It’s Christmas week around my house. I have been busy baking breads, decorating, wrapping presents and spreading holiday joy. I am known for two favorites: a cranberry walnut bread and a chocolate chip pumpkin bread. Neither lasts long once they are baked. This last batch is headed for friends and some family members. My husband also has one to share with a woman he has befriended on the streets. One of the ways we spread joy throughout the year is with “homeless helping bags.” I fill gallon plastic zip bags with a bottle of water, a variety of healthy snacks and small bag of toiletries, including toothpaste and a toothbrush. We keep a couple of the bags in our cars and share them with those in need.

What are your holiday plans? I know that Hanukkah ended earlier this month and Kwanzaa celebrations start later this month, so lots of you are celebrating. I am headed off today for lunch with my aunt, cousin, two of my sisters and one of my nieces. We’ve been holding annual lunches since the 1980s when it was just one sister and my aunt, each of us traveling an hour to find a spot in the middle. It will be a reunion of sorts as my cousin has never joined us. We are excited about all we will share. On Christmas Day, I will have the same sisters and niece over for dinner. I have not picked a menu, but I am leaning towards a McEver Christmas Day favorite. We always had spaghetti because it was easy after the busyness of the day.

What would Christmas be without a few gifts? We have a few specials to offer before the end of the year, so stay tuned for more details in the next week.

Whatever your tradition, I hope that you have a peaceful and joyful holiday and that you celebrate in a way that is meaningful to you. We are always tugged by so much, it is nice to stop and remember what it is that brings joy and meaning into our lives.

What is your favorite way to add meaning? I would love to hear about your plans, just leave a comment below or go over to the ICAP Facebook or Google+ pages and leave a comment there.

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Morna McEver is the founder and CEO of the International Association of Creative Arts Professionals where creative arts entrepreneurs craft 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 FREE subscription at http://www.creativeartsprofessional.com.

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Have you been watching holiday movies? I know I have several favorites. I love “White Christmas” because of memories of my sisters and me as young girls. We used to love to sing and dance along with Betty (Rosemary Clooney) and Judy Haynes (Vera-Ellen) as they sang “Sisters.” And, who does not enjoy “It’s a Wonderful Life” and George Bailey taking stock of his life? The movie has lots of lasting messages. One is that we all have gifts that impact others. You will remember Clarence the angel showing George that many things would be different without his life touching others. I know we lose sight of what we contribute. One of the other lessons was about appreciating how blessed we really are. I know I try to take that to heart every day.

Yesterday I offered a virtual planning day. This opportunity was exclusively for those people who purchased tickets to CABS or joined our Creative Passion to Profit Boot Camp. I found it valuable, as I know that those who joined me did.

One of the exercises that we did was taking stock of 2015 — celebrating our accomplishments, understanding where we had difficulty, acknowledging what we learned about ourselves in the process, and understanding how we limit ourselves. We are our own Clarences, in a sense. I always find this practice eye-opening on a variety of levels, and it is valuable as you step into planning and achieving in 2016.

What questions did I ask and answer for myself? Here they are. I hope you will find time to answer these for yourself.

1. What were your successes? What did you accomplish? For many of us, it is so easy to move onto the next thing on our list, that we forget to stop and look at what we did accomplish. By acknowledging these accomplishments, you build confidence and set yourself up for future success. I know people who create a list of 100 accomplishments per year. How many can you list?

2. What were your biggest disappointments? Yes, we all start out with lots of big goals, and we don’t always accomplish them. And, it is really hard to admit where we didn’t get what we wanted, personally or professionally. But we can’t grow either as human beings or business owners if we do not look at this honestly.

3. What did you learn from your successes and your disappointments? These can be things you learned to do or things you learned about yourself. This has always been powerful for me to consider. I have know that life is a classroom, and it shows up here.

4. How did you limit yourself and what was its impact? What did this belief cost you? How has it benefited you? I think looking at the pros and cons of your limiting beliefs is powerful. Once you look at this, consider how you might reframe your limiting beliefs so they no longer limit you.

Here are some of the resources I shared during our planning day. You will find additional questions for planning in Your Best Year Yet by Jinny Ditzler. And if you need help getting past your limiting beliefs, I think The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks is a wonderful resource.
Let me know how your planning goes. What were your big successes? And, of course, what your favorite holiday movie is. Just leave a comment below or go over to the ICAP Facebook or Google+ pages and leave a comment there.

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

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Morna McEver is the founder and CEO of the International Association of Creative Arts Professionals where creative arts entrepreneurs craft 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 FREE subscription at http://www.creativeartsprofessional.com.

WANT TO SEE MORE ARTICLE LIKE THIS?

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Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the United States. Since it is a holiday, we are not sending out our regular e-zine this week.

