What are the most frequently asked questions I get when I work craft fairs? 

1. THE most popular question: how many hours did it take you to do this project? 

Often, the person wants to know how much time it took to complete one of the larger projects that are on display in the booth, and it’s a good question. 

But I don't have a good answer because I don't count the hours!

I don’t count the hours of design and development, if this is a design that I created, nor the hours of cutting and sewing. I should, no doubt, but I admit, I don’t do it systematically, unless I’m fulfilling a contract or commission.

Otherwise, I know roughly how many weeks or months I've spent on a project, but since some days I only work perhaps one hour on the project, and other days, ten hours, it's difficult to say precisely just how many hours are represented in such a project. 

What about you, do you count the time spent on a project? Do you want to keep track of your creative activities in this way? This is just data, after all, and it could be interesting, but that doesn’t mean we have to necessarily do anything with the data after the fact or change anything!

For my part, as long as the project is just for me, just for fun, I’m not sure if I really want/need to know how long I spend on it. 

2. The second question: was this project pieced and/or quilted by machine or by hand?

My answer is clearer: it depends! ;) 

Depending on the project, I may do some things by hand, and others by machine, or maybe a given project was done entirely by hand, or entirely by machine. I like to do both, so my choice depends on what I feel like doing at the time, or if I have to finish quickly or if there are other considerations/limitations. 

Some people ask this question out of simple curiosity. However, for other people, the "worth" of the project changes according to my response. Some are disappointed when I say that the quilt was pieced or quilted by machine, for example. I even receive comments from time to time that it is not "real" patchwork or quilting then. (This is a discussion for another blog post.) 

Or other people are discouraged because they believe they don’t have a machine that could be used for the machine quilting, for example.

In any case, I try to be transparent regarding the techniques I used, and I will happily answer people’s questions!  These discussions are an opportunity to encourage beginners and reassure them that they do not need a super sophisticated machine to complete a project. Here’s the machine that I’ve been using this whole time! 

At the same time, these questions are also an opportunity to talk with more “veteran” quilters and get to know what they like doing and why, as well as what they find interesting in other people’s work.

What do you think? Does it make a difference to you if a project is done by hand, machine, or by a combination of the two?