Thursday, December 20, 2012

How to buy a gift for a quilter:

pinterest wish list fabric
Note: add prices to your pins so that it's easy for a gift giver to choose based on what they want to spend! 

As a quilter (or any sort of artist really), it's hard for people who aren't quilters to understand what exactly we'd like for a gift. In the past it seems that the gift card to Joann's is fairly standard. While that's a great gift it lacks the "You got me something absolutely perfect" that every gift giver would love to see. (Essentially a gift card to Joann's will buy needles and rotary cutter blades, possibly a ruler... usually not super exciting things, but super necessary things!)

So what is the spouse (or friend, or family member) of a quilter to do? Well I personally love the surprise of not knowing what my husband is going to get me for Christmas or birthdays etc. No matter how big or small it is, it's fun and exciting. So here's what I did. I started a pinterest board for that! 

I know, I know, that's a little forward of me to do such a thing. Truthfully, this board came about by me wanting to do some online shopping, but needing to wait for my bonus from work to do so... I wanted to make sure I didn't forget about "that website that sells this..."etc. So I made myself a list. This also helps since I end up deleting products from the list after reading enough reviews saying that it's not necessary or that another product is better!

These came for my birthday, straight from AMH's studio!
Last summer, my birthday was the first time Wally used this to shop for me, and it was a wild success! It was crazy when the mail came and it was from Anna Maria Horner's studio! I knew it was going to be something great (and it was!). That's the reaction a gift giver loves! 

Of course this idea isn't for everyone, but I like it since it's personalized. It allows Wally to surprise me without the surprise being that he picked the wrong fabric or paid way too much for something because he didn't know where to buy it. Also, it's really fun making and curating my little list. My someday purchases.

I'm not sure if Santa is watching my pinterest board this time around, but if he is, he should keep in mind that it's cutting it close on shipping for those things to get here on time! (That reads as though it's a reminder to Wally - but he doesn't really read my blog so I suppose I could say anything without him noticing). 

What's the most thoughtful sewing/quilting related gift you've ever been given? Does anyone in your life just "get" your sewing style enough that they can just pick out the perfect yard of fabric for you? 

7 comments:

  1. What a great idea! I need to start a pinterest board of my wants! =)

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  2. I couldn't cope without my Amazon wish list. You're not confined to Amazon, you can add gifts you'd like to receive from any website at all. My family each has a list and the're invaluable. All you do is share the list and when they buy something, it gets knocked off so you don't end up with two. I put on anything I quite fancy and rate them priority - highest to lowest. I also use it when I want to buy myself a treat!!

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  3. My "Wish List" board was one of the first I made. My husband tries but I'm hard to shop for so now he knows what to tell everyone to get me :)

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  4. That's not too forward, it's brilliant! I haven't done Pinterest yet myself. I wanted some pandora charms, so I thought I'd email my wish list to my husband!

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  5. I use an Amazon wishlist that has books and other goodies listed. It has the bonus of keeping track of what has already been bought and allowing me to say what's a higher priority to me!

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  6. Non-sewing freaks like us don't get that a gift of fabric would make us happy. But frankly there is nothing i would rather shopp for ! My sister got me a hefty gift card to a local fabric shop a few months ago. I used it recently. I can 't tell you the joy i felt walikng out of the store wih all that 'free' fabric and batting!!

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  7. A few congeners have already mentioned that Amazon wish lists can have non-Amazon items, but they also have the benefit of better privacy. With pinterest, only other members can see private boards, which can be fairly limiting. Amazon lists run the full gamut of private/public options. They have a nice little widget that makes it super easy to add it without leaving the site your at. It is great though to be able to tell folks specifically one way our the other.

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