The Quilter’s Color Club

Christine E. Barnes
C&T Publishing; $27.95

Most quilters at some point need help with color and Christine Barnes offers the perfect way for you to gain color confidence. She found that when students took her workshops they wanted more color help, particularly in a group setting. That led to her creating a “color club,” where you can work with friends to explore color concepts and get feedback. She even offers tips if you want to work as a “color club of one.” The club works by following 12 hands-on exercises titled “Give It a Try!” In addition to the 12 exercises, Christine offers eight projects that build on what you’ve learned about color, including value, intensity, visual temperature, luminosity and more. The gallery section of the book features 35 examples of quilts and vests that demonstrate the color qualities. Christine also answers questions that she frequently gets from quilters about color. I loved Christine’s practical, easy-to-follow approach to understanding color concepts, and anyone who “joins the club” will see positive results in the color in her quilts.

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

The Summer issue of The Professional Quilter includes an article by Eileen Doughty introducing Daphne Greig and Susan Purney Mark. Daphne and Susan are well-known pattern designers based in Canada. Here’s an excerpt from Eileen’s article:

Some great teams just seem fated to get together. Burns and Allen, Fred and Ginger, Fons and Porter. Though growing up thousands of miles apart, Daphne Greig and Susan Purney Mark were fated to meet each other at a quilt shop in downtown Victoria, British Columbia. Their web-based business, Patchworks Studio, was launched in 1996 and continues to thrive as they expand their publishing endeavours.

“I don’t think we consciously decided that a pattern business would be our journey,” Susan says, “but once we realized what was happening, we did spend quite a bit of time developing a business plan, examined what we wanted to create and how we were going to do all of this. I remember being quite excited to open a business account and get a business credit card!”

When asked if they have any regrets about running a business, both are overwhelmingly positive. Susan only wishes they had started years earlier as she is enjoying herself so much. “It is really a privilege to work in an industry that respects and nurtures creative women,” she says. Daphne enjoys the flexible scheduling allowed by being self-employed.

The two may make a good business match because their skill sets complement each other so well. They also have an explicit separation of tasks so they don’t step on each other’s toes. Daphne takes care of the website and financials, while Susan looks after the orders, shipping and physical inventory. Daphne also concentrates on the technical aspect of writing patterns, building on her long experience with word processing programs and document layouts. Making shop samples from others’ patterns (“some well done, others not so much!”) showed them the importance of reviewing their own pattern instructions for clarity and accuracy.

Communication, pure and simple, is the key to making their business relationship work. The two live about a 40-minute drive apart and usually meet once a week to trade paperwork and go over any details that can’t be dealt with by phone or e-mail.

The Patchworks Studio website and its blogs are the duo’s best marketing tools. Magazine advertisements and direct mailings have limited success, though they regularly advertise in several quilt guild newsletters. Writing articles for quilting magazines gives them additional exposure. Several distributors carry their patterns in the United States, Canada and New Zealand.

They have been attending International Quilt Market for many years, sometimes doing both Markets in a year. They also did several consumer sewing festivals and quilt guild shows for a few years. “It’s not only essential to be seen and introduce your designs to a world-wide audience, but also to see the new fabrics and notions, and the pattern competition,” Susan says.

However, it is exhausting work to go to these shows, and travel and lodging can be expensive. Eight years ago, the duo decided they were competing with their main customers (the quilt shops) and would be better off providing them with pattern samples and other support. They have been happy with how this worked out, particularly as it freed up an enormous amount of time to devote to designing, writing and teaching.

If you would like to read more of Eileen’s article on Daphne and Susan, it’s included in our Summer 2011 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 and comments below.

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WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE?

Please do! Just be sure to include the blurb below.

Morna McEver Golletz is the founder and CEO of the International Association of Professional Quilters, an association to help quilters, fiber artists and other creative arts entrepreneurs build business success. Her weekly e-zine offers tips, techniques and inspiration to help you craft business success from your creative arts passion. You can sign up for a F.R.E.E. subscription at http://www.professionalquilter.com.

Quilt Market can be daunting and overwhelming, especially for the first time attendee. Here are some tips to make your experience more productive.

1. Pack comfortable clothes and shoes. You can easily be on your feet for eight hours or more. Take to heart the Quilts Inc. admonition, “Remember at Market, fashion stops at the knees!”

2. Take some healthy snacks with you, like fruits and nuts. All the booths will have snacks of the chocolate variety and while a bit is fine, you want to be sure to keep your stamina up. Once you start walking the floor, it’s hard to leave. Something new or an old friend catches your eye. That sugar rush just won’t sustain you. And, don’t forget to bring water or an empty water bottle to keep hydrated.

