Do you feel extra stress during the holidays? Editing the Winter issue of The Professional Quilter always hits in mid-December and that adds somewhat to my stress level if I consider all the holiday activities I enjoy. I try to get adequate sleep, watch what I eat and drink, and get plenty of exercise. And, I let go of some of what I always do. This year my husband picked out our Christmas tree – without my input – and he is the tree decorator. We do come from families with different decorating styles. His family is a single-strand tinsel placer. I’m a free-for-all tinsel tosser. So, I’m fine with enjoying the end result. Did I mention, I will be the tree undecorator? And, I got most of my holiday baking done Thanksgiving weekend. Despite my attempts to handle stress, I must not be doing as good a job as I thought. I have laryngitis and it’s turning into a whopper of a cold.

If you are an IAPQ member and want to get a handle on stress, during the holidays and beyond, the audio from our monthly call is now available on your members page.  I talked with Meredith McEver, a licensed clinical social worker who teaches mindfulness-based stress reduction workshops. She taught us how to create a breathing space and led us in two different types of guided meditations. She also shared tips and solutions from her years of working in private practice dealing with clients and their stress problems. The audio is just one of the benefits of your membership in the International Association of Professional Quilters.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the United States, and I did want to take a bit of time to let you know how grateful I am for everyone who reads this e-zine, subscribes to The Professional Quilter, has joined the International Association of Professional Quilters or has taken our classes. I’m honored that you’ve allowed me to contribute in some small way to your business growth. It’s truly rewarding for me.

Does your family have any gratitude traditions with Thanksgiving? In my family, we all go around the table and share something we are grateful for about those at the table. I remember years ago, one of my sisters shared that she was grateful that I sewed. I probably took my sewing somewhat for granted, and I was grateful on my part to be reminded that it’s a special skill that not everyone has. Her gratitude really made an impression on me.

If you are celebrating tomorrow, I hope your day is filled with blessings of gratitude. I know my day will be.

I also wanted to share just a few of my favorite quotes on gratitude:

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent.
Cicero

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.
Marcel Proust

Feeling grateful or appreciative of someone or something in your life actually attracts more of the things that you appreciate and value into your life.
Christiane Northrup

See you next week and Happy Thanksgiving!

Join us in the PQ Café on Thursday, September 17 at 8 pm Eastern for our next call  Get Organized, Finally! with Morna McEver Golletz and special guest Debra Lipp.

Have you tried a variety of methods to organize your quilting “stuff”? Do you buy every new organizing gadget you see? Is your studio space disorganized and inefficient – and you know it could be improved – but you don’t know where to start? Or, are the  organization strategies you’ve tried just not working for you? Do you migrate to the kitchen table to work even through you have designated a space for sewing?

It’s possible that you’re trying to put the proverbial round peg in the square hole because you haven’t fully analyzed what does and does not work for YOU and why. You’re trying to use tools that someone else says will work for you. Debra Lipp, a Corcoran College of Art + Design-trained graphic designer, is a task analyzer and organizational specialist who works with creative people. She loves to understand an individual’s thinking process and help to discover what works for them – as an individual. And, lucky for us, she’s also a quilter/fiber artist.

This teleclass is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 17 at 8 pm, Eastern Daylight Time. Registration includes the teleclass and MP3 downloadable recording, so if you can’t come to the class, you’ll get the recording to listen to at a time that works for you. Here are details.

Today is Memorial Day, a day of remembrance of those who fought for our freedom in this country. I’m grateful for those men and women who fought and lost their lives so that I might enjoy the life that I have in the United States.

Memorial Day is often considered the unofficial start of summer with pools opening and family picnics. If you are thinking about what to do this summer, consider some of the quilt ideas that Meg Cox included in her article Saturday in the Wall Street Journal. She mentions the quilt show in Sisters, Quilt National, an exhibit of Paula Nadelstern‘s work at the American Folk Art Museum and the Quilt Trails of Western North Carolina. Here’s a link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203771904574175704270154992.html.

I’m back from Market. It was exhilarating and exhausting. It was great to catch up with other professionals, and I met lots of new people in the industry. I enjoy seeing the new fabrics. I love the beachy colors – blues, greens, yellows, oranges – clear, crisp, almost sherbetty colors. After all, the oranges did make me think of mango! OK, most colors make me think of food!

Just a bit of what I liked: The Authentic line by Sweetwater Design from Moda. It’s filled with typography and newsprint fabric; must reflect my journalism background!

Also showcasing Moda‘s line is Joanna Figueroa with Fig Tree & Co.

Avlyn fabrics also has several nice new lines, including Belle Fleur, a white, green and black graphic collection from Karen Combs. Karen also introduced here Batik Cascade line.

And always a favorite for me is the Michael Miller booth, with bright happy colors.

And, while I didn’t get a photo, Kona Bay always has a wonderful fabric selection.

And I liked what Valori Wells did to decorate her booth. She took swatches of her lines and sewed them onto a canvas cloth and hung that. It was simple and effective.

