Christa’s Soap Box – How to Succeed in Business (With Lots and Lots of Trying)

May 25, 2015May 24, 201511 Comments

Have you ever heard of the Broadway musical “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”?

Although I’ve never seen the play, the title always gives me a chuckle as I pause for reflection. I know there are many entrepreneurs out there who want to get rich quick or pave a quick path to success. In fact, I have a running joke at home that my idea for a get rich quick scheme is to write a book on how to get rich quick! 🙂

But in reality, most successful business people aka solo-preneurs or mom-preneurs or what-have-you only succeed because of tons of hard work, tenacity, and perseverance. Today’s soap box is a reflection and also a reminder that it takes time, patience and grit to get where you want to be. It’s basically more musings on an earlier post I wrote titled, “The only one standing in my way is me.” (Incidentally that one was written just after quilt market, too!)

I’ve mentioned before on this blog that the summer of 2012 is when I decided I wanted to go professional with my quilting: start entering national shows, writing for publication, and teaching nationally, etc. Along the way there have been heart-breaks, disappointments, and failures along with the successes. I read once on a well-known designer’s blog (sorry – I forget who) that people thought the blogger was an overnight success, but in reality it took 5 years of daily blogging to get noticed. 5 YEARS! So that number has always stuck with me along with the idea of having a 5 year plan.

So far I’m 3 years into my 5 year plan and it feels like things are finally starting to happen. It’s exciting but scary all at the same time, but I promised way back then that I would take my readers along for the ride! Every day I worry that I will mess up or make some huge mistake that I can’t recover from, but then I just hold to the idea that hard work will pay off in the end.

This is the only sneak peek I care share now, of some opportunities that coincided with Spring Quilt Market. It was a case of good timing, preparation, and flexibility.

One of my favorite phrases is “good luck is what happens when opportunity meets preparation” and I truly believe that! I have had some great opportunities come my way, which I will share with you as I can. One thing I have learned time and time again this year is that as long as I produce good quality work and meet my deadlines, more doors will open up. Yes, you have to be knowledgeable in your field, but even the biggest divas in the world won’t be given a second or third chance if they fail to produce!

I’ve looked up to many in the quilting industry for guidance and advice; in turn, I’ve been able to mentor a few close friends in order to pay it forward for the help I’ve been given. So this is just more encouragement to any of you out there that want to engage in the business of quilting, or follow in any other creative endeavors. Don’t fall into the trap of self-doubt or “why me?” syndrome. Instead, I encourage you to embrace the idea of “why not me?”

I will leave you with this challenge: think of your biggest pie-in-the-sky dream and take steps NOW to make it happen. If you’d like to share what that is – I’d love to know! If it’s more personal, write it on a note to yourself and remind yourself to look at it every day.

And now, go make something happen!

If you enjoy my blog, be sure to subscribe to my weekly newsletter: Friendly Threads!

Quilt Market Perspectives Spring 2015

May 22, 2015May 19, 20159 Comments

I’m finally recovered from my Spring Quilt Market “hangover” that I can finally blog about it! This is only my 3rd time attending market (including a brief visit way back in 2008 and then again last fall). My goal for the trip was two-fold: order new precuts for our store and connect with several industry folks to firm up relationships that had already been established and seek out new ones. Jason and I divided and conquered our tasks – he took care of meeting with the vendors while I was able to put on my “designer” hat and mingle with many of the movers and shakers in the industry.

I have to tell you – from a business perspective, it’s worth it to attend market whether you are an aspiring designer, shop owner, or other quilting professional. You just can’t beat the one-on-one face-time that’s possible at an event like this. I was able to firm up previous commitments I’ve already agreed to, and several new opportunities were presented to me as a result of attending. So yay for business networking! Here a few fun highlights from the show:

Meeting the amazingly talented Angela Walters and Leah Day was a highlight of my trip!