This is one of my favorite holidays, and not just because it could be termed our National Day of Eating! I am excited to be headed to our home in Saint Michaels on Maryland’s Eastern Shore where my husband and I will celebrate with one of my sisters. It is a smaller group than usual, and we are looking forward to enjoying the outdoors and the peace and quiet our home offers. My sister and I also have plans to hit the local boutiques on Friday.

Since Thanksgiving is often a time for reflection, I did want to take this opportunity to share my gratitude. I am grateful for everyone who reads this e-zine, takes time to comment on our blog, has joined the International Association of Creative Arts Professionals, follows me and comments on Facebook and other forms of social media, has taken our classes, attended or is planning to attend our annual Creative Arts Business Summit or works with me on a private or group basis. I am truly honored that you have allowed me to contribute in some small way to your business growth. It is so rewarding for me that I can make a difference. Thank you!

If you are celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow, I hope your day is filled with traditions and gratitude, as mine will be. I have had a gratitude practice for years now, writing down three to five gratitude items each day. Do you have a similar practice?

As I have done in the past, I wanted to share a couple of my favorite quotes about gratitude:

“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

What are you grateful for this year? Please share it on the blog. Or, feel free to jump over to our ICAP Facebook or Google+ pages and leave a comment there.

Yesterday I went to the post office to pick up some Priority Mail envelopes and drop off a certified letter. In Laytonsville, population 353 at the last census, the post office is the center of the town activities and full of activity. I always see someone I know. Yesterday it was my dentist. I can meet new people, as I did yesterday when I learned about a local dog trainer. And I can find resources on the bulletin board. I left with two cards and a name of a third repair person I could call about some equipment that needs work.

I remember when I lived other places that there was always a place where locals congregated and you could learn all the news. When I lived in Connecticut, it was Luke’s Donut Shop. At our home in Saint Michaels, my husband would tell you it’s the local YMCA.

What is a “third place”? It’s that place where people gather other than work or home and feel a place of community. I’m sure you can think of places you know of, whether that’s the fictional Cheers of TV fame or the local coffee shop.

According to Ray Oldenburg, an urban sociologist who wrote The Great Good Place and Celebrating the Third Place, all third places have the following eight characteristics: neutral ground, a leveler, conversation is the main activity here, assessable and accommodating, has a the regulars, maintains a low profile, has a playful mood, and home away for home. The idea is that people are free to speak their thoughts and opinions freely.

It is easy to see the coffee shop or the local book store as the “third place.” I think it’s also easy to think about the local quilt or creative arts shop as the “third place,” even though it doesn’t technically meet all the eight characteristics. I think it’s about a sense of belonging, and I think that all creative arts and quilt shops foster that. Think about your experience at the local quilt shop and what made you feel like you were part of a community.

If you own or manage a creative retail shop, what are you doing to create that third place community feeling? Here are some of the ideas from shops I know or frequent.

• Be welcoming. When customers come into your shop, greet them. Ask them what project they are working on. Nothing makes you want to come back like feeling welcome on the first visit.

• Have a space set up where customers can congregate to look at quilting or art books and/or share their projects. I used to love to go to Borders Bookstore when it existed because I could find a chair to sit and look at a book.

• Create special events. Look at other businesses outside the industry to see how they create events that draw customers in and make them feel welcome. We are all looking for an experience, a shared experience, so look for ways to create experiences. Disney is a great example here. Another example: in September I went with my neighborhood book club to an annual book club party hosted by author Lisa Scottoline at her home in Pennsylvania.

• Look for ways to create shared connections. A monthly stash buster club or fabric club is an idea here.

• Consider a monthly show and tell for your customers. This encourages them to engage with others.

• Set up a gallery in your shop and showcase different artists. Have an opening reception with a talk from the artists.

• Serve food. I don’t know a quilter who doesn’t like a beverage and a cookie. In the winter have some hot cider and gingersnaps. In the summer, lemonade and sugar cookies. Some of you may remember a shop called Patchwork and Pies in New York that was owned by Clara Travis. I loved the image of stopping in the quilt shop and picking up a slice of pie.

• Run a book club that focuses on a particular artist’s work or designs.

• Host a monthly “sit and stitch.”

• Think about ways that you can offer your space to other uses in your community, e.g., let the local knitting club meet there, or depending on the size of your town, even an association that needs space for a small meeting. It’s about encouraging community.

I’m sure you can come up with other ideas. Remember that in creating the experiences that lead to your third place, you don’t have to do them for free. I think you can create a sense of community with a bit of exclusivity with a small fee. And, remember that you are never done. Creating your third place is ongoing.

If you are a shop owner, what you are doing to create a “third place”? And, as shoppers, what makes you designate someplace your third place?

Last week I shared some of what I found at Quilt Market. Since the show is so large, I couldn’t possibly cover it all in one newsletter, so I went back through my notes and stacks of literature to share more.

