Today is the kickoff for the Quiltsy Team May Daze so I thought I’d do a feature on one of my fellow team members. I’m going to introduce you to Tiffany from WarmnFuzzies. I hope you enjoy meeting her as much as I did and don’t forget to take some time to browse her shop and have fun playing our little ‘game’ this week!

Tell me a little bit about your background in arts and crafts. When did you first start creating things?

My background in arts and crafts started in elementary school. I lived out in the country and there weren’t a lot of things for kids to do, so my mother and some friends started a 4-H group. I learned to sew, cook, bake, crochet and knit around 9 years old. I liked to draw and I was pretty good, too. I won a few poster contests. Is it possible to lose that talent? I can’t draw squat now. I have a gazillion cross stitched projects. Some framed, some not. My sewing studio is graced with many of my cross stitched projects with quilts in them. I was fortunate to have a job for three years in an office that my boss let me work on them in my down time. Anyway, my mother always sewed matching clothes for my sister and I when we were very young and I had a garbage bag full of handmade Barbie clothes that my mother made. Other than a basic sewing class in 4-H, I have had no formal training. I have never even taken a class for anything. If it can be taught from a book, then I can do it. I got bit by the quilting bug when I was pregnant with my first son. I bought a book to make a sampler quilt and got to work. It had directions for using a sewing machine or by hand. I chose the by hand method, since I didn’t have a sewing machine at the time and I finished it in six months. I would recommend that anyone who is learning to quilt should do it by hand first. It is more accurate. I haven’t stopped quilting since my first sampler. I gave up cross stitching and cleaning house at that time, too.

What is your favorite thing about making a Quilt?
My favorite thing about making a quilt is picking out the fabric. My second favorite would be taking a quilt out of the dryer and seeing what the finished product looks like.

Tell me a little about the cathedral windows...what are the challenges? Your rewards?

Cathedral windows are more like origami than they are quilting, but have always been considered quilting. I tried to do some research on them to find out where they come from, but I did not have much luck. It looks like they have only been around for approximately 60-70 years. If anyone has any info about the history of the cathedral window block, I would love to know more. I would have to say that the biggest challenge of the block would be getting the individual background squares all squared up and the same size. The rewards are that each project looks different depending on the colors and fabrics used. I love batik fabrics and decided that they would give the traditional block a more modern feel with updated fabrics and colors.

Do you have a favorite thing that you've made?

I don’t have a favorite thing that I have made because there have been so many. It is hard to pick a favorite. I do cherish a lot of my cross stitch projects because they were labor intensive, large, and they have lots of quilts in them.

How did you come up with your shop name?

My shop name was easy to come up with. Quilts make me think of comfort and warmth, so Warmnfuzzies seemed appropriate.

Is this your only business or do you do other things as well?

This is my only business. I don’t think I could juggle a job, kids and my shop. I am not that organized.

Do you still dream about making other things? If so, what?

I dream of making handmade soap some day. I love cold processed soap and it is the one addiction I have gotten from Etsy.

How did you first hear about etsy?

I heard about Etsy through the About Quilt Forum. It was mentioned in passing. If I had not heard about through there, I probably still wouldn’t know about it. I don’t think I have ever heard of it anywhere else in passing. It took me 8 months to get the courage to list here. I sold a quilt within my first week and I was hooked.

Any words of advice to others?
My advice is to find a middle between what you like and what is selling. There are a lot of things that I make that I love, but the fabrics are only to my liking and aren’t popular to the majority of buyers. You need to make what you love, but tweak it to what others love. Does that make any sense? Also, try to add new product to your shop at least on a weekly basis. I have found that the more I have, the more sales I get.