I was able to meet one-one-one with two of my machine quilting heroes: Angela Walters from Quilting is My Therapy and Leah Day from The Free Motion Quilting Project. These women are incredibly successful and they are very passionate about what they do! They are also generous with their knowledge and it was fun to chat quilting and business with them. I have a feeling you will be seeing more amazing things from these ladies in the future, so be sure to follow them, if you don’t already. 🙂

The day before market opens for business, dozens of 15-30 minute schoolhouse presentations are offered so that shop owners can get an overview of the latest and greatest at market. Schedules are handed out a few hours before the event begins and everyone quickly scrambles to choose which lectures they’d like to attend.

Quilt Market is a great place to bump into quilty friends!

It was fun to see smiling friendly faces from the likes of Becca from Sew Me a Song, Amy Friend of During Quiet Time, Leanne Chahley from She Can Quilt, and Sharon McConnell of Color Girl Quilts. We spent the day bumping into various online friends and having lots of great impromptu chats between schoolhouse sessions.

This is what a packed schoolhouse room looks like! Melissa Corry has a great “mom voice” that can be heard above any crowd. She’s just as fun as her quilts!

The hardest part was choosing which school houses to attend. So many of my friends were sharing their new books/fabrics/products at the same time! One of the best presentations was from Melissa Corry of Happy Quilting. She has a new book out and her schoolhouse was packed! She enthusiastically shared quilts from her book along with tips for shop owners on how to market it and make kits from it. I took lots of mental notes so that I’ll be ready to roll with my presentation, come fall!

Here’s a little montage of just some of the booths and people I met. Even after 4 days on their feet, these designers kept on smiling! Below from left to right: Bari J., Kimberbell Designs and Amanda Herring (The Quilted Fish), Atkinson Designs, Brenda from Pink Castle, Deb Strain, Sherri McConnell (new Moda fabrics), Carolyn Friedlander, Eleanor Burns, and Elizabeth Hartman.

I took more pictures which I will share in a future Craftsy blog post, so stay tuned for that!

By far, my favorite moment was getting to share sneak peeks of my book and a few quilts from Machine Quilting With Style along with a demo. This was a great practice run for me, as I’ll be able to do a schoolhouse and several book signings in the fall at the next quilt market.

My publisher, Martingale, had a huge booth with a demo area for their authors, plus plenty of quilts on display to showcase their current catalog of books. It was a great setup!

If you were able to participate, either in person, or virtually through social media, what were some of your favorite quilt market moments?

If You Were Friend Shopping…

April 24, 2015April 23, 201511 Comments

Hey guys, it’s usually an Instagram thing to share and tell about someone’s work you admire for others to follow. Well, I figured, why not do that occasionally here on the blog? Meet my friends Ida, who blogs at Ida Rather be Quilting, and Vicki who blogs at Orchid Owl Quilts.

In this picture Vicki and Ida are just behind me in the back row on the left and right. We went with several other fun members of our Modern Quilt Guild to a Quilt Show in St. George, Utah.

I first met Ida last year when she moved into my neighborhood and I found out she was a quilter. We can just find each other – you know?? Vicki moved to town about a year later and she got involved right away with the local guilds. Both of them have helped me so much this year as I’ve led our local Modern Quilt Guild. I love all of my online friendships, but there’s nothing quite like having friends close by who get your obsession for all things quilting!

Ida was stocking up on solids during a recent shopping trip to Superior Threads.

Ida is a military wife so she is very good as making friends quickly and adapting to new surroundings. Be sure to visit her blog and scroll through her posts for some excellent eye candy along with musings on military life. One of my favorite tutorials is her improv zipper pouch which I followed to make a recent guild swap gift. I also adore her Plus One quilt, shown below.

Vicki and I actually met online through Instagram, and became fast friends when I learned she was moving here. We clicked right away because we both have that innate desire to show and share our quilts with as many people as possible, and we both love talking about the “industry” side of quilting. (In fact, Ida loves to refer to Vicki and I as the “quilt divas” when we are talking shop, LOL!!)

