Selfish Tessa is Selfish
6August 4, 2015 by tessaraewilliams
I have a dream.
My birthday is September 3rd, and the one thing I want more than anything else in the whole world is to get my two quilt tops professionally quilted on a long arm. I’ve never gotten a quilt quilted for me, I’ve always done them myself. But since it’s my birthday treat (hopefully!) I’d love for someone else to do that! :p
Here’s the thing. I spend literally all of my expendable income on my craft swaps. I put a lot into my work, finding the perfect fabrics/patterns/extras, etc. And now that I’m going to QuiltCon, I have even less money to spend on my swaps, plus miscellaneous life expenses.
So I’ve started a GoFundMe page in hopes of crowdfunding my longarm costs.
There’s incentive though! As a thank you for your generosity, anyone that donates $25 or more will receive a Curvy Clutch made by me! If you can’t donate that much, that’s okay! You’ll still receive a shout-out on my blog and on Instagram if you have an account. 🙂 I really don’t take this lightly, begging for money. But I’ll gladly trade for my wares! :p
To be as transparent as I can be, here are my quilt tops, and the quilting designs I’m currently considering.
This is my Ribbon Box Quilt top featuring the line “Acorn Trail” by Teagan White for Birch Fabrics. I LOVE this line and this pattern, and I’d love to be able to use this quilt soon! 🙂 This is the quilting pattern I’m considering for this top.
I think this will add some movement to this quilt top. I’ve seen this pattern once it’s quilted and it looks really cool!
The other top I want to get quilted is my ginormous Dresden plate! This pattern came in Issue 20 of “Love Patchwork and Quilting”. 
For this top I used “Brambleberry Ridge” by Violet Craft for Michael Miller.
Currently I’m thinking of choosing this plaid-looking design to mirror the center of the Dresden Plate, as well as the backing.
If you can’t donate, that’s okay! What you could do instead is help me name my quilts! I’m useless at naming quilts, so let me know if you have an idea for a name for either of them!
Also, on another selfish note, I am looking into trading fabrics! This will help me use up the fabric I have, get NEW fabric, and spend $0! I am looking for fat quarters featuring bunny rabbits. My plan is to piece together a rabbit-themed backing to go with my Bunny quilt when I get around to making it.
This amazing pattern is by Elizabeth Hartman.
So far I have mostly Cotton and Steel and Tula Pink rabbits, so I’m looking for more obscure/unique bunnies now. My holy grail fabric that I’m looking to trade for is by Dear Stella.
This comes in a few colorways, and I’d be happy with any/all of them.
These pictures show what I have to trade in return.
Note, I now have no more of the Lizzy House dinos.
Note, the mint fabric in the bottom left is now gone.
Please let me know in a comment or on Instagram if you have some bunnies you’d like to trade me for! ❤
Slow week for swaps, I guess. Only one open swap. If I missed any (definite possibility), let me know and I’ll add it to the list!
- #bigdamnheroesswap – hosted by @cakewalkqueen. Firefly/Serenity themed swap. Ships in January. Info and sign-up here.
halfsquarequilts 
Oh you aren’t selfish! Goodness knows I have some “wants” that seem silly or selfish to other people….like yarn. I can never have enough yarn. I want ALL the yarn.
If I had fabrics to trade I totally would. 🙂 I hope you reach your quilting goal!
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I have too much yarn! I don’t know if it’s a great quality, but you can have whatever you want from my stash. Seriously!
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We’ll have to set up a trade! You can see what I work on and I’m willing to make something in return. 🙂 I use mainly acrylic and cotton in my Amigurumi work, so I’m always buying those. 🙂
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Perfect! I have mostly acrylic yarn!
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Tessa,
I would have never though of trying to crowd fund professional quilting! How resourceful and smart of you. I wish I could help you out monetarily, but we’re not financially able at the moment. I too do my own quilting and presently am in love with swapping. Like you I spend many hours picking and choosing my materials and patterns, branching out and challenging myself with new techniques, to make something my partner will love. Also something I would be proud to receive as well. I will check to see if I have some bunny fabric to swap with you. We recently moved and I’m still sorting things out, but I think I have some of those critters in there somewhere.
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Thank you so much! I appreciate your support, and thanks for understanding me! I found that some people were very openly pessimistic about my idea, and some downright mean.
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