S is for Stitch  
Kristyne Czepuryk
Stash Books; $24.95

I love to read license plates and decipher the message from the words. Here’s the plate I saw on Saturday.

GVTHANX. Give thanks. It’s a simple message, only how many of us do this on a regular basis? I remember learning about “Thank yous” as a child. Who else remembers Captain Kangaroo and the magic words?

You can also find books that focus on this. A favorite is Thank You Power: Making the Science of Gratitude Work for You by Deborah Norville. A new one that’s now on my Christmas list is Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers by Anne Lamott.

I know we’re more aware of this concept during the holidays, and it’s a good habit to practice all year round. When you take the time to focus on what you are grateful for, you’ll find more happiness in your life. You’ll also begin to see more of what you are grateful for show up in your life. You’ll find yourself more resilient and even less stressful. Positivity all around!

Here are three tips for adding a gratitude practice to your life:

1. Keep a gratitude journal. At the end of each day write down three things that you were grateful for during the day. They don’t have to be big. One can be as simple as watching the sunrise or the laugh you got when your dog chased his tail. Periodically go back and read what you’ve written.

2. Set aside a few minutes every morning to hold a silent gratitude session. Think about what you are grateful for. Think about those people you are grateful for.

3. As you go through your day, look for times you can say Thank You and do so. These can be little gestures. It makes a difference to you and the other person.

4. If you think of someone and the difference they’ve made in your life, take time to call or write and let them know.

Here’s one of my favorite quote about gratitude:

Practicing gratitude will make a significance difference in your life. Please share your thoughts below.

2013 Quilt Engagement Calendar 
Klaudeen Hanson
American Quilter’s Society; $13.95

In the Fall 2012 issue of The Professional Quilter, Mindy Wylie, our Longarm Forum columnist, shared her thoughts on purchasing templates. As a longarm instructor, she often teaches classes that are either all about templates and designs or that include some template work. Students in class always ask her which templates they should buy when starting out. Since templates can be pricey and obviously buying a lot of them at once would take quite a bite out of the budget, she suggests starting with three different tools. In this excerpt from the article, here are her three:

1. A straight edge is a necessity. You’ll need this tool to do stitch-in-the-ditch, piano keys in borders and many other designs. Straight lines are impossible to accomplish without one! You’ll find lots and lots of options on the market. I prefer a tool that just fits my hand because it’s easier to handle. Many straight edge templates also have other registration lines or markings on them. I prefer to mark my lines with chalk and stencils or rotary cutting rulers first.

2. A circle template is my next purchase, and the templates come in either solid or nested templates. Circle templates are perfect for many quilting designs such as spines for feather wreaths, egg and dart, fans and more! Solid circles are easier to work with, and they’re more expensive. Nested templates are much less expensive and they are a little trickier to work with. Markings on your templates are a personal preference.

3. My third basic purchase is an oval template. This shape is perfect of arches, simple swags, oval wreaths and continuous curves. Ovals are very similar to circles. They come in a variety of sizes, either solid or nested and with our without markings.

If you would like to read more of Mindy’s article on templates for the longarmer, it’s included in our Fall 2012 issue of The Professional Quilter and available to IAPQ members. The International Association of Professional Quilters offers resources and networking opportunities for you to create a success from your quilting business. Learn about all the benefits of IAPQ membership and join here.

What are your favorite templates? Please share them below.

Surprise Yourself
Charlotte Angotti and Debbie Caffery
Debbie’s Creative Moments; $24.95

Have you started thinking about your plans for 2013? I know it’s mid-November, and we still have more than 45 days left this year. You still have enough time left to make an impact on your results for 2012. I like to do some looking back at the year, seeing where I am currently, and some looking ahead. Of course, I still have to be engaged in the tasks I have at hand if I want to finish the year in a good place.

One of the recommendations I made to my private clients in the past couple of weeks was to start planning 2013 now. Many of them had plans for the first quarter, maybe as far as May and Spring Quilt Market. Most also had big picture ideas, only they didn’t really know where the projects fit in. That’s why I like using a very, very large calendar of the entire year. You can get one like this from an office supply store. It’s erasable and has really big spaces for writing.

