Is it worth it?

This is my one and only "sad" kind of post...

I thought a lot if to write or not, if to post it or not, etc. but I decided that once it's out it's off my chest and I can move on happily ever after :)

My dilemma is the following: is it worth it to share my patterns here on my blog?

These are the facts:

• I have been sharing my sewing adventures and pattern here on this blog for more than a year
• Every pattern I ever designed has been shared for free here or on craftsy
• I shared about 30 tested patterns, and about 40 untested ones
• I have about 600 downloads of the Music Sign, Treble Clef pattern on craftsy
• I have about 900 downloads for my Peanuts-Snoopy and Woodstock pattern
• I have between 900 and 50 downloads for each of the pdf of my patterns
• I received great comments on the posts where I was sharing the patterns
• I received numerous emails from people telling me that they are working on some of my blocks
• I received email from people asking me to resize blocks for them and I happily did it

BUT... despite all that...

I had only ONE person sending me (once) a picture of two blocks she made with a comments saying that she was working on other blocks. But I never heard from her again... nor from any of the other person that asked me for resizing blocks and similar... Nobody (until few days ago) ever shared on FiS flickr group or FB or anywhere (that I know of) a picture of a work done with my patterns.

Is it possible that out of all those downloads nobody had the time to realize something with my blocks? 

The answer could be "yes, maybe it's possible" but actually no, it's not... because (by chance) googling around one day I discovered 2 pictures of wall hangings that included my Treble Clef pattern... the people that realize them didn't mentioned my name, didn't link to the pattern, didn't contact me to show me their work, didn't upload their work on craftsy, nothing.

So you see now my dilemma...

I think that when something is free it does not mean that you just take it and leave... if something is free it just mean (at least to me) that you don't give back any money, but something should be given in return to the person that is offering the thing for "free"... something as little as a "thank you, look what I've done with your pattern" and a picture doesn't seem too much to ask... especially considering the huge amount of time that sharing these patterns with the community take... 

Just to put the things in real terms, this is how my design/sharing process works (for each single pattern):

• initial design: about 2 hours
• preparation of the untested pdf and sharing: about 1-2 hours
• sewing of the block: about 2-3 hours
• corrections of the block: about 1 hour
• preparation of the final pdf and sharing: about 1-2 hours

So you can do the math and see how much time I worked on the 30 tested patterns and about 40 untested ones... and if I didn't have to spend time in sharing/corrections, I could have realized more blocks for my own quilts.

But the point is that I think the time I spend doing sharing/corrections, is time well spent because is for the benefit of a bigger community... so I do it happily... but I need some kind of "return" for it... and what I ask is just that when a picture of a work done with my patterns is published, there should be a link back to my blog, and that a picture is shared with me so I can see it that sharing is worth it.

Finally let me conclude that some people shared with me a block they did with my patterns (Betty Boop, and Minion) but they were specifically requested so they "don't count" in my argument... however when I saw those pictures I was super-happily jumping around the house, so in some ways it actually proves the point I am trying to make :) And few days ago I also saw a block of Minnie from my patterns in the FiS flick group... there was no link to my blog but at least it was published in a network that I see by myself so it's ok and again it made me jump around quite a bit ;)

So, to conclude, I am going to keep sharing the corrections of the blocks in the Quilt&StitchTest-Along page... but after that I am not sure... 

This entire sad post was caused by the fact that in the Quilt&StitchTest-Along page I had a link party where nobody (except me) posted any link... and because I started a "MOP Monday" linky party and (again) each week there has been between 0 and 1 links... all those facts make me think...

MOP Monday - Scrooge McDuck and more

And here we are for another week of progress reports!

-- MOP: The list --

1. As You Wish - no progress (progress last week)
2. Celtic Solstice - no progress (progress last week)
3. Tea Towel challenge and PPV BOM - paused until March when next PPV block will be released
4. Alice in Wonderland quilt - started the Caterpillar block, done about 10 pieces
5. Happy Halloween wall hanging - "Do Cats Eat Bats?" block done (see below)
6. Topolino quilt - Scrooge McDuck block done (see below)

-- MOP: This week new blocks --

The pattern has been tested and fixed and is now available in the Quilt&Stitch-TestAlong page.
--
"Do Cats Eat Bats?" is my second modified version of Melissa's "Star Light, Star Bright" block: I turned the centers and the corners to get a different effect than the original one :)

Do Cats Eat Bats? (this week new block)

Do Bats Eat Cats? (previous block)

--

And now, ling YOUR own progresses below!!

Rules for the linky party:
1. You can link finished projects or WIP at any stage! Every step is worth sharing
   (A journey of thousand miles is made of single steps)!
2. Link to your specific post to make it easier for others to read about your progress!
3. Spread the word and post my button or a text link (code for the button on the side bar)
4. Comment on other links!! It's always good to support each other every step of the way!! :)

An InLinkz Link-up

MOP Monday - A Prince and a Pirate

And here we are for another week of progress reports!

I did quite a few things this week considering that three days I couldn't touch the sewing machine because one day I was sick and for other two days I couldn't feel my arms and shoulder due to excessive snow-shoveling (we had about 20 inches of snow in 24 hours... never seen so much snow in so little time... and it took two days to free our driveway!! O_o)

Anyway, here is what I was able to do despite the snow!

-- MOP: The list --

1. As You Wish - the prince and the pirate are done! (see below)
2. Celtic Solstice - missing chevron blocks done
3. Tea Towel challenge and PPV BOM - paused until march when next PPV block will be released
4. Alice in Wonderland quilt - no progress (progress last week)
5. Happy Halloween wall hanging - no progress (progress last week)
6. Topolino quilt - started Scrooge McDuck block, done about 10 pieces

-- MOP: This week new blocks --

Pirate Roberts and Prince Humperdinck are done done!