One of my favorite designers is Robyn Pandolph, who designs fabric for RJR. Here she is with Barbara Bradley. They’ll work together from a new design studio soon.

I caught up with a couple of my favorite bag makers. Joan Hawley from Lazy Girl Designs was delivering her newest girl Claire for display in several booths. And Terry Atkinson has two new books, including Big Bags, little bags, which includes ideas for using yo-yos for a little zing and for using oilcloth for your bag. Both Joan and Terry have great tutorials on their blogs.

Here are a few shots from my row at the show. Susan Cleveland with Pieces Be With You was on one side of me and Karen Montgomery from The Quilt Company was on the other. Karen’s got some great shots of the floor on her blog.

Across the aisle were Janine Burke and Amy Walsh from Blue Underground Studios.

And here’s one last shot with quilt artist and author ReNae Merrill and Leslie O’Brien, PQ advertising rep.

I did pick up some new notions, so look for some reviews in the future. The big item I think was the bias binding maker from Simplicity/Wrights/Ez.

And, what coverage of Quilt Market would be complete without a mention of Sample Spree? This is the most hectic event, everyone’s first peek at what’s new. People line up early to get first chance to buy fabric in particular. Here’s a shot of the line waiting to get in. The doors open at 8 pm; the first person was in line at 2:30!

And, as for our location, we were at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh. It’s a fabulous facility with lots of natural light; everything looks good in that lighting. Pittsburgh is a great city, too, with friendly people and terrific food – any city that puts French fries on a sandwich or salad ranks high with me! I hope we’ll be back next time we go to the East Coast.

Join us in the PQ Café on Thursday, May 21, for our class Create Your Perfect Quilting Space with Lois Hallock, author of Creating Your Perfect Quilting Space (Martingale Publications). During our class Lois will cover ideas to make over your sewing room regardless of space and budget, how to use a graph paper plan to organize your and ideas for maximizing efficiency.

The teleclass is scheduled for Thursday, May 21 at 8 pm, Eastern Standard Time. Registration includes both the teleclass and the MP3 downloadable recording, so if you can’t come to the class, you’ll get the recording to listen to at a time that works for you. Here are details.

I’m curious. How many of you view the summer months as a time to
kick back, relax, and do just enough business to get by? Is it
by choice…or is it because you find your business slows down in
the summer months?

I ask because I’m intrigued by the new teleclass Millionaire
Entrepreneurial Coach Ali Brown is hosting. It’s called “Ali’s
Top 10 Recommendations to Kick-Up Your Revenues This Summer!”

Ali believes it doesn’t matter what else is happening in the
world around you, if you want to grow your business, you will.
In fact, it was over a summer when she took her business from
the low 6-figures to breaking 7-figures.

Here’s the link if you want to check out her teleclass and sign
up.

I’m definitely registered. I’ve been a big Ali fan for years, and
she’s helped me grow my business. I know I’ll get something to
use from this call.

But don’t forget to leave a comment. I really want to know – are
you planning on growing your business this summer, worried you
won’t be able to grow your business, or are you planning on
taking it easy?

I got back from Quilters Heritage on Sunday. I always enjoy this show, catching up with my quilting friends from Philadelphia and Harrisburg and meeting subscribers. For the past three years I’ve had a spot in the Lampeter Room. This year when I arrived at check-in, I found my space had been moved to the tennis court/expo building. I’d previously been in the space in years past, so I always thought of it as a prime location. Well, I didn’t realize what a great spot I would get. It was to the right just at the entrance. I put a video on my FaceBook page.

Here are some photos from the show. First is Sue Reno, a quilt artist from Columbia, Penn. Sue loans me a quilt for the booth each year. You can see her quilt Tall Blue Lettuce behind her. She always has what I call an “eye catcher,” and it definitely draws the visitors in.

This was the 22nd year for Quilters Heritage and the show is run by Rita Barber. I saw Rita several times and nabbed her once for a quick photo.

On Saturday I taught my class on learning how to start your quilt business. I had 21 students in the class. It was great fun, and I always learn something from my students. After the class I did my Studio Tour lecture which was part of a luncheon. It’s always wonderful when I’m finished and open the floor for everyone to share their studio organization ideas.

Our new advertising rep, Leslie O’Brien, also spent some time at the show. Here’s a shot of her in the booth.

As I said, my booth was in a great location. One of my neighbors was the artist Pat Buckley Moss. I got to know her and several members of her family as the weekend unfolded. I already owned a small landscape that she did, and I purchased a second landscape at the show. Here we are together.

The MP3 download and CD recording of The Quilt Judges’ Perspective teleclass hosted by Morna McEver Golletz and featuring NQA Certified Judges Jane Hall and Scott Murkin is now available to purchase. Learn what criteria judges use when judging a quilt show, the relationship between design and workmanship from the judge’s standpoint, how you can improve your chances at winning a prize or ribbon, how you can become a judge and more. This teleclass is geared to quilters interested in learning more about the judging process, either as a quilter or as a judge. Additional details are here.