If you want to be more creative, here’s another idea. A couple of years ago, one of my clients covered cork boards with batik fabric to complement her office. She then printed off letter-size sheets of each calendar month from a calendar program on her computer. Here are the boards before she added the calendars. The beauty of this system is she can take down each month as it ends, move the calendars and then add another for the next year. The system is a perpetual 12-month calendar.

And, if your studio space is limited, go ahead and print out the individual calendar pages and keep them in a binder where you can take them out and look at the whole year at one time. The idea is that you can get this bigger look at your year.

I’m sure you have goals that you want to accomplish next year. Here are some steps to take to put them onto the calendar.

1. Block time to work on your calendar planning. If your goals are important, it’s important to have time to plan when you’ll accomplish them.

2. You might want to create some kind of color coding system that works for you. For example, if your activity involves travel away from the studio, you might want to mark that in red.

3. Start by adding the commitments you already have, the teaching gigs, the shows, etc.

4. Go back and look at the big goals that don’t have dates, for example, the book you want to write.  Then look at the calendar and plan backwards. If your book is due Sept. 15, look at the steps involved and mark due dates for each. You might want to have the outline of the book done on Feb. 15, Chapter One done on March 15, quilts for Chapter Two done on April 30, etc. You are more likely to accomplish this if you assign deadlines and won’t be stressed by having to rush to get the job done. Deadlines lead to commitments.

5. Include vacation. It might be marked in blue. We all need to recharge, and if you don’t put it in the calendar, it’s likely not to happen.

6. Include planning time. I’ve read that the time spent planning pays back 10 to 1 in time executing. I’m not sure about the accuracy of that estimate; I do know it saves you lots of time.

7. Once you have a good look at your year, where are the holes in your calendar? Use this opportunity to see where you can market more to bring in income. This could be adding a new class or developing a new pattern for example.

What ideas do you have for planning next year?

Please share them below.

No Math Quilt Charts & Formulas

Landauer Publishing; $6.95

In the Fall issue of The Professional Quilter, Eileen Doughty profiled Christine Adams, an artist who works in fabric from Rockville, Md. Here’s an excerpt:

Even though I was the oldest of nine, and my father was often away on active military duty, my mom did not burden me with responsibility. Each of us had our tasks. Mom encouraged us to be who we were and to follow our muse. There was time for play and imagination. My mother could create beauty and peace from very little. She was my first “muse.”

In 1972, I gave a baby quilt to a friend, who often brought her baby along to her booth at craft shows. The owner of a local craft shop spotted my quilt at the booth and said that she needed to have the contact information of the person who made “that” baby quilt. Until the shop closed its doors, I created wall hangings, bed quilts, Christmas décor and much more for the owner. I suppose that was the start of my being a professional textile artist.

Teaching and mentoring are also my passions. After college I taught art, math and English at the high-school level. I got married and had six children; following my mother’s example, I sewed for them all. Also, I shared space in an art studio during this time.

When Rockville Arts Place (RAP), in Rockville, Md., opened, I was one of its seven founding members. At one point, money for arts organizations was scarce and the executive director had left, so I began to volunteer and run the office. Many people were passionate about RAP – it was not a lonely job, and I had many offers of help. The Board voted me in as Executive Director for the next five years. During that time I learned about grant writing and working with the public. I also learned how to integrate our programs with the community, public schools and summer camps. I am proud that VisArts, as it is now called, will celebrate its 25th anniversary in October. I am still involved, though in a small way.

My experience directing RAP was put to use again last year, when I co-chaired the “Sacred Threads” quilt exhibition in its spectacular Washington, D.C., metro area premier.