• RJR was recognized for its outstanding booth winning the First Place Best Booth Award in the Multiple Booths category. The booth featured hundreds of beautiful Origami cranes made from the newest RJR collections. Collections included Safari from Jinny Beyer. Safari is designed to bring awareness to the seriousness of animal endangerment. Jinny says she was inspired by the brightly colored garments of the African Maasai tribe and the hues of the Serengeti skies. If you are looking for neutrals, Audrey Wright with Legacy Patterns designed a gray scale collection called Neutral Territory. I saw a few kitchen themed lines and Patrick Lose has designed In the Kitchen featuring designs with oven mitts, forks and spoons, mixers, coffee ups as well as some tone on tone and small scale prints. Also from Patrick is Millefiori, an addition to his Basically Patrick collection.

• BERNINA introduced its Q-matic, its longarm automation system. The Q-matic is designed for the BERNINA Q series machines and features a 23″ all-in-one touch PC mounted to the side of the frame for easy access to designing. The Q-matic comes with more than 200 designs included. Bernina also announced its partnership with American Quilters Society and its iquilt.com initiative of online quilting instruction.

• Moda celebrated 40 years in business at Quilt Market this year. Luke Haynes created his debut line, Dapper, with Moda. It includes 30 woven that have the quirky feel of a well-loved vintage shirt. Also new with Moda is designer Wenche Wolff Hatling of Northern Quilts. Wenche is a Norweigan quilt designer and introduced Jol, a collection of yule-themed graphics in gray and red. I’m a word person, and Sweetwater Designs know for its text prints didn’t disappoint with its Volume II collection.

• On the pattern front, I saw lots of new patterns. Some that stuck with me were the collage patterns from Laura Heine of Fiberworks especially Pinterton, a pink flamingo, and Flaura Vintage Trailer, which is the vintage pink trailer that Laura uses to travel to shoos. I also saw that Joan Hawley had her two new patterns in a number of booths helping to showcase both the pattern and the fabric lines. Patterns included Sweetpea Pods, a small angled bag; and Fabio, a lanyard-style key fob.

• Clover Needlecraft introduced a number of new products that quilters and sewists will enjoy. Added to the Press Perfect by Joan Hawley line is the Hot Ruler, a ruler that can be used with a hot iron. Clover also introduced a wedge iron that easily gets under layers of fabric with its narrow tip. And if you’re interested in adding crochet to your store, I loved the Jumbo Armour Crochet Hooks with the bright handles. Clover also has free project instructions for using fabric scraps with the hooks to make baskets and rugs.

• New from Floriani (RNK Distributing) with Alex Anderson is Quilters Select stabilizers, fusibles and battings. The product line includes cotton and wool batts as well as a machine batt with a water-soluble fusible coating.

• New from Michael Miller is Nature Walk by Tamara Kate. I heard Tamara talk at Schoolhouse where she shared that the inspiration for the designs came from family walks on the weekend. Part of the collection is a panel of the alphabet, each letter featuring something nature inspired. Into the Deep by Patti Sloniger features 27 SKUs shown in two colorways, Laguna and Tropical. Michael Miller also introduced some new flannel and gauze lines.

This was just a partial look at what I saw at Quilt Market. I can’t wait to see some of these fabrics in new quilts and garments. Please share what else you saw that was new.

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Morna McEver is the founder and CEO of the International Association of Creative Arts Professionals where creative arts entrepreneurs craft 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 FREE subscription at http://www.creativeartsprofessional.com.

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If my math is correct, this is my 44th visit to International Quilt Market. I’ve been going since the fall of 1994, mostly with a booth and walking the floor for the last year. I always return invigorated by the sights and activities of Market and Festival. I love reconnecting with the friends in the industry I’ve made over the years. It’s like a family reunion! Here’s just a bit of what I saw that was new this year.

• New from Andover is the Little House on the Prairie collection. Walnut Grove features prints from the era of Laura Ingalls’ childhood, Prairie Flowers is a rainbow of calicos inspired by the TV show, and Scenics and Icons features iconic imagery inspired by the novels. Alison Arngrim (Nellie Oleson) and Charlotte Stewart (Eva Beadle) made an appearance during the show to promote the line as well as the release of the DVDs of the restored and remastered original series and a recently released documentary. “The attic and the cellar were full of good things once more and Laura and Mary had started to make patchwork quilts.”

• One of the hot patterns on the floor was Pop-Ups from Fat Quarter Gypsy. This 6″-tall collapsible container is created with a fat quarter, and the pattern includes the spring you’ll need to complete the project. A second pattern is available in 8″, 10.5″ and 15″ sizes. The designer, Joanne Hillestad, came up with the design at the Creative Arts Business Summit in 2015. She also teamed up with several designers to show you how to feature their designs in your Pop-Up.

