Ok, so I was really feeling the love from all of your great comments from my last soapbox post about giving yourself permission to succeed. Many of you took encouragement from what I had to say (yay!) One reader (Lauren) left this comment which I thought would make a great followup post:

What would be really helpful to others out there is to tell us about the “paths” that were successful and those “paths” that were not.

So I thought I would give you more of an insight into my path thus far. Just remember, there are many paths to achieve your goals and not everyone’s will be the same. So here ya go:

As long as I’m with this guy – I’m happy! The Watsons – 1993

I started quilting about 20 years ago as a newlywed and (poor) college student. I was getting my degree in business at the time and knew I always wanted to own my own company. I immediately saw the potential to make money from this great hobby of mine and set off on a path to figure out how to do so.

I first began by selling quilts and quilted items at a local craft cooperative. Although I loved the excuse to make things, and it gave me a ton of machine quilting practice, in the end, it really didn’t make much money. But it did allow me to get my wholesale license so that I could buy fabrics in bulk, at a discount.

 My booth at a local craft mall in the mid 90’s. I always did love color!

During this productive crafting time, I began teaching quilting classes locally, first at a small quilt shop that’s now out of business, then at the nearest JoAnn’s. I absolutely loved teaching and thought that I had found my true calling. I created original designs, taught my students how to make a complete quilt from start to finish, and reveled in the friendships I was making with women who spanned all ages and walks of life. I was very successful doing this for several years until my third child came along (11 years ago). Jason was a CPA by this time and those tax seasons were long and hard on both of us. I realized something had to give and I needed to focus more on working from home.

At the same time, the corporate structure of JoAnn’s changed so that they no longer wanted original ideas for their classes. Instead, they wanted to go with a one size fits all approach with each store teaching the same curriculum. That did not interest me in the least since I didn’t want to teach other people’s ideas; I preferred to teach my own. So it was a good time to make a change. One of my students suggested I begin selling fabric on ebay, so I took her up on that suggestion.

Working from home quickly became a family affair.

This led me on my next path which lasted for a good 10 years – setting up and running a full-service online quilt shop with my own independent website. The first couple of years I did it all on my own, as a side business while Jason worked full time. Until one day he came home and said he was tired of crunching other people’s numbers and he wanted a change. So I made the suggestion to take our business full time with both of us fully invested in it. We had only ourselves to rely on now and it was a bit of a scary ride, but we were all in.

We came to a crossroads sometime after the great recession of 2008-2010 (yes it lasted that long for us). We either had to go big or go home, or change the fundamental way in which we were doing business. At about this time I started feeling anxious about my lack of quilting time. As any shop owner knows, when you run a full-time gig, you rarely have time to actually sew!

 Teaching is still my absolute favorite thing to do in this industry!

So we started kicking around ideas of what other products/services we could promote within the quilting industry that would get me back to sewing. I began teaching again because my kids were older now. I started throwing around the idea of designing patterns professionally or maybe writing a book. However I sat on that idea for a couple of years, because I didn’t feel like I had quite found my voice. That is until I discovered modern quilting in 2012.

All of a sudden I tired of cutting and selling traditional fabrics (no offense please – I finally admitted they weren’t my style but I loved that they were other people’s style). On a whim, Jason decided we should try selling precuts, freeing us from the daily grind of cutting fabric day after day, order after order. It was a pretty big risk and we had to sink quite a bit of savings into it to give it a go. But it has given me back my fun time: time to teach, time to design, time to write, and time to quilt. So far so good, and I’ve never been happier.

We do it all for them. 🙂

I’m not exactly sure where the current path will lead. My hope is to produce enough content and secure enough educational work that our business can truly be “Christa Quilts” rather than “Christa Sells Fabric.” As I always say, the joy is in the journey and I sure have enjoyed the ride!

I should also say – the only one standing in your way is you! (As this is meant to be an encouraging post.) After attending quilt market last week and thinking ahead to the next fun quilting event, I’ve realized that really, anything is possible if you set your mind to it, and are willing to work hard and put in the time and effort to make it happen.

