I am so excited to announce the availability of the 2015 Weekly Photo Calendar, featuring the beautiful nature photography of Michael Fuchs and edited by me!
Weekly Photo Calendar Backstory
My husband, Michael, and I met while we were in college studying to become engineers. Although engineers have a certain pop culture stigma (Dilbert), we both have very creative sides. Michael has always been interested in photography, and in 2006 he purchased his first Digital SLR. Since 2007, we have collaborated to put together a weekly photo calendar to share his photography with friends and family. The first year we printed and bound the calendars ourselves, and it took a large amount of work to organize. In 2008 I found Lulu.com, a self-publishing website that has allowed me full editorial control but removed the difficulty of taking orders and printing the calendars myself. The weekly photo calendar has evolved over the years, and for 2015 it is a 8.5″ by 11″ full color, desktop weekly calendar. Each week features a nature photograph that was taken by Michael Fuchs, lines for daily calendar notes, and the calendar is spiral bound to lay flat on a table or desk.
2015 Weekly Photo Calendar
We think that the weekly photo calendars make wonderful Christmas gifts for friends and family. I keep a copy on my desk by my computer to help me remember everything like key dates for blog posts, quilt show entry deadlines, when to back up our computers or replace our home’s air filter, doctor’s appointments, and birthdays! I love turning the page every Sunday morning to see what beautiful photograph I get to enjoy for the week. If you are interested in learning more, please visit our 2015 Weekly Photo Calendar Lulu Product page.
2015 Weekly Photo Calendar
Jazz & Blues Festival Wrap-Up
The High Desert Jazz & Blues Festival was held last night, and the event was a very memorable evening. I personally watched online using a live webcast, which was an awesome way for me to participate without a late night drive home! The Positively Perfect Nap Quilt that I donated for the silent auction was sold for $200. I hope that the quilt went to a good home and will be used and loved, and I hope the money raised for The Mojave Foundation will go to good use.
Silent Auction – Handmade Quilt by Yvonne Fuchs
I thought it would be interesting to take a look at what selling the quilt for $200 means. The materials for the quilt cost $76.33, and I spent 14.5 hours making it. That means that my time was valued at roughly $8.52 per hour. I personally valued the quilt at $325 by setting my rate at $15 per hour and considering sales tax.
I hope that everyone is enjoying a nice weekend. It is finally starting to cool off in my area, and I am enjoying the crisp air on my evening walks and the smells of fall.
i wish your quilt had gone for more! It’s so disheartening to see our work undervalued. I actually got into an argument with a relative about that a month ago. We went to a quilt show and she pointed to a beautiful art quilt that had a giraffe on it and said I should sell quilts like that for kids rooms. She would not believe me when I told her how much money in supplies and how much time had gone into that quilt. Then she told me I couldn’t expect anyone to place any value on my time. It made me furious! You can’t pay a Plummer or electrician or tutor, or even a baby sitter (depending on area) $15 an hour. It makes me sad, but I guess it saves me in the long run because I know one person to not gift a quilt to.
It’s unfortunate that your relative can’t see the true value in a hand-made gift; it’s fortunate that you realized this before wasting a valuable gift on someone who wouldn’t appreciate it. I agree that the expectation for a quilter to do no more than cover expenses is absurd. I wonder if this relative would be willing to clean your house so long as you provide the cleaning products, or weed the yard if you purchase the pesticide, or cook you dinner every night this month as long as you cover the grocery cost.
What a beautiful calendar, too bad there isn’t a purse-sized edition. 😉
I am glad your donation went to a good cause. I don’t think people know how much work goes into making a quilt like that. Hopefully whoever purchased it will just love it!
Quilts often are undervalued in charity auctions and raffles. As a result, my local group will happily make a quilt to give to someone to use but not to sell to raise money. It is interesting that you had a similar experience.
Michael was in Australia! Do you ever come this way too?
We really do quilt just for the love of quilting because anyone who doesn’t quilt doesn’t understand the time, energy, and money that goes into a project. I made a baby quilt last week and I have $50 in it just in supplies. If I were to sell it, no one would pay enough to cover my cost and time. I’m happy your quilt made some money for the foundation and I’m glad you were able to get your name and information out to more people. I love your hubby’s photographs – that mountain pic is spectacular!
The calendar looks really cool. My husband is also a photographer on the side. Too bad he never thought to do something like this. Of course, all of his photos would either be of our kid, Disney World, or roller coasters! Glad your quilt went to good use, but like others have said, too bad it didn’t go for more.
My guild provides quilts for non-profit organizations to raise money through raffles and silent auctions. Most of the time, the profits of these fundraisers undervalue the quilt, and someone gets a steal of a deal. Every once in a while, a group will raise over $1,000 on a quilt, but this is a rare exception. Nine times out of ten, they raise between $100 to $200 on a bed-sized quilt. It’s a shame, but a reality. To curb this disparity, I make my best attempt to reserve my hand-made gifts for those who value them enough that they would be willing to pay a fair price because they are aware of the time and effort involved. I am willing to gift these individuals a quilt. Those that would consider their money more precious than my beautiful quilt will be given a less expensive, less time-consuming, purchased gift, which will be worth just as much to them. When I donate quilts to charity, I make an exception. I do this because veterans, foster children, abuse victims, and those struggling to fight disease need comfort. I quilt to bring hope and beauty to those who are less fortunate, not to be a cost competitor for big box store bedding.
Love your desk calendar! This would make a great gift for my Mom. I feel the same way about raffling quilts, they typically are undervalued. It’s a shame how quilts are not appreciated for their true cost.
It is a shame quilts don’t go for more, I don’t think it’s always that they are undervalued, I think a lot of people may appreciate the time and effort involved but they just can’t justify spending that much money on a single, essentially ‘luxury’ item, and unfortunately I think people love to bag a ‘bargain’ at auctions. $200 sounds like a good price at something like that to me. Your husband’s photography looks incredible, and how amazing that you’ve seen all those beautiful sights of nature, never mind that he captured them so brilliantly on camera too.
Good idea to turn his pics into calendar. They look great.
Beautiful calendar, was a great was “see” a bunch of the world a little each week. I too am sorry that your quilt did not go for more and echo that is what I have seen happen to. Once and a while I get asked through etsy regarding making a commission quilt and once I quote a price I very rarely hear back from them.
That calendar is gorgeous! Excellent work, both of you.