You can find all the pattern as part of the As You Wish, Quilt and Stitch along @ Fandom in Stitches.

You can also see the "chevron" sashing that I plan to use. My idea is to quilt those blocks with the quilt-as-you-go technique but I am not in a quilting mood so I will just accumulate the blocks for now and wait for a quilting inspiration to start that adventure :)

--
I also completed the February block for the Block Swap Adventure (for Marina in Netherlands).
She wanted a log cabin block with batiks... since she knows already the block, I want to keep the color a surprise so here a greyscale picture of the block (I will share the actual block when she receives it)

--

And now, ling YOUR own progresses below!!

Rules for the linky party:
1. You can link finished projects or WIP at any stage! Every step is worth sharing
   (A journey of thousand miles is made of single steps)!
2. Link to your specific post to make it easier for others to read about your progress!
3. Spread the word and post my button or a text link (code for the button on the side bar)
4. Comment on other links!! It's always good to support each other every step of the way!! :)

An InLinkz Link-up

As You Wish - The Prince You Love to Hate :)

Finally today is my turn in the As You Wish quilt and stitch along!!!

I designed the paper piecing pattern for Prince Humperdinck!

You can find the pattern of the PP block and of the embroidery block (designed by Amber) on Fandom In Stitches!!

I actually changed the embroidery pattern because it was my first embroidery block and I was scared of the overlapping lines in the original pattern ;) but I think it turned out pretty good for the first embroidery block!!

MOP Monday, Off with your head!!

And here we are for the third week of progress reports!

My initial idea was to have a progress on each of the six projects below each week... that was a little bit too optimistic :) but the second part of my initial plan was to have progresses on each project in a sequential way, in the sense that once a step has been made on one project, before a second step can be made on the same project I need to advance each of the other ones... in this way I am "forcing" myself to make them advance at the same time... no project left behind!! :) And on that I am succeeding... so here they are!

-- MOP: The list --

1. As You Wish - no progress (progress done last week)
2. Celtic Solstice - no progress (progress done last week)
3. Tea Towel challenge and PPV BOM - 3 chevrons blocks added to the tea towel! (see below)
4. Alice in Wonderland quilt - the Queen of Hearts is done! (see below)
5. Happy Halloween wall hanging - done "Do Bats Eat Cats?" block (see below)
6. Topolino quilt - cut pieces of next block (Scrooge McDuck) and selected fabric

-- MOP: This week new blocks --
The Queen of Hearts is ready to get some heads!!

The pattern has been tested and fixed and is now available in the Quilt&Stitch-TestAlong page.

--
I've already shown this last Tue for my Tea Towel Challenge update, but this is the set of three chevron blocks from the Paper Piecing Vintage BOM.

--
And finally, when I saw the new QAL that Melissa @ HappyQuilting is hosting I didn't really like it enough to make a full quilt with the blocks (I am not a big fan of "classic stars"), but suddenly looking at the block I didn't see stars and borders but I saw Cats and Bats! And how could I not make a block that has an Halloween theme merged with an Alice in Wonderland theme???

So I generated a paper piecing version of Melissa block because I needed a smaller version of the block and with different coloring... so here you can see my "Do Bats Eat Cats?" block!!

The inverse ("Do Cats Eat Bats?") is the next on my list for that project ;)
I will link this post in Melissa's link up party even if I don't know if my block will "qualify" for a prize for the QAL since I didn't follow her instructions... but I wanted to share it with the group because I really like that block now that I don't see it as a star ;)

--

And now, ling YOUR own progresses below!!

Rules for the linky party:
1. You can link finished projects or WIP at any stage! Every step is worth sharing
   (A journey of thousand miles is made of single steps)!
2. Link to your specific post to make it easier for others to read about your progress!
3. Spread the word and post my button or a text link (code for the button on the side bar)
4. Comment on other links!! It's always good to support each other every step of the way!! :)

An InLinkz Link-up

Tea Towel Challenge - February update

This is the state of my project for the Tea Towel Challenge, merged with Paper Piecing Vintage BOM :)

As I said before, I think I will change the top/bottom border to something more similar to the "greek" design that I put around the center of the tea towel... but for now here are my virtual design wall and my real one!

I really like the scrappy look and the colors... unfortunately when I take pictures is either night or rainy so the colors in the image are not the real ones... but I hope that by the end of the project I will be able to take a picture in a sunny weather ;)

MOP Monday: please come and link your progress!!

Despite the fact that last week I had only one person adding a link... and despite the fact that I didn't have big progress on all my projects... here I am for the second week!!!

Because every step count... and I hope that eventually you will share your progress here with me!! :)

-- MOP: The list --

1. As You Wish - finished Roberts block and quote (see below)
2. Celtic Solstice - assembled missing pinwheel, white triangle and orange triangle
3. Tea Towel challenge and PPV BOM - done third block (The King's Crows) and printed the chevron patterns
4. Alice in Wonderland quilt - printed next block (The Red Queen)
5. Happy Halloween wall hanging - no progress
6. Topolino quilt - printed next bloc (Scrooge McDuck)

-- MOP: This week new blocks --
Westley (pirate Robers) block, from the As You Wish, Quilt and Stitch along @ Fandom in Stitches.

The pattern is available for free on Fandom In Stitches.

--

And now, what are YOUR own progresses? Link them below!!

Rules for the linky party:
1. You can link finished projects or WIP at any stage! Every step is worth sharing
   (A journey of thousand miles is made of single steps)!
2. Link to your specific post to make it easier for others to read about your progress!
3. Spread the word and post my button or a text link (code for the button on the side bar)
4. Comment on other links!! It's always good to support each other every step of the way!! :)

An InLinkz Link-up