Student Work

I want to show some students work from this year. These are from some of the workshops I've taught and books I've written. I'm so proud of the wonderful work  they have done!

Daniela Tiger made this wall hanging from my book Fat Quarter Frenzy. The project is called Empress Tiles and uses 4 1/2" strips in a "stack, slash, shuffle and sew" technique.

 

Janice Hebert made these two quilts using my Shattered Angles technique. This project is so versatile for Jelly Rolls, strips, and scraps, most quilters can't make just one! You can find it in my Accent on Angles book at www.fabricimagery.com

 

 

Louise Hardy from PEI made this Shattered Angles quilt when I visited the island last May as part of the Agnes Boal Bursary from the Canadian Quilters Society. We had a wonderful time!

 

I teach the Shattered Angles technique to many groups and guilds, maybe you would like to learn? Just email me and we can plan a workshop!

 

New Plans for a New Year

Last year about this time, I was in the midst of selling my half of a pattern design business and all the paperwork, boxing up and reorganization that a sale such as that produces. I was also working at building up parts of my business that needed work. I made time for planning what I wanted to accomplish for the year and I also spend many hours redesigning and planning my studio renovation. My goodness, it was  busy year! I did achieve many of my goals, some I chose not to pursue, and others remain to be fulfilled!

I admit that I do love making plans and lists. For me, there is something calming about getting thoughts, dreams and ideas in sequence and on paper. But I'm also a realist (mostly) and accept that not everything on that list will be checked off by the end of the year. And that's OK, its partly about easing up on myself and remembering to build health and wellness time too! I truly believe that when I plan well, I work well and spend less time frittering away.
How do you manage with your plans? Do you plan daily, weekly, monthly and yearly? Do you write it down, keep track or hold yourself accountable in some way?
Do you have resources that you use such as planners? Calendars? Other things? Why not share some of those with us?
Here's a couple websites that I've used, though I "cherry pick" what I want from those places:

http://www.productiveflourishing.com/
http://painterskeys.com/
http://www.gtdtimes.com/
http://www.mindtools.com/index.html

Old World Map Stencils

Maybe a little late for Christmas giving (or getting) but I've added great new stencils to my store! What a great way to get started on some new art projects for the new year....only 11 more days :)
These are the Old World Maps series from Artist Cellar...think of the many ways you can be creative with paintsticks, powders and more!

 

Amsterdam

 

London

Pari

 

Venice

 

You can order them individually or in a full set pack of all four stencils. Check them out here: http://fabricimagery.com/category/interesting-extras/

5 Tips to End Your Year Right

I enjoy reading and participating (when I can) with Morna at the Professional Quilters - here's what her email mentioned and I have checked off 4 of the 5 tips. Read it over and see what you can do before the end of year!

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.

Please share your thoughts on the blog.

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

Please do! Just use it in its entirety and 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.

WANT TO SEE MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE?

See the IAPQ blog at http://www.professionalquilter.com/weblog/

Quilters Calendar - for Teachers and Students

The Quilter’s Calendar - Connecting Quilters, Quilt Guilds and Quilting Teachers

Quilting teachers Maggie Ball and Marguerita McManus became friends when they met at a trade show in 2007 where they were both promoting their new quilt books. Rather than seeing each other as competition, they shared marketing tips, teaching experiences, and a common frustration.

Many quilting teachers rely on guilds hiring them to teach classes to their members for a significant portion of their income. With a quilt guild in almost every town in the USA and over 21 million quilters in the USA, the challenge for teachers is how to reach guilds and how to make it easy for quilters and guilds to learn about available teachers: their classes, specialties, talents, styles and schedules. Most teachers rely on a combination of word of mouth, random connections made at trade shows, websites, emails, mailed media and hope.

A central location of easily accessible data would help tremendously. Somewhere that guild members could see who’s teaching nearby (and when) that would also provide information and links to the teachers.

The Quilter’s Calendar is a searchable online calendar that presents teaching engagements by location and date, making it easy for guilds to share the expenses of hiring a traveling teacher, thereby reducing expenses to each guild. Listing a teaching gig is free to the teacher or guild and so is the Teacher’s Profile, which includes a link to the teacher’s website. Guilds can save money and teachers have the opportunity to be hired more often without additional effort or expense.

Additionally, many quilters love to travel to quilting related events. Quilt shows, retreats, even when visiting family, quilters will often find a way to attend a quilting related event. By using the calendar and searching by their destination location, quilters will easily find classes and events that would otherwise have taken hours to search out.

Created by Marguerita McManus, co-author of the best selling “Crazy Shortcut Quilts” book and YouTube Partner with over 1 million views to her videos, the site debuts with over 80 Teacher Profiles and more than 850 Teaching Engagements, throughout the USA and Canada, into 2015. Marguerita created the Quilt Designers Blog Ring in 2007 and continues to share marketing information with entrepreneurs on a YouTube channel.

One Word Wednesday

Peek!

Learn Give & Take Applique - the No Waste Technique

Registration has opened for my new class at Quilt University! Starting January 4th you can learn about designing with positive and negative shapes for unique layout and value combinations.
In this class you will begin with simple paper and glue stick exercises and then move onto creating your own unique blocks with endless layout combinations. Join the fun at Quilt University

Learn how to use shape and value to create interesting layout combinations.

 

Discover what positive and negative shapes can do when placed together.

 

Combine applique and pieced blocks for many design options.

Why don't you join me in class!