by Suzi Parron with Donna Sue Groves
Swallow Press; $29.95
The American Quilt Trail, large colorful quilt blocks painted and mounted on barns, is truly a grassroots public arts movement. In this book, Suzi Parron travels across 25 states and Canada to visit the barn artists and barn owners to learn more about the movement, which started with Donna Sue Groves’ project in 2001 to paint barns in Adams County, Ohio. From those humble beginnings designed to honor Groves’ mother and draw economic attention to one part of Ohio, the quilt trail now encompasses 45 states and more than 3,000 “quilts.” The stories are fascinating, and the quilts are just fun to see. I was fond of a Grandmother’s Fan that wrapped around the side of a barn in Ohio and the trompe l’oeil Lone Star quilt on a barn in Illinois. Recommended.
Look for the book at your favorite quilt or book retailer. Here’s a link to Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.
Have you thought about a retrospective of your, your student’s or your customer’s work? It’s a great way to showcase the work. In the Fall issue of The Professional Quilter, Gloria Hansen shared what it took to create the retrospective of her work. Here are some highlights in an excerpt from her article:
Over the years that I’ve been creating quilts, I’ve kept photos, notes, sketches and various records of nearly everything I’ve made and been involved with. This summer I took the time to compile a good deal of it into a retrospective book of my work that I titled Gloria Hansen: An Evolution in Stitches, Paint & Pixels. It’s the type of project I wholeheartedly recommend that you consider doing for yourself as a way to not only document your work (your business, etc.), but to get perspective and appreciation for your personal journey.
First, determine what you want to include. I first created a loose outline and used a calendar to chart out what I hoped to finish by when.
Next, gather your images and write your story.
To create a professionally printed, high-quality book, I recommend using a print-on-demand (POD) service. I selected Blurb, which offers various tools for book creation. You’ll find links to a step-by-step video tutorial along with tips, tutorials and updates within a getting-started guide (all of which require you to be online), which I recommend looking at.
Of paramount importance to the success any type of portfolio book is the quality of the images. Besides starting with good photographs, you can take extra steps to ensure it will print the way you intend. If you have any trouble getting a printed image to closely match what you see on your monitor, you will need to calibrate your monitor.
Once your book is finished, and especially if you do the layout yourself, it’s extremely important to proof it. Don’t just rely on yourself. Have a couple of people read it for typos and look at the layout for anything that looks off.
To quote from the closing of my book, “…documenting my artwork gave me a deep appreciation for what I have experienced and accomplished, gratitude to those who helped me and motivation to carry on.” I invite you to my website (www.gloriahansen.com) to learn more about it, and I also again encourage you to consider writing and publishing your own story.
If you have experience creating a written retrospective, please leave your comments below.
Everything old is new again, and that applies to quilting, too. For those of us who’ve been quilting for decades, we’ve seen the resurgence of a variety of techniques. And so it is with English Paper Piecing. Mickey Depre found hexies in late 2011 and something just clicked or totally grabbed her. Once she basted those first hexagons into a rosette, the design possibilities began swimming in her head and there was no looking back. In her book, she shares the “Original 7,” as she calls them, the first design variations that she drew. The seven eventually grew into the 63 designs in the book. Mickey gets you started with detailed basic basting and piecing instructions and then gets your juices going with all her samples. While I loved all the design variations, I would have liked to see a completed quilt from the hexies. This is the perfect “on the go” project; just don’t be surprised if you get hooked!
Look for the book at your favorite quilt or book retailer. Here’s a link to Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.
Step off the achievement bandwagon for just a moment. You know that I am all about action. Nothing happens unless you take action.
I know last week I shared about the intention I set for my year ahead. Last week we had our annual goal-setting call in which we talked about making stretch goals and all that you could accomplish in 2013.
For those of you who haven’t listened to the call, I also shared an assignment that I gave to a number of my private coaching clients. I asked them to list 100 accomplishments from 2012. “Whoa,” you say. “One hundred! How could someone come up with that many? And, what’s the point?”
