Jamie wrote me to let me know that her purple monochromatic quilt is one of the quilts featured on Stash Manicure‘s June banner! Check out the banner and Jamie’s story and check out the Stash Manicure blog if you’re not already a reader.
I’m not much of a preacher/teacher/pound you into submission type blogger. I have my ideas about how to live life, how to vote, how to manage our household and our finances/how to raise kids . . you name it and I have a very strong opinion. I try to share what I believe in a way that if it appeals to you, then you will try my ways but if you disagree (why would you?) :), then you can just skip over that part and catch the next post. I never want to make anyone feel like I’m right/you’re wrong . . or I’m good/you’re bad or worse . . that my way is the ONLY way to do anything! Have you read blogs where you finish the post and feel like the scum of the earth because the blog writer is so sanctimonious and you know anyone who doesn’t do things the way she does is just plain wrong in her eyes? I’ve read those blogs and I usually don’t go back! So, I try not to be that kind of blogger because I really want you to come back! 🙂
But there are two things I really wish I could pound into every quilter . . or maybe every human out there and I’m going to use Jamie as my example!
Point #1 – Jamie had been a blog reader and we had some email interaction back and forth before I met her in person. I knew that she did great quilting but when I met Jamie in Baton Rouge last year and saw her quilting in person .. oh, my! It was unbelievable. Jamie quilts on her sewing machine! She quilts BIG quilts and she makes gorgeous feathers! She designs quilts, produces lots of quilts and has a full time job. Seeing Jamie’s quilting almost makes me want to go back to quilting on my sewing machine. What I want you to know is that if you really want to do great machine quilting and you are trying to do it on your sewing machine . . you can do it! Keep practicing! Spend some time on Jamie’s blog and look at her quilting.
Point #2 – Submit your designs! If you want to get published, if you want to write a book . . tell yourself today that you’re going to submit something either to a magazine or a book publisher and then do it! And don’t stop there. Any time someone is asking for a quilt or a quilt picture . . jump in and send something. You never know when or where your work is going to be seen. You never know who will see your work but if you’re just sitting in your sewing room, designing and making quilts and never tooting your own horn, you may never see your work published. Working in the quilting industry is so much fun! I love every minute of my quilting “career” and I wish much success for anyone who thinks they may want to “work” in this industry, whether “working” means a full time job of some sort or having an article/pattern in a magazine once a year or so! You seriously will never know where you may go unless you try it.
Thanks Jamie for great work and I look forward to seeing everything you do!
WiAmy says
I love her stuff too! I wrote to her once because I had problems printing something and she wrote right back. She is a great quilter/designer with a sparkling personality to match.
Kari in UT says
Thanks for the encouragement, I have decided to start machine quilting and my first quilt looks sick. I am almost embarrassed to give this to my quilting friend, but I know that she will love it. I was also not going to post it, but this morning I decided I must so I will be getting photos and posting it as a completed project.
I would like to start designing, but I worry that if I do something I think is unique, someone might come up and say ‘hey I did that three years ago’ or something like that. How do you know if it is truly an original?
Kristen says
Thank you for this. I’ve been a closet quilter for 25 years and I’m always too worried about something to show many people what I’ve done. In the last couple of months I’ve gotten up the courage to start a blog and start submitting some of my quilts. Today was one of those “you weren’t chosen days” and at first I was pretty tearful, but then I realized…you can’t always be chosen….although there have been many heartbreaks, I need to keep on trying. 🙂
Nita Mazerac says
We are quite fortunate to have Jamie Elfert in our quilt group and if she did not have a full time job she would be dangerous. Her quilting and design capabilities are exceptional. We love you Jamie and we know that you could definitely have a book out by now that all of us would be happy to purchase.
Sharon says
Judy, I am not good at putting myself “out there”. I did finally enter a quilt in a quilt show yesterday and it was one of your patterns that we did as a quilt along (Freeze Frame). I wasn’t going to but as I was finishing the binding at our Tuesday night quilt group, one of the ladies convinced me to go for it. She said other people will enjoy seeing my “happy” quilt, whether I win anything or not. I never thought of it that way. And by the way, yes I started this quilt in 2009 and just now had it quilted and got the binding on it!