July 27: Yesterday and Today

Yesterday started with a fabric exploration trip with my niece Isabella.  Although she is not technically my Goddaughter, I did stand in for my sister Pam at the ceremony and Pam has past away, so...  Anyway, I am making her a lap quilt with her t-shirts on one side and her color choices on the other.  With all the quilt frame issues I am behind on a couple of other quilts, so she won't be getting this soon, but it will happen in the next couple of months.  The batik fabric that is laying across the other fabrics will be the fabric used to fame the t-shirts and also to be the outer border on this side.  I do not have a pattern in mind, but I need to make some decisions in the next couple of days so I can be certain to find these pieces in the quantities needed.  In case you are curious, she wants grey to be the most dominant color on the non-t-shirt side.  hmmmmmmmmmmmm.....

As I told many of you, we are making and selling bunk beds, lofts, trundles, and under bed storage drawers as part of our woodworking business.  We had considered making a toddler bed along the same lines, so Kevin drafted a design and made the prototype.  We even have the safety rails for both sides of the bed. In the meantime I continued to check out the regulations, etc.  Just as the bed was finished I found the last pieces of information I needed and discovered that the regulations for making and selling such items specifically for use by toddlers are extensive and require third party testing and certification.  I want children to be safe and protected, but I do need to say that I find that the testing costs are prohibitive to the small shops.  I know that our bed meets the requirements presented in the documentation, and we have done our own tests based on the information listed by the CPSC, but this bed will not be sold.   Therefore, once the new addition on the house is finished this sweet little bed will be set up in one of the guest rooms.  It will be used by our grandkids when they visit -- I would never think to allow them to use something that would be hazardous to them! 

The afternoon and evening were again spent at the computer. We began with a photo session of one of our lofts and one of our bunk beds.All beds have safety rails, but we wanted to show several different views.  My quilts (but not the ones I have been working on this past week) are on the beds. After cropping the  pictures, we placed several ads and did more work on Kevin's design portfolio and a brochure containing photos and information which will be placed in several businesses around the area.

 

Obviously, we have been busy like usual, but we are enjoying it.  Now we just need to make our first sale.

Life is GOOD!