The point is that as creative entrepreneurs many of us are onto the next big thing on our list. We check off each item on the list. Ta-da – that’s done. What’s next? We rarely take the time to look back at what we accomplished. Some of also think we didn’t accomplish enough or we missed the mark on the really big thing on our list. Not so. I bet everyone of you accomplished more than you think, so don’t let that inner critic out.
So, go back and write down those accomplishments. Writing it down is key and the list is much bigger when you get it out of your head. I promise. You can aim for 100. After all, it’s just two accomplishments a week, and nobody said they had to be monumental accomplishments. When you get done, go back and look at that list. It will be a good confidence booster. And, as you go through the year and feel like you’ve hit a stumbling block, whip out that list and looked at what you managed to do.
I’d love for you to share some of your favorites over on the blog.
Cultivating Your Creative Life
Alena Hennessy
Quarry Books; $24.99
Ending one year and starting another is often a time for reflection. Here’s another book I think you’ll find valuable, particularly if you are trying to create a new direction. Designed by an artist and healing arts practitioner, the book’s focus is on self-inquiry, dreaming and creating. It includes exercises, space for writing your reflections or drawing. You can either use the book or jump over to your own journal and use that. She also incorporates yoga, breathing, nature and herbs to help you live a more balanced life as you work towards your goals.
Look for the book at your favorite quilt or book retailer. Here’s a link to Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.
Are you a New Year’s resolution maker? I used to be, and I probably made some of the same ones you made or are still making. You know, lose weight, eat more healthfully, clear up the clutter.
About six years ago I decided to try something new. I picked a word or two to choose as my intention or focus for the year. I actually started this practice in my yoga class. Kathy, the owner of the yoga studio, passed around a basket and we each picked a word. I picked openness. Well, I was not enamored with that word. The woman next to me picked love, a word I liked much better. I asked if I could pick another word and Kathy told me that I hadn’t picked the word, the word had picked me. Well, I stuck the word on the computer screen and looked for openness. Funny thing, I found lots of opportunities. I’ve had lots of words since then: joy, abundance, challenge. This past year I decided to choose those two words again: openness and opportunities, and I can look back and see magic in what I experienced in those areas.
It’s that time again and I spent some time over the Christmas holiday thinking about what word or words would be my theme for the year and how they will fit with the goals I’ve set for 2013. First, my word is conscious or consciousness, as in being fully aware or deliberate. I put it with living, as in conscious living. It’s very easy for me to get caught up in the doing, and letting the getting it – whatever it is – done be the important part, and not be fully engaged in what I’m doing. As I made a wall quilt in December, I could see how conscious or attentive I was during the design phase, and it was wonderful to see what it brought to me. I can see this as being important in all aspects of my life. One example includes, being fully present when I engage with other individuals. If I approach sharing my knowledge with authenticity and self-awareness, I will expand my reach, which is one of my goals. Another example, being fully present or conscious with my own self. If self-care is one of my goals, and it is, I need to be conscious that I can only be responsible for myself and that I need to be aware and attend to that. A third example, making conscious business and financial decisions. If you aren’t attentive to what’s going on with your business, it will run itself by default – and you may not like the default position.
I know living fully conscious will open more opportunities. Whoops, did you catch open and opportunities? I really think those are my words of the decade.
How am I going to get support for that theme. I’ve got two ideas. One is that I’ve got the words Conscious Living on a Post-it® note on the computer. It’s also on the front of a journal. Those are my reminders. Second, I found a book called A Year of Living Consciously by Gay Hendricks. It includes a quote, a short essay and a conscious living practice for each day of the year.
