I hope you share your idea's and projects here also. I'd love to hear from you.
I hope you found this article informative, inspiring and enjoyed the slide show. Please feel free to leave your comments, link to me, subscribe by email or RSS feed. Also, you can email me to say hello, make a order or to share your own idea's and projects.
A business at home or working a brick and mortar shop selling to the public, requires one to know the customer. They are the consumers of your products and learning about their motives and reasons to shop, can increase your own sales. Offering the opportunity for conversation or listening in on one, can open the door to learn more about your customer. Can you identify the various type of shoppers?
Planning a strategy for effective selling requires us to know our customer needs and how we can present the benefits of our products, to make sales. Learning about the customer can start with your own shopping experience and observe the answers, to some of the following questions that arise, prior to purchase ;
‒What do I need? ‒Where do I find it? ‒Price and quality? ‒Price and quantity? ‒Why do I need it? ‒Do I need help to find it? ‒Who offers extra specials? ‒How long is the store open? ‒How far is the store? ‒Do I need delivery? ‒Is there a sale? ‒Charge it or cash?
The process in thinking of buying goes fairly quickly through our minds. We have a good idea of the needs and where, when, what, who, and how to buy the product. We go to a particular business that can usually offer the best item at the most comfortable price. Our customers will also share the same process of thinking to arrive at their own decision whether to buy or not. It will be our responsibility to attract and convince the customer, to buy from us.
Designing our own selling strategies should vary, to appeal to the different customers that arrive plus answer their needs. Sometimes it’s difficult to determine which possible buyer is the real consumer and attempting to satisfy the entire market is overwhelming but catering to a particular group of people (market segment) is attainable. Again, knowing your customer is of great importance.
Providing service to the customers available to us can be sorted into various ‘shopping’ types and they will consume, according to their income and needs. A few customer profiles that arrive may be the following types :
Low Interest - shopper has a low interest in shopping and little concern in price, service or product selection. Discerns for best price and quick service.
Active - high interest in shopping. Enjoys many activities including browsing. Price, quality, fashion and selection are important.
Service - usually found in middle class with dependents. Friendly, helpful service and prompt attention is important. Time constraints may be in place.
Traditional - enjoys outdoors activities. Shopping is not interesting, they aren’t demanding and not too concerned with price. May be loyal to brand quality.
Impulse - usually DIY personality and characteristics. Most likely to try new products, not into brand loyalty, rely on print media. Low interest in radio or television advertising.
Price Sensitive - usually found in older, married or single, middle-class shoppers. They go out of their way to find a bargain. Rely heavily on all forms of advertising to find the best prices.
Repeat - depends on your price, quality and service. Returns regularly for ongoing needs. Important to place high value on these shoppers.
Customers will not have these specific characteristics but may exhibit a mix of them. Learning to identify the basic shopping behaviors will help you develop your own business marketing strategies to create sales and repeat buyers. Identifying the benefits of your products to match the needs with the type of customer you require, is of great importance to your business success.
I hope you enjoyed this article. Please feel free to share this article with friends who may also be interested.
Read related –> here.
I hope you found this article informative. Please feel free to leave your comments and share your own observations plus give your Vote. Send me a email if you have a request on a topic of interest, place a Order or to say hello. It's FREE to Follow me, subscribe by Email or my RSS Feed.
The world of quilters have a common passion for quilting and all that encompasses the craft, to produce their quilt. A store related to sewing will capture their imagination and stir excitement. A fabric, notions or quilt store is wonderful eye candy. Would you consider adding visits to such shops while travelling?
Travelling to another region within our homeland or abroad overseas, opens the door to explore new markets. Along with exploring the regular tourist destinations is the opportunity to inspire learning new quilting methods, patterns and designs or integration.
A couple of methods to locate these shops will require planning ahead of time. As we know, travelling starts with the destination. Including this information gathered ahead of time will make travel that much smoother and stress free. A few methods to locate shops:
- Search engine, to bring up general highlights
- Advanced search, use keywords for specific information
- Yellowpages online
- Online Directories, will list participating shop sites
- Quilt Event Calendar plus your destination search
- Quilters Directory book from local book store
Once you have your shop list(s) compiled -take a few more steps. Visit the US Customs websites to learn what is allowed vs prohibited items to bring back home and the duties that will be required. Plan to find out early if the retailer can ship the item home for you as they may be more adept and knowledgeable with shipping brokers and customs. Ensure you gather all tracking forms and documentation. Exchange contact information for yourself and the retailer in the event there is damage or loss.
Planning ahead is always good advice to follow. One last stop before beginning your trip is to visit your FedEx, UPS sites. Explore the international costs of shipping home from your upcoming destination
point. As has been mentioned before about shipping -include your insurance costs.
The costs of international shipping may be high so consideration to budget must be followed. We must ask ourselves would I pay this price at home? is the over all cost worth it? Using a shipping service vs risk of lost
luggage is another factor to consider when packing purchased gifts in your suitcase.
Foresight and pre-preparation planning is important. Other sources of information may be found with;
A safe journey and enjoyable shopping will only be part of a trip but to have potential risks overseen will only make the experience so much better!
I hope you found this article informative. Please feel free to leave your comments and share your comments plus give your Vote. Send me a Email if you have a request on a topic of interest, interested in placing a Order or to say hello. It's FREE to Follow my site, subscribe by Email or my RSS Feed.
The world of quilting regardless the type of quilt being assembled starts with notions, a sewing machine, a pattern, fabric and the artist. If you peruse through the many available blogs online or even have a neighbor, who quilts, a common foible can be found with fabric.
As we know, fabric is any woven, knitted or pressed cloth, such as velvet, satin, canvas, linen, silk, felt and flannel, etc. They all have a different texture and quality all their own. Fabric has been discovered to be around since prehistoric times and has changed over time especially during the industrial age. Read the interesting history of fabric --> here.
Today, fabric can be found in many colors, textures, qualities and designs. For the quilter, fabric is eye candy and wildly stirs the imagination and creativity. Peek into their work room and you may find shelves overflowing with fabrics of one color after another. Why? each one of those fabric pieces may already be a part of a quilt, in the mind of the artist.
Unfortunately the world of fiber art now has it's contraints too. Fabrics can be stamped as a 'Not for Commercial Use' product. A fabric designer has decided their fabric cannot be used towards creating a new product for resale. It will be considered copyright infringement.
The idea of freedom to express oneself with fabric in the quilting world, now forces one to approach with caution when shopping for fabric, to respect the rights of another artist. Many question this practice since it seems to put up a roadblock regarding the fabric. Curious questions arise. On one side is the fabric designer, they will allow for private use only. One can make a dress, curtains or whatever for private use whereas the clothing, home decor or quilting artist cannot use it in their own creations, for resale to the public. What if a client buys the fabric but commissions another artist to create a product? A fine line indeed to consider. All I can suggest is that we double check when shopping for fabric, to prevent finding ourselves in trouble. Just look at the selvage on the bolt of fabric to find out if it's been stamped.
I hope you found this article informative. Please feel free to leave your comments and share your own observations plus give your Vote. Send me a email if you have a request on a topic of interest, place a Order or to say hello. It's FREE to Subscribe by Email or my RSS Feed.