Vicki and with her quilt Me and My Shadow which won judge’s choice at a recent quilt show.

I love what Vicki wrote recently on her blog about entering quilt shows. She also shares a bit of that competitive spirit with me and it’s fun to cheer each other on as we enter our work into shows. (I told her she will always beat the pants off me any day with that luscious feather quilting!!)

Another of Vicki’s award-winning quilts.

So if you are looking for more inspiring blogs to follow, I can highly recommend Ida Rather Be Quilting and Orchid Owl Quilts. Go give them some comment love and make some new friends!

Check Out National Quilter’s Circle Blogger Awards

April 23, 2015April 22, 20153 Comments

The National Quilter’s Circle is now accepting nominations for your favorite quilting and fiber arts blogs. I had honestly never even heard of this before until they contacted me letting me know my blog had already been submitted by several different people (thank you).

Nominations run through April 29th and the top four blogs with the most nominations in each category will then move onto the voting round which runs through May 15th.

Categories include:

Best Traditional Quilting Blog
Best Modern Quilting Blog
Best Quilting Patterns Blog
Best Fiber Arts Blog
Best Art Quilts Blog
Most Humorous Blog
Best Overall Quilting Blog

Click here if you’d like to nominate your favorite blog – including your own!

I always like to support contest like these because I think it helps get the word out about other quilting bloggers and brings the blogging and quilting community together. 🙂

My Book is Now Available for Pre-Order!!

April 21, 2015April 20, 201529 Comments

It’s real – it’s really real! My book is now available for pre-order on Amazon! So before I faint with excitement, please allow me to tell you a little something about it… 🙂

My book is called Machine Quilting With Style: From Walking-Foot Wonders to Free-Motion Favorites. That’s quite a mouthful, but I couldn’t be more thrilled! As many others have said, it really is like birthing another child, complete with restlessness, anxiety and weight gain, LOL! 🙂 The “due” date is mid-September, about a month after my own birthday, so I really couldn’t ask for a better present.

It’s been a dream of mine to write a book since I began quilting many years ago, and the perfect opportunity came at just the right time. I had returned home from the first QuiltCon on fire with the desire to share my passion for quilting with a many people as possible. Coupled with my new-found love of the modern aesthetic, all the stars aligned in the best possible way to create this book.

Promotional information by the incredibly talented marketing team at Martingale.

Machine Quilting With Style includes patterns for 12 quilts with step-by-step instructions on how to machine quilt them. It also includes a large section on setting yourself up for successful machine quilting, with plenty of motifs to practice. There are a total of 112 pages, and I’m so grateful to Martingale (aka That Patchwork Place) for believing in my vision and allowing me to write the book I was meant to write.

Now that the hurdle of writing and editing is over, I get to engage in the fun part: promoting the book, talking to shop owners about it, creating classes around it, and getting to share it with as many people as possible. I’m pretty sure I enjoy the “social” aspect of quilting just as much as the actual making. 🙂

This is what book editing looks like!

Machine Quilting With Style is available for pre-order on Amazon at a discount off the cover price, which is always nice. You can also purchase it from your local quilt shop or favorite bookstore later this summer, or ask them to preorder you a copy when they attend quilt market this spring.

If you’d like to pre-order a signed copy directly from me, it’s just a few dollars more, and I’ll ship mid-September as soon as they come in.

Ok – I’d best get started on the next one, now! (Kidding-not-kidding!)

Christa’s Soap Box – How to Deal With the Trolls

April 8, 2015April 8, 201533 Comments

It makes me very sad in the quilting community when I hear about nasty comments left for well-meaning bloggers and professionals in the community. I was recently discussing with a designer friend the impact that one hurtful email or thoughtless comment can have on a person. My response to her was “the upside of this means that you are now big enough and successful enough to be a target.” What is it about the internet community that allows us to easily say mean things online that we would never do face-to-face? (This is rhetorical – you don’t have to answer.)

