The Beating Hearth is going into business...the Custom Quilt business

I've been thinking about starting a little business.  A collaborative business where I co-design quilts with my customers.  The customer gets all the fun of choosing the fabric (with a little input from myself) and the quilt design.  This is for people who love quilts, but don't have the time or desire to actually make a quilt, make a quilt.

Here's an examples of some quilts that I've been commissioned to make.

Let me know what you think of this idea.

This is a baby quilt for little Echo using the cutest Dr. Seuss fabric.  As soon as my customer and I saw it, we had a fit over how adorable it is and knew it was the fabric for us: the bright blues and reds together, contrasted with the white and black, too much fun for a baby boy.

 I particularly like how we used the striped fabric for the name and the binding, and the giant half square triangles have a big visual impact.

The backing!

Baby quilts are approximately 36" by 36".  The perfect size for a new baby.  The best thing about a quilt this size is once the baby is done using it as a quilt, you can hang it on the wall and use it as a wall hanging.  The quilt that keeps giving.  This particular quilt cost $140.  Prices vary depending on fabric and design and I know it can seem steep, especially when you can buy a quilt at a store for significantly less than this.  The thing to remember is, this isn't just a quilt, it's a quilt that you helped design, hand picked the fabric and collaborated on the design, which was then hand-made with love just for your special somebody.   It's not just a quilt you're paying for, it's the whole experience and joy you receive for giving a loved one something truly unique that you had a hand in designing.

The raw materials, fabric, batting, thread, and fusible web for this particular blanket cost just shy of $70.   I will be completely upfront about fabric costs.  You can choose to buy your own fabric at a quilt shop and ship it to me, in which case I will only charge you for labor and misc. supplies, like thread and fusible web and not fabric, or together we can shop the many amazing online fabric stores out there and you can buy the fabric and have it shipped to me, or I can buy the fabric and have you pay me via PayPal.  Lots of options.

Quilt sizes are customizable.

Here's a few more examples of my work.

Tell me what you think and drop me a line if you're interested in getting started! It takes about 3 weeks for me to complete a quilt, depending of course on what we're doing.

Some of my images are pre-iron.  I am sure once this business really gets started I'll take MUCH more professional photos...ha!  Doubt it.  I get too excited once my creations are done that I don't have time to wait for such trivial things as ironing, I just want to show them off!

Aren't the hearts fun?  And I love the rainbow letters.

This one for little Sadie Lyn is so soft and girly.  It makes me want my sister to make me one more baby niece to love.

One of the things I do to keep you in the loop, is send picture updates via text or Email so you really get a sense of what I'm doing.

Again, don't look at the wrinkles.  This is the quilt I am currently working on, it's a twin and I just LOVE the fabrics.  So perfect for a little girl.

I also make custom throw pillows, pillow cases and wall hangings!

I am still working on a web page for Beating Hearth Custom Quilts, but if you are interested before things really get going, leave a comment here and I'll get with you right away.

Thanks for reading!

Heather