• Springs Creative introduced the Small Wonders fabric collection from Mary Fons. The Small Wonders debut line was curated from Springs vault of vintage art and fabric swatches, The Baxter Mill Archives of antique designs dating back to the 1800s. The line features six country collections each with distinct small prints.

• In general as I walked the floor I looked for color trend and what came back to me again and again was the use of less pure white across the fabric lines and a move to more of a broader neutral palette in the white range. The motifs that stuck with me were elephants and bicycles.

• Mary Ellen’s Products introduced two new scents to its Best Press line of clear starch and sizing alternatives: Winter Magic, an evergreen scent, and Frankincense and Myrrh. The product comes in a spray bottle, so it’s environmentally friendly and you can see how much product is left. Best Press doesn’t flake, clog or leave a white residue on dark fabrics.

• Prym-Dritz introduced its espadrilles program so you can start making your own shoes! They offer everything from the soles and fabrics for lining and tops to the notions needed to sew your shoes. You can get an idea from the short video tutorial “How to Make Espadrilles by Dritz,” on You Tube. Seeing the options that you can make is fun.

I’ll share more from Market next week.

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Morna McEver is the founder and CEO of the International Association of Creative Arts Professionals where creative arts entrepreneurs craft 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 FREE subscription at http://www.creativeartsprofessional.com.

WANT TO SEE MORE ARTICLE LIKE THIS?

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Are you a “what if?” kind of thinker? No, I don’t mean the kind of person who second guesses herself and stays stuck. I mean the kind of person who challenges statements and thinks beyond the obvious.

A few years ago, I was at a lab waiting to get my blood drawn for routine testing. A woman drove in on her motorized wheelchair and asked if someone owned the silver Buick parked in the back lot. The car was blocking her access to her van. (Before you think the owner of the Buick parked in the handicapped space was a horrible person, he was legally parked. She just needed more space on both sides of her van.) No one came forward, and off she went down the hall to the next doctor’s office looking for that silver Buick. I am not sure how many offices she had tried already. At this point, I thought that if someone just moved her van out of the space into the open lot, she could get on her way. That was my “what if?” I went to find her as she left yet another office. We went outside to find her van, and I backed it up. She was able to get into the van and was on her way. It was a rather simple answer to her problem, and one she had not considered.

What would you have done? Would you have tried to think of another possibility? (I will add I was number 27 in line, with 11 people in front of me, so I did have time on my hands.)

Here is a second example. I was looking through a recent issue of Bon Appétit and came across an article on wine packaging. I am familiar with wine in a box and have enjoyed wine poured this way. I have never enjoyed wine from a can, and while it can seem odd, they are apparently fine for good wine. Newer still is wine in a Tetra Pak® package. That is the foil-lined cartons with the long shelf life. It is currently quite popular in Europe and the sense is that the money goes for good grapes rather than packaging.

All these different types of packaging came about because someone said, “What if?”

We are all in situations that can challenge our thinking. As artists, we are faced with choices every day — red or blue, solid or print, too much shadow or not enough, embellishment or not. As business people, we make decisions about where to market our product, which trade show to participate in, whether to hire or fire employees. Next time you make a decision, make it and then ask yourself what if I try something different on top of the solution. For example, if you choose red over blue and a solid over a print, great. Now decide to do something different with the fabric. If you decide to exhibit at a retail or trade show, ask yourself what you can do differently with your booth this time to make it unique.

Or think a bigger “what if?” Instead of marketing traditionally at a trade show, what could you do that is different that lets you connect with your customers? Instead of sticking with the tried and true, what if you stretched in a different direction? Think beyond the obvious or what you have done in the past.

How have you challenged your thinking lately? Please share below.  You are welcome to also leave a comment on the ICAP Facebook or Google+ pages.

New Quilts From An Old Favorite: Nine Patch
edited by Linda Baxter Lasco
American Quilter’s Society; $24.95

Do you remember the first quilt block you made? I do, and it was a nine patch. I went on to teach quiltmaking and the first block my students made was — you guessed it — a nine patch. I went on to make some innovative, as well as traditional, quilts using this block. All that said, I was excited to see the latest winners in the annual New Quilts From An Old Favorite contest. The 2015 block was the Nine Patch, and the 18 quilts included in the book covering the contest are inspiring. I always love this contest because it stretches, really stretches, the entrants. Everyone starts with the same block and the resulting quilts are all so different. In some the nine-patch is recognizable; in others, you have to look to figure out where the nine patch is. In addition to be inspired, you will learn new techniques, including design and construction techniques.

You can look for the book at your favorite quilt shop or book retailer. Here is the link to Amazon if you would like to learn more about the book.

“Art is a collaboration between God and the artist and the less the artist does the better.” ~ Andre Gide