I am definitely not immune to criticism either (yep – it’s true!), but I try to take it in stride when it happens. Here are a couple of tips on how I handle these situations when they occur.

Be professional – as much as I want to take the the internet to vent and call out the offending party, I don’t. What may be written as a response in the heat of passion will be there permanently for all to see. Instead, I try to analyze the comment or criticism and see if there’s anything I can learn from it. Usually it doesn’t call for a response. (At least not yet. Hopefully.)
Just delete it – if the comment is left in a public place like a blog, instagram or facebook, etc. it’s ok to delete. It really is! And in some cases, you can block a user from having access if needed. The way I look at it is that this is my sandbox, and you are coming over to my place to play. I won’t invite you back if you aren’t nice. 🙂
Let it go, let it goooo! (cue up the Disney soundtrack) – if you really do need to get it off your chest, vent to a friend, spouse, or partner in private and then let it go. The more you stir the pot, the thicker it will get! If you need to, you can always write a scathing response to get it out of your system, then immediately delete what you just wrote. Now, doesn’t that feel better?
Go make something – quilting really is good therapy. Whenever I’m having an off day, or if something gets to me, I really do feel better after a 15 minute sewing session. Strangely, blogging also has that same effect sometimes. If I can jot down a few random thoughts for a future blog post, it makes me feel more productive and vocal in my craft.

Here’s wishing you a very happy, productive, quilty day!

I Love Writing about Free-Motion Quilting!

April 6, 2015April 6, 20155 Comments

In my latest Quilt as Desired column for the National Quilting Association, I was able to explore how background fills can add depth and texture to your quilts. I love quilting textural designs that add a lot to the quilt with little to no marking.

Excerpt from Quilting Quarterly by the National Quilting Association, Spring 2015 Issue

Speaking of NQA, you still have until April 10th to enter your quilts (especially your modern ones) into their show that will occur June 18-20 of this year. I will be teaching Modern Machine Quilting, along with two other classes and can’t wait to encourage others to give it a try.

I’ve also written a series of articles for Craftsy including tips to get you started free-motion quilting and 5 ways to trouble shoot your fmq.

As I get out there more in the world of quilting, it’s been fun to share my knowledge in different venues. Sometimes I worry that I may repeat a little bit of what I have to say. But then, it makes my day when a kind reader emails me to say, “If it wasn’t for ___ (insert name of venue or website), I never would have found you. Thanks for the tips!”

That’s truly what keeps me going! 🙂

A Behind-the-Scenes Look at My New Branding

April 1, 2015April 1, 201512 Comments

Hey guys, you may have noticed my new blog design. It’s all thanks to a lot of hard work from Design by Lindsie. I asked her to join me for an in-depth behind the scenes look at what it took to make these changes. This is a rather long and detailed blog post, but full of great info I wanted to share. So take it away Lindsie….

Hi! This is Lindsie Bergevin, Christa’s graphic designer. I wanted to stop by today and share with you an inside peek of the creative process we went through to create Christa’s branding, visual materials and website update. I also hope to share a few tips for those of you who want to go through a similar process.

It starts with a brand, not a logo

We all know how important a logo is to your business — it is the essence of your business in the simplest form. Everything your business represents is communicated in the logo. But too often we business owners get hung up on this and forget that there’s something more important.

When Christa contacted me to help her with the visual aspects of their business, the conversation started with discussion about her logo. She had a wonderful illustration she wanted to keep using in her new business identity, and incorporate it into her logo. But before I started in on that, we first talked about her branding.

What is branding? It’s not a logo. Or a color palette. Or even a website.

It is a message. And it’s one that you communicate to your customers whether you realize it or not.

Before I even start designing anything for my clients, I have found it essential to discuss the message they want to communicate. Having a clear idea of what your business is all about, who the audience is, and how you are going to approach them, are essential when you are creating the branding for your business.