3. Take advantage of the learning opportunities. Quilts Inc. has lectures and classes the day before Market opens and then the mornings and evenings when the vendor floor is closed. This is a wonderful opportunity to take back knowledge to share with your staff and customers and to build your business.

4. Don’t wait in line for Sample Spree. I always check the lines for Sample Spree and often find the same people at the front of the line every show. They get in line at 2 pm for an event that starts at 8 pm. They missed half of the Schoolhouse Sessions. Once the doors open, most everyone in line gets in within five to 10 minutes. Even latecomers get in. Last I heard they weren’t giving a prize for first one in the door!

5. Don’t forget your business cards. You are going to meet shop owners and quilt business owners from around the world in addition to ordering for your business. A good tip is to make a note or two on the back of the card as a memory jogger for when you get home. And, to make it easy for ordering, try printing the information on labels to make filling out forms easier.

6. Start with a plan to shop the floor. Spend time the night before going through the show program, marking those you must see. Set a schedule that includes any appointments you have with fabric companies or distributors. If you are shopping with a group, be sure everyone knows the schedule. Many shop owners walk the floor and collect literature during the first day, go over the material at night and then buy the second or third day. Other shop owners know what their shop needs and buy on the first walk through. Figure out the plan that will work best for you.

7. If you are traveling with a group, be sure you’ve got everyone’s phone numbers programmed in to  your phones. Market is really big, and it’s easy to get separated from your group.

8. Look for ways to connect. Everyone has to have lunch and/or dinner. Look for someone at a table, go join them. You’ll probably pick up a business tip and be able to share one, too.

9. Don’t forget to stop by our IAPQ booth and say hi. We’re in 2413.

Please share your tips on blogging here on our blog.

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.

Quilted Symphony
Gloria Loughman
C&T Publishing; $29.95

If you’ve ever seen Gloria Loughman’s award-winning quilts and wanted to know how she was able to create such wonderful art, you are in for a treat with her book. She goes through the basics of design and composition and color and then focuses on the construction process step-by-step. She covers appliqué, piecing and embellishments, including painting, beading and stitching options. The book also includes four projects and a gallery of student work. I found myself so engaged by the book that I was torn between wanting to look/read more or getting right to my fabric. This is a definite keeper!

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

A Notion to Celebrate
Melissa Bickle
Leisure Arts; $14,95

If you’re like me, you don’t need any more cookies, chocolate, muffins or other treats right now. The holidays seem to offer plenty in that area. When A Notion to Celebrate arrived this week with its candy boxed array of ribboned cupcakes, I was thrilled to find instructions to create fabric treats. Melissa Burke offers instructions to make 18 types of truffles for your candy box using a foam ball, ribbons, buttons, pins, sequins, pom poms and other assorted embellishments. You can create cupcakes, a Valentine’s wreath, a cake, Halloween treats and lots more. I’m waiting for next Winter when I can try the gingerbread house. Enjoy and don’t count the calories!

Look for this book at your local shop.

In the Fall issue of The Professional Quilter, Eileen Doughty took a look at four well-known quilters who used their position in the quilt world to create a fund-raising project near to their hearts. Here’s an excerpt from the article.

Virginia Spiegel was inspired to take action because her father is a colon cancer survivor and her sister is chair of the Forest Lake, Minn., Relay For Life. Susan Shie was drawn to act after learning of the devastating January 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Kathleen Thompson’s son, Josh Thompson, was diagnosed with the always-fatal disease ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease) at the age of 32, two weeks before the birth of his first baby. Ami Simms and her family cared for her mother for more than four years, as she succumbed to the ravages of Alzheimer’s disease. Ami sums it up well, “I realized right off that my degree in anthropology probably wasn’t going to help cure Alzheimer’s, but I do know how to quilt, and I have a voice in the quilting community. I took advantage of those two things.”

Virginia Spiegel proved that all forms of fiber art have the power to raise serious funds. She founded Fiberart For A Cause (FFAC) to raise funds for the American Cancer Society, while simultaneously promoting the fiber arts. FFAC offered several ways to participate: by making art (often quite small), buying art, donating skills (such as graphic design) and spreading the word about the project.

Susan Shie felt compelled to act by auctioning artwork after learning of the devastating January 2010 earthquake in Haiti. First, she and other artists auctioned their paintings at their local arts center. Later, she used posted two paintings on Facebook, and after finding that successful created a quilt about the earthquake that she posted on her Facebook page

Kathy Thompson, assisted by the staff at Quilters Dream Batting, started the Hopes & Dreams Quilt Challenge for ALS to help raise awareness, provide the gift of a quilt to ALS patients and raise research money by displaying, auctioning or raffling donated quilts.

The Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) began as an individual effort by Ami Simms in January 2006. Within two years it became a national charity that raises awareness and funds for research through two concurrent art projects. One is a nationally touring quilt exhibit about Alzheimer’s. “Alzheimer’s: Forgetting Piece by Piece” has been seen by more than 223,000 people at 49 venues in 31 states since 2006. It will be retiring in October 2010 and replaced by “Alzheimer’s Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope,” which will begin touring in January 2011. The second project is “Priority: Alzheimer’s Quilts,” in which small quilts are auctioned or sold. More than 5,300 quilts have been donated to date. Ami says, “When I first pitched the idea, I thought we’d raise $25,000 over three years. Then I thought it would be $50,000. Then it felt like $75,000 was doable. I was wrong on all counts. As of this moment we have raised more than $410,000 for research.”

All the women faced the challenge of starting up with limited funds, getting the word out and managing the ongoing fundraiser – all while still managing their own businesses and lives. And all have been emotionally overwhelmed by the response to these projects. Although they asked the quilting community to individually contribute a small donation of funds, quilts, and/or time, the cumulative response brought significant results.

Ami says, “What we didn’t realize was the tremendous impact that making a quilt can have on family members caring for people with Alzheimer’s and those grieving the loss of a loved one who had this disease. We are a grassroots organization, driven by the Internet and fueled by the passion of quilters. When faced with overwhelming sadness and loss, it feels like there is nothing one person can do. But one person can make a little quilt, and a quilt can help. It can be cathartic to create and a blessing to give that creation. And let’s not forget the person who purchases the quilt to complete the circle.”

Think one person can’t make a difference? Think again.

You can read more of EIleen’s article in the Fall issue of The Professional Quilter. This issue is available to members of the International Association of Professional Quilters.

To learn more about the projects:

– Fiberart For A Cause:  http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/NewFiles/ACS/FAQ.html

– Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative:  http:// www.AlzQuilts.org (website)

www.causes.com/causes/55872?recruiter_id=57630229 (facebook)

– “Alzheimer’s Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope”: www.alzquilts.org/alil.html

– Hopes & Dreams Quilt Challenge for ALS: www.quiltersdreambatting.com/HD/ALS.htm

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.

By Maxine Rosenthal & Joy Pelzmann
C&T Publishing; $22.95

Following up on the success of their earlier One-Block Wonder books, Maxine Rosenthal and Joy Pelzmann tackle adding graphic elements to their hexagon blocks. The previous books showcased techniques for hexagonal and octagonal kaleidoscope blocks from a single fabric and then adding cubes as a design element and additional fabrics. In this book, you’ll add triangles, including interlocking ad hollow triangles, and you’ll create illusions and add appliqué. The book includes 10 projects to reinforce the techniques. I loved the chapter on what to do with the leftover kaleidoscopes from your projects. One-Block Wonders fans enjoy.

Here’s a link, if you’d like to add it to your library.

Jane Sassaman’s art quilts and fabric lines are instantly recognizable due to their exuberant style, inspired by the decorative arts. Jane herself is known as an inspiring and effective teacher. Eileen Doughty spoke with her on the phone recently to learn more about her and her business.

How do you describe yourself to a new acquaintance?
Introducing myself has become easier since I’ve started designing fabric because I can say, “I’m a fabric designer and an artist.” That’s a good place to begin. If the discussion continues, I’ll add that I’m a fine art quilter.

Looking back, what were your early goals?
I started as an art quilter. Entering Quilt National was my first big goal. From there, I picked shows that would produce a color catalog, as more people may see the publication than the show itself. That was my approach to getting out there. Quilt Visions was another goal. Paducah and Houston were great too, not only the shows themselves, but the competitions.

I watched Penny McMorris’s PBS show that featured the first wave of art quilters – Ruth McDowell, Nancy Crow, Terrie Hancock Mangat, among others, who did so much to break the trail for us to follow. I consider myself a second wave quilter and was able take advantage of the work the first wave did.

You seem to be a natural at marketing yourself and your work.
I have had a booth at Quilt Market for the past two years. I do the Fall Market because that’s when my fabric comes out. It’s the place to make sure people see what you’re doing.

I feel a bit like the odd woman out compared to other designers who put all their energy into designing and marketing their fabric. I can’t let go of art quilts, so I am in two camps. Doing Market is one way to do my part in promoting the fabric. Westminster/FreeSpirit has such an extraordinary group of designers.

