Hey lovelies, how are you this sunny and somewhat hot Wednesday afternoon? Let’s talk quilts, specifically Red Boot Quilts.
I’ve been feeling completely miserable when it comes to Red Boots recently. It’s been very much touch and go whether to keep trading or not. There are a number of reasons but it’s mostly behind the scenes industry pressures.
This morning I was scrolling through Instagram and saw this on one of my favourite artist’s accounts and it really resonated with me.
This. This is going to be my 2019. Permission to be me and not conform to other’s expectations and demands. Most importantly this simple sentiment has given me the urge to get designing and sewing again – something that I didn’t think would happen anytime soon.
Today has been the first day since before Christmas that I’ve sat down and enjoyed, and felt joy, with what I was doing.
Moving forward into 2019 some things will be a little different with Red Boots. I’m considering not supplying patterns wholesale anymore. I won’t make a final decision until the end of the Australian financial year which is 30 June. The wholesale side of the business has been declining due to high postage and printing costs in Australia, and I haven’t been able to secure a US distributor at this point.
I’m also setting up a new pricing structure. It’s slowly being rolled out in the Etsy store, the website will follow shortly. PDF patterns are being sorted into $2, $4, and $7.50 categories. Printed patterns will remain at $14.50 with free postage.
I’ve decided to put most of the free patterns into the $2 category. With the changes to social media and Craftsy I no longer have a platform where I can offer the patterns for free, reach a large audience, and not have to pay site fees or advertising.
Pricing the patterns at $2 each will help pay the website, processing, and advertising fees required to keep the business running. The patterns will all be updated with better instructions, coloured diagrams, and coloured templates to compensate. They will also be available as printed patterns for those of you who prefer to buy their patterns that way.
Oh, one more thing. I am a terrible photographer. Cameras defeat me. Completely and utterly. Whilst I will continue to make the quilts, I may use a professionally drawn image for the pattern cover instead of a photograph. This won’t affect the patterns but it will take an enormous amount of stress off my shoulders with the added bonus that I very much enjoy the process of drawing the quilts. A lot of other designers use this method too so I’m not the first LOL.
Anyway, happy Wednesday to you all and thank you. Happy quilting too. toni xx