To start the conversation with Christa, I asked her a few questions:

Tell me about yourself and your business
Who is your audience?
Who is your competition?
What colors inspire you?
What are some words that describe the message you want to communicate, words that describe the visual identity of your business?
What elements do you want incorporated into your visual identity? What do you not want?

What message do you want to communicate to your customers? What message are you communicating right now? Are they the same?

Branding is about creating a customer experience. When you apply branding, you are developing a perception about your business. Design is part of this process, but branding also includes elements such as naming, marketing strategy, advertising, public relations, market research, customer feedback and more. All of this helps you make decisions to run your business.

The fundamental idea behind having a brand is that everything a company does, everything it owns and everything it produces should reflect the values and aims of the business as a whole.

The visual identity then, is the application of your brand onto visual materials that your customers will see. It’s how you communicate your message.

That’s why I ask all of those questions. The answers to those questions, in particular the list of words that describe the business, drive every design decision I make in the creation and execution of the visual identity. I want each aspect I design to communicate the message of the branding.

For Christa, the list of words that she came up with to describe her business were:

Modern without screaming “Modern!”
Warm
Clean
Straight
Approachable
Trustworthy (Be a coach/Best friend)
Honest and upfront
Where to go to learn all about quilting
A modern quilting cheerleader

This provided a great starting point for us as we started in on the logo development.

Creating the logo and visual identity pieces

Before (left) and after of Christa’s logo.

When you work with a graphic designer to create your visual identity, it should be a back and forth process where you, as the client, are presented with an array of options that you pick from, then are narrowed down and refined by the designer, and then you pick again. These rounds of options are important to explore the design possibilities and give you say in how the logo is developed and what variations are created in the final suite of logos.

A selection of the logo comps we explored during the development phase. First row explores a B&W logo in various placement options, 2nd: font choices, 3rd: font weights, 4th and 5th rows: color variations. Above left is her color palette based on a photo she took of a few items that inspired the colors she wanted to use.

Christa and I went through six rounds of logo development, and while she probably didn’t expect going into the process that it would be that involved, I think the end product is a testament to her dedication and willingness to explore the options and really hone in on the versions she wanted. She’s happy with her logo and it embodies her — a win win!

The final variations of the logo include 4 sizes, all in color, b&w and reverse options. This provides Christa with flexibility to use the logo in virtually any application.

I start off designing the logo and visual identity basics like fonts and color palette, and then apply that to the various collateral my clients need. Not everything has to be created, and each client has different needs.

Visual identity pieces usually include:

Logo
Stationary – letterhead, business card, envelopes, etc.
Marketing collateral – flyers, brochures, books, websites, etc.
Products and packaging
Apparel
Signage
Messages & actions
Anything that visually represents the business

A look at the comps I created for Christa’s business cards and QuiltCon button. She chose the vertical double-sided card option with matching button.

Start with what you need to get rolling, then work with your designer to develop items as needed. Your designer should also provide you with high-quality, vector files of each of your logo versions so that you can apply your identity to pieces (with and without a designer) down the road if need be.

Website updates

When I started with Christa, she already had a successful business going, with a busy shop, active social media followers and this awesome blog. Big changes weren’t in order, just a visual update. We are in the process of updating logos throughout social media and other locations online. Her newsletter got a new banner and next up is a redesign of her quilt patterns.

Friendly Threads Newsletter before and after application of the branding.

For this website, though, it needed a visual refreshening. Christa is using WordPress.com for her site, and the software has a variety of themes that allow varying degrees of customization. Prior to the redesign, the site was using a basic WordPress theme that didn’t have much personality. (It didn’t communicate her branding and message very well.)

Before: The old site used generic typography in the banner and throughout the site and dated colors in the menubar.

Before: The old site’s theme used generic fonts that didn’t pair well together, an understated title in the banner and dated colors in the menubar.

That was my task — to find a better theme that supported her message, and then customize it as well as I could. I found success in the Selah theme, and used WordPress’ Premium Design Customization options to further tweak the colors, fonts and CSS styling of various parts.