So, I’m asking you some questions:
1. Do you have a word or theme for the year and how will you stay focused on it?
2. If not, would you like to join me for a year of conscious living?
Yes, I’ve reviewed this book in the past. It’s that good that I think it deserves another look. It’s one of my favorite planning resources. I’ve been using this little book for years and recommend it widely, and I often hear from those who end up getting it about how valuable it is. The book offers a framework to define your personal values, identify the various roles you play and create goals for those roles. Here are some of Jinny’s questions plus a couple of my own:
1. What did I accomplish?
2. What were my biggest disappointments?
3. What did I learn?
4. How do I limit myself and how can I stop?
5. What are my goals for next year?
6. Where do I need to find education or support to get there?
7. How can I make sure I achieve my top goals?
I find one of the most empowering aspects of Jinny’s system is the look at the successes of the year. It let’s you focus on your successes and not get weighed down by what didn’t work. It also lets you get off the treadmill of working on your business to see if you really are on course.Here’s a quote from the book I particularly like: “We must prepare our soil before we’re ready to plant the seeds we want to grow in the new year.”Look for the book at your favorite quilt or book retailer. Here’s a link to Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.
We have less than two weeks before the year ends and we start 2013. You can still take positive actions to end your year right and get a head start on 2013. Here are five tips:
1. Don’t wait until Dec 31 to check your financials. Do you need to follow up on any late invoices if you want the income to be in 2012? Do you need to make any expenditures by year end? If you listened to my call with CPA Maggie Mayer, we discussed some of the changes you could make by year end to make a difference in your tax situation for the year.
2. Look back over the year to see what your successes were. I think as entrepreneurs we often do not take the time to celebrate what we have accomplished. We are always onto the next big thing. Go back and list what your accomplishments were. I bet you can come up with 100 if you try.
3. As you looked over your successes, did you see places for growth? Spend some time over the next two weeks getting clear on what’s possible for you. Consider who you’ll need for support, whether that’s private coaching or your own personal networking group.
4. Have you started planning for next year? Have you purchased your calendar or created one that works for you? Have you entered dates for big events and those appointments with yourself? That way you can start the year on the right track. You’ll see where you need to fill in to build your business.
5. Have you thought about what Your Big Why is? What’s the reason you get up each day and work in and on your creative arts business. If you are unclear, set aside some time over the holidays to consider it. That will make a difference as you begin the New Year.
Barbara Brackman’s Civil War Sampler
Barbara Brackman
C&T Publishing $29.95
Noted quilt historian Barbara Brackman created a blog devoted to Civil War quilts about two years. It was to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. She began to attract a large following for the weekly block with a first-person story about the war. By this week, she has attracted more than 1,000,000 viewers to her blog. Her book is a collection of 50 8″ x 8″ or 12″ x 12″ blocks with the accompanying stories. She choose the blocks based on the symbolism of their names, as most were published in the 1930s, well past the end of the war. It is fun to read the connections she makes between the history of the war and the blocks.
Look for the book at your favorite quilt or book retailer. Here’s a link to Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.
Have you taken time to look at your financials? How can you know where you are or what adjustments you need to make if you don’t? I know, so many artists say they aren’t interested in numbers; it’s such a left brain activity. I don’t buy that argument. Organizing your work space so you can create art is a so-called left brain activity; so is putting together that list of art supplies to order. You do those anyway because you want to create art.
You should have that same thought about your numbers. You want to create a profitable business – and you definitely use lots of right brain activity in that – knowing your numbers is part of the picture to get you there. And, if you don’t look at the whole picture, well, it’s like a half-finished quilt. You don’t have the complete story.
What do you need to look at? Here are two specifics: your profit and loss statement and a cash flow statement. We’ll talk more about those in an upcoming article.
You’ll note I titled this article “Your quilt business is like a restaurant.” When you own a successful restaurant, it’s divided into two areas: front of the house and back of the house. Front is what the public sees, ie., the host/hostess, the waiters, and the dining room. And back of the house is where the work takes place.
For creative artists, I see the front of the house as our completed art. Most of the real work takes place back of the house, whether that’s our creating or our looking at our books or our efforts to get our art seen. Restaurants have staff both in the front and the back of the house. So do our creative businesses. We might have reps to market our business and we might have bookkeepers to input the numbers into our financial software. We don’t have to do that work that doesn’t fit our skill level or that seems too “left-brained” to us. It does, however, fall to us, the business owner, to look at the big picture. Part of that is looking at those numbers and becoming creative about how to grow our businesses.
by Mickey Depre