I have sold completed work as well as site-specific work. A designer for medical institutions visited my studio and placed my work in several buildings, including the Greater Baltimore Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente, and the Ronald MacDonald House. She would give me a size, a price range, and sometimes a color palette, and we would work from there. Other professionals such as lawyers, dentists and nursing home administrators have purchased pieces. Having exposure in a studio outside my home was a great help.
My advice is to take advantage of opportunities that interest you, even if they come at inconvenient times. We are always busy, so just do it!

Share your ideas and interests with others. One step leads to another. Seek out other artists. Join a group, or form one of your own. Share your interests, successes and experiences, both good and bad.

I learned a long time ago to own up to the fact that I am an artist. It was hard at first, because when you say you are an artist, people expect you to be a good artist. However, if you are a clerk or secretary or some other professional, it doesn’t necessarily mean you are great at what you do, it just means that is how you spend your time. I spend my time as an artist. So, when I am asked what I do, I say I am an artist; sometimes someone is interested enough to then ask to see my work, and sales happen from there.

Originally, I primarily used P & B fabrics – I call the ones in my stash my “Fun Fabrics.” For the most part, though, I buy what speaks to me. My photo imagery is self-created, and much of my dyed fabrics are also. There are wonderful dye artists out there, and I have collected pieces from many of them to incorporate into my work. Another passion is collecting vintage lace and buttons and other findings. These also find their way into my textile books, sculpture, and hangings.

My themes vary. At times I use simple geometrics and try to express a feeling, emotion or impression. Other times, the theme is what I am familiar with – the simple pleasures of the world around us. I also am taken with cultural diversity and sharing with one’s fellow man. Some of my pieces attack injustice. Many of my quilts are folk art. I frequently use quotes and vintage images.

I have a huge collection of silk ties. Sometimes a wall quilt or garment is made entirely of them. When my youngest son got married, I created the coat I wore for his wedding from his grandfather’s ties. His friends made my day by telling me I was “awesome.”

If you would like to read more of Eileen’s article on Christine Adams, it’s included in our Fall 2012 issue of The Professional Quilter and available to IAPQ members. The International Association of Professional Quilters offers resources and networking opportunities for you to create a success from your quilting business. Learn about all the benefits of IAPQ membership and join here.

Please share your thoughts on being an artist below.

Best of Fons & Porter: Tips & Techniques
Marianne Fons and Liz Porter
Stash Books; $22.95

I don’t know about you, but I’m always looking for the next great tip that makes my quilting easier or more accurate or saves me time. That’s one of the pluses in this collection. It’s filled with favorite tips from readers and TV viewers of Love of Quilting that the authors have collected over the years. I loved the idea of using hook-and-loop tape to keep your seam ripper at the ready on your sewing machine. The book also includes 15 of Marianne’s and Liz’s trademarked Sew Easy Lessons and two additional guest pieces on machine quilting. You’ll be able to put those tips and techniques to use in any of the 13 quilts included in the book.

Look for the book at your favorite book retailer. Here’s a link to Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.

You may know that I just finished our “When it Absolutely Has to Be Done in 30 Days” coaching program. Everyone in the program either completed or made great strides towards their goal during this time. In the end it wasn’t just about accomplishing the goal, it was also what we learned on the journey about the focus and discipline required to get there. During our last call, one of our participants asked, “When was the last time you treated yourself?” Do you have a good answer?

We have discussed this off and on during our 30-day program. Each week each person shared an intention of what she would accomplish that week. At the end of the week, we all shared our successes. I always asked, “How are you going to celebrate?” We had celebrations ranging from enjoying a new CD to a manicure/pedicure to quilting to a trip to the movies. I think many of the participants looked forward to learning how others were celebrating.

We often spend so much time working toward our goals that we forget to look at what we have accomplished and, even if we do, we don’t take the time to really acknowledge what we’ve done. It’s always onto the next thing on the list. Or looking at the really big “perfect” vision we have and coming up short.

So take some time this week and look at where you are in your business and where you started and acknowledge what you’ve done. Then make plans to celebrate that. And, when someone asks, “When was the last time you treated yourself?” you can answer it.

Now, I’ll ask you, “When was the last time you treated yourself?”

Please share your thoughts and celebrations below.