Sunday, September 14, 2008

Martha's Vineyard Baby Toy Collection

I'd like to introduce a Special Edition to my Etsy Shop. Earlier this year I came across this very special fabric with printed scenes from the island of Martha's Vineyard (where I live). At the time, I was picking out fabric for a sewing class I was about to take and wanted to make something for my cousin who was going to have a baby a few months later. She grew up on the Vineyard but now resides on the west coast so I thought this Martha's Vineyard fabric would be perfect for her new little one soon to arrive.

The class was called "Quilt In A Day" and was set for the entire day. I was a beginner so I had a lot of help from the shop owner/instructor in order to finish my first quilting project (a baby quilt). This is the quilt I made that day and later shipped off to my cousin with some cute embellished burp cloths made from the same fabric. I also included a wonderful Zadyball from one of my friends at EtsyBABY!

A few months later I went back to buy some more of this fabric and started making cloth play blocks. They are unique and specialized so I wasn't sure how they would sell. Each block has 4 out of 6 different scenes from Martha's Vineyard; Islander Ferry Boat, West Chop Lighthouse, Edgartown Lightouse, Man Fishing, Oak Bluffs Gazebo/fireworks, West Tisbury Grange Hall/Farmers Market. I was thrilled after the first one sold! I sold a few more and had a few request for friends and family over the summer. Just recently, I finally made a trip back to the fabric store to buy more of this fabric and that is when I learned it had been DISCONTINUED! I was able to buy a small amount of the blue and some green so now I have a very limited supply! I'm having a hard time deciding whether I should just keep the fabric for myself or start cutting it up to make more toys for my shop.
Currently I am offering the medium sized cloth play block in blue, red or green. The block can be purchased individually or with a set of 3 toys that each make a noise- one squeaks, one jingles and one crinkles.
The fabric is from Susan Branch's Martha's Vineyard Watercolor Collection

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi - I saw your blog for the first time today. I love the blocks from the Susan Branch fabric. I recognized it right away as my daughter made me a tote bag from the same fabric.
I am, as noted by my blog name, obsessed with the Vineyard. My mother was raised there and I've been going there since I was 2 years old.