After: The new site feels cohesive in its use of typography, colors, large photos and more white space.

The new site has a wider main area, allowing for bigger photos, and a wider sidebar, too. We cleaned up the items on the sidebar, getting rid of outdated buttons and adding a widget of her quilt designs that refreshes on each visit to the page.

A new banner also was key to making the site feel fresh and new.

A few of the banner options Christa considered before deciding on the current banner that highlights her quilt Abacus.

A few tips

For those of you just starting a business, or those who want to retool their current one, congrats! Hopefully you have realized what message you want to communicate and are ready to get to work. Do you have a logo? How about a website? Here are a few tips for improving your site:

Add a custom banner that showcases your logo and communicates your branding. It’s the first thing your readers will see, so make it count.
Use the theme options and customization options to your advantage. You will be surprised what you can accomplish with the right CSS and plugins.
Test your site on multiple browsers and devices. Each show sites differently and you may not be aware something is broken until you pull up your site in different places.
A successful site can be built with either WordPress.com or self-hosted WordPress.org setups. It all comes down to theme selection and customization. You can find a way to make your site what you want. You may just need to find someone to help you get there.

If all of this seems overwhelming, please don’t stress out and feel that you have to know everything to make your business successful. Find someone to help that knows what you don’t know. I promise it will be worth your time. Each of my clients came to that realization before finding me. They each realized that their time was worth more doing what they did best (creating their products and running their businesses) than it was getting frustrated trying to figure out how to do things they didn’t know as well.

So a little plug for my fellow graphic designers and web developers out there: Hire a professional. They can help you achieve your goals and you’ll both be happier doing what you each do best.

Christa’s Soap Box – Just Do It.

March 27, 2015March 26, 201526 Comments

No pictures – words only today! 🙂

A friend of mine recently pointed me to an interesting entry on Seth Godin’s blog: the difference between commitment and technique.

When I read it, it hit me like a ton of bricks because it perfectly embodies one of my philosophies but I didn’t quite know how to phrase it. In a nutshell, he states that we need to focus more on teaching commitment rather than getting hung up on technique. I think technique is important of course, because it’s important to learn the fundamentals, especially when it comes to quilting.

But so many people get frustrated and give up when trying to machine quilt their quilts (especially free-motion) because they expect their efforts to be perfect right away. Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way. It takes commitment and a willingness to put in hours and hours of practice over a period of time. Honestly, my first quilting efforts were pretty awful, but I stuck with it, because it was a skill I wanted to learn and master. If we give up when things get hard, we will never accomplish what is in us to do.

So here’s my plug for commitment – if you really want to learn to do something, keep going and push pass the “it’s not working for me” stage. When you do, you’ll be greatly rewarded with a huge sense of accomplishment and satisfaction with a job well done!

PSA – I’m now on Facebook! (My Int’l Quilting Day Project)

March 21, 2015March 24, 20155 Comments

It’s Quilting Day today, so I’m celebrating by inviting you to follow/friend/join me on Facebook!

I’m slowly but surely embracing more social media. It started with my blog and then I branched out to instagram last year. Now, it’s finally time to join the huge quilting community that is on Facebook. I will admit that I’m struggling a bit to understand all that is available on the platform – but for now, I’m doing my best. 🙂 Here’s how you can follow me there:

My regular account where you can friend me: search for christaquilts (or by my full name Christa Watson).

My business page: ChristaQuiltscom – I’m not really sure what the advantage is for having a page, but I’ll learn pretty quickly, I’m sure. For now, it just automatically lists my daily blog posts as they go live.

My public group: Quilt With Christa – this is the one I’m most excited about. Ever since I started my quilt alongs, I wanted an easy place for followers to posts pictures and share their progress. I tried flickr for awhile, but that got to be too cumbersome.

PS – as long as you are following along, you may as well sign up for my weekly email newsletter, Friendly Threads. Although there is naturally some overlap amongst my various social media platforms, I try not to repeat myself too much. 🙂