One thing I understand is having a “look.” That’s where my strength is. Also, I take good photographs to sell the work. Other people may be better in making the calls to sell their patterns. I’m pretty good at putting together the actual product. I’d dearly love to have someone who thrives on business to partner with.

I’m at the point right now that I have to decide if I want my business to get bigger and how to get bigger. We do have some friends in the marketing world. There’s always a little hesitation in the back of my brain, because I so love to hole up in the studio and make work. You think if you get too big, you won’t have time for what you love to do. Studio time is so precious. If you want to grow, you should have knowledge of where you want to go. Not that you shouldn’t be flexible, but you should be able to guide it according to your dreams rather than someone else’s ideas.

Any tips for those starting out, building their careers?
Find your proper audience after you find your artistic voice. Some people bang their head against the wall, entering a show not appropriate for their work. If you want to be successful, then go where your work will be appreciated. There are so many ways to go about having a career, even some that no one has explored yet. There are ways to be a quilt artist that still haven’t been done.

The Fall issue of The Professional Quilter includes a profile of Shelly Stokes, owner of Cedar Canyon Textiles, distributor of Shiva Paintstiks and related products. Here’s an excerpt from the profile in Shelly’s own words:

The Shiva paint company attempted to bring the paintstiks into the quilting world in the 1980s. However, the rotary cutter hit the market at the same time, and everyone wanted to strip-piece quilts rather than paint fabric, at least here in the United States; the fiber artists in the United Kingdom started working with paintstiks around that time and so have more years of experience with them.

After working with paintstiks for a while, I decided to write a book – the right product at the right time. I think it’s fair to say that I have done much of the work to make the product visible in the quilting market in the last few years, particularly here in the United States, but I am certainly not the first one to “discover” the product and its wonderful application on fabric.

Before I started working on the book in earnest, I went to visit Jack Richeson and Company to make sure that their wonderful paintstiks would be readily available to my customers. The Richesons supported my idea, and in 2004, Cedar Canyon Textiles became an official distributor for the paintstik products.

It took almost nine months of hard work, but my book was ready in May of 2005. Once a good set of instructions was available, the market for paint expanded dramatically. As it became clear that the paint was going to dominate our business, I had a hard choice to make: grow a business or continue to teach and create art. Because I had been away from the day-to-day job market for ten years, the business was very appealing. I’ll get back to more of my own quilting in my next round of “retirement.” We did the last of our retail shows in 2005 and made the transition to our new identity as the Paintstik Place.

In life and in business, one thing leads to another. As the fiber art and quilting world embraced the paintstiks, we saw the opportunity to venture into accessory products. In 2006, we manufactured four sets of rubbing plates for use with the paintstiks and started a pattern line in 2007.

To read more of Shelly’s story along with her business tips in Issue 109 of The Professional Quilter, your subscription or membership in the IAPQ must be current. Learn about all the benefits of IAPQ membership here

Quilt Festival is always so inspiring to me. I’m floored every year by the quality and creativity of today’s quilters. I always return with my creative juices flowing. Just wish that came with unlimited time!

Tuesday evening before the show opened was the IQA Winner Circle’s Celebration. Best of Show, sponsored by HandiQuilter, went to Sharon Schamber for her “Spirit of Mother Earth.” Here are some details:

I particularly liked Trellis of Red Flowers by Deborah Kemball, the quilt that won the Founders Award, sponsored by International Quilt Festival. Here’s a full shot and a detail:

One of the newer awards is the Future of Quilting Award, sponsored by C&T Publishing. It went to Gina Perkes for Silken Defiance. Here’s a full shot of the quilt:

I always love Quilt Festival, not just for the outstanding quilts, but for the energy of other quilters and for the chance to catch up with quilters I haven’t seen for a year and to make new friends. If you’ve never been to the show in Houston, the scale is hard to appreciate. It takes up all five halls of the convention center.

Here are some overhead shots:

Thursday was the final premiere of the Bernina Fashion Show. Here are the two winning garments. The one on the left is the viewers choice, High Tea at the Broadmoor by Jenny Raymond, and the one on the right is the creme de la creme, Midnight Waltz by Ludmila Aristova:

Here is a shot of me with Alex Anderson, who received the Silver Star Award on Saturday, Ricky Tims and Eleanor Burns. Alex’s and Ricky’s booth was close to mine, so I saw them in passing a lot:

I also took a turn in the Priority Alzheimer’s Booth on Saturday. I don’t know the final numbers, but I do know they raised more than last year and went home with less than 100 of the 1000 quilts they brought.

Susan Ennis is the artist who created the second quilt I had in my booth. It’s titled Oasis.

And, finally, here’s a shot of Karen Bresenhan, the force behind Quilts Inc.