This week’s AWM member interview features Aviva Sieber, a quilter and early AWM member who also serves on our board of directors as Promotions Coordinator. Aviva’s sense of color and shapes gives her quilts and quilted items a style of their own. Her products range beyond just quilts and include purses and beautiful household items like place mats and coasters. Visit Sieber Designs online at: www.sieberdesigns.com
Aviva Sieber of Sieber Designs.
Name: Aviva Sieber
Shop: SieberDesigns
Website: www.sieberdesigns.com
Tell us a bit about yourself:
I live and create my quilts in Florence, MA. I have been quilting for almost 15 years now. I love to make throw quilts, home décor items (placemats, runners, wall hangings) and purses that I sell at shows and online. I also make custom bed quilts, up to a queen size.
Where do you sell?
I sell at several craft shows throughout Massachusetts and into New Hampshire. It’s in my plans to expand, but right now I have a great base of shows that I really enjoy doing. I also have two shops online. One on ArtFire and one on ETSY.
Handmade Quilt by Sieber Designs
What are you best known for?
I would have to say that I am best known for my color. I will be at a craft show, and people stop by my booth because they are attracted to all the color, you can see it in their eyes.
What is your best seller at a craft show?
At craft shows I definitely sell purses (full size and hip) and usually some other items as well. However, you never know! I have been to some shows that I only sell wall hangings and throw quilts, and others that I only sell placemats and table runners. Still, overall, I am usually able to sell purses over anything else when I sell in person. I think that when someone goes to work on Monday morning they want to say to their co-workers “Look what I bought at the craft fair this weekend.” It’s much harder to say “I got a great set of placemats at the craft fair. You will have to come to my house and see them!”
Orange Batik Placemats by Sieber Designs.
What is your best seller online?
In my online stores (I have two) I sell more home décor items like wall hangings, placemats and runners. Lately I have been selling lots of holiday items and of course an occasional purse!
How does your day go?
My day starts by getting my 8 year old daughter off to school. Once she is there, I go online and check for sales, do paperwork, and often take pictures and get new listings ready. After that, I work hard for the next few hours creating new, interesting items for my shop! By 3pm I am back at the school to pick my daughter up, homework time and dinner. Then it’s back into my home studio to create some more until I am ready for bed!
Structured Selvage Purse by Sieber Designs.
What inspires you?
COLOR! COLOR! COLOR!
What is your favorite tool?
My favorite tool is definitely my sewing machine. However, I could not live without the little scissors that I wear around my neck to cut threads, and my rotary cutter.
During this recession time, tell us one thing that you do to save money:
I am a coupon shopper and I am LOVING “Groupon.” Just recently I was able to purchase a Groupon for a local quilt shop and a local art shop (my husband paints). High end cotton quilting fabrics are expensive, so every little counts when a discount is involved.
Bright Squares Wall Hanging by Sieber Designs.
How do you try to keep your dollars local?
I only buy fabric from independent quilt shops. As I mentioned earlier, the fabric in these shops is very expensive due to the high quality. I try my best to purchase from local quilt shops as much as I can. My favorite quilt shop is A Notion to Quilt in Shelburne. The owners and staff is wonderful, they have a great selection of fabrics, and even have sales (almost unheard of for Brick & Mortar shops).
What do you want to have others understand about AWM?
I think the more that people learn about AWM the more that they will work to do much of their shopping through our members. We have such a diverse membership and you can get almost anything you need for a gift or for yourself from someone in the group. It’s just the way to go if we want to continue to keep our dollars local and also have quality items in our homes!
This is very nice.