The image above makes me chuckle. (I saw it on instagram awhile back and edited it so I could share it in public, LOL!) I know that so many of us get caught up in the negative cycle of self-doubt, insecurity, and general anxiety that comes from pursuing any craft, whether it be for business or pleasure.

I think part of that comes from thinking that everyone else gets it right away (whatever “it” is), or that everyone else an overnight success, and we will never measure up. When I began pursing the creative side of quilting as a career two years ago (in the summer of 2012 when I discovered modern quilting), I knew it would take time, effort and discipline to make myself known.

I started paying attention to those around me who I considered to be successful and what it was about them that helped lead to their success. Here are just a couple of attributes I noticed:

• A positive attitude
• A sense of professionalism, even when things didn’t go their way
• A willingness to go the extra mile, without being asked or contracted to do so
• A desire to encourage others rather than promote themselves
• A genuine passion for their craft
• A good sense of humor and grace under fire
• A tendency to minimize gossip or discouragement when it came their way
• A determination to try and try again, even if they failed
• Patience – a minimum of 2-4 years of full time effort before anyone really notices

I know life doesn’t always go according to plan, and it can take a long time to achieve one’s goals. I’ve also learned through my quilting journey that there are infinite pathways to success. In fact, it’s taken me so long to find my path because I had to travel down all of the wrong ones, first! However, when it comes to pursing our dreams, I want to be a voice out there of encouragement. I really and truly believe we can be the cause of our own success and sometimes we just need permission to do it.

I recently gave myself this permission to succeed, and it sure was a load off of my shoulders! I’m sure I’ll still make little mistakes along the way, and I know there will be a few bumps in the road from time to time. But now that I’m not standing in my way anymore, I can see the road much more clearly. 🙂

Amy Garro from 13 Spools wrote up a fun piece about her dirty little quilting secrets, so I thought I would play along, too! In no particular order, here are mine:

1. I don’t save my scraps! I just throw them away or try to give them away. (I hear the quilt police coming for me now….)
2. I prefer new fabric over using my stash and I don’t like hoarding fabric.
3. I’d choose solids over prints, any day.
4. I can’t work in a “creative” mess – my studio has to be cleaned up before the start of each new project. My sewing space after a recent finish. It’s time to clean up and start again!
   
5. I have clutter issues so I can’t handle too many WIP’s at a time. I gave my old ones away last year, and now I only work on one or two quilts at a time.
6. I’m not into quilting traditional feathers on my quilts. (I’d love to try some modern ones, though!)
7. Quilting for business and quilting for personal enjoyment are one and the same to me.
8. I prefer the look of hand binding to the convenience of machine binding.
9. I consider myself a modern quilter though not all of my quilts are.
10. I enjoy quilt math!
11. Hexagons make me sick. You can read this older post to find out why.

I actually have 11 quilty secrets. 🙂 I hope you enjoyed reading them and want to share a few of your own! Please add your list to the comments below or create your own blog post to join in the fun!

The more I blog about quilting, the more comfortable I have become in developing a sense of my own personal quilting style, and have been finding my “voice,” if you will. My philosophy can be summed up in this simple phrase, “make it yourself, make it your own.”

But what  does this mean, exactly?

First of all, it’s very inclusive. Rather than applying a set of rules such as “you can’t copy me,” which I would never do, I encourage my blog followers and students to discover what they like about a certain project I design – embrace it, and go for it! Sometimes that means their project will look very similar to mine. Other times, it may be completely different.

A recent student making her version of Modern Logs. I love how she chose to make it her own through her choice of fabrics, layout and eventual quilting design.

By making a quilt your own it means you are in charge of it’s destiny from commencement to completion. You get to decide the colors, the pattern, the style, the fabrics, and the means for how to make it. You can decide how long you would like to take to complete a project. This means you get to work at your own pace, not mine. I’m there to guide and encourage, but not to dictate.

Making it your own is also very liberating. For example, I may choose to press my seams open (because I have the time and prefer a flatter look), whereas you may be in a hurry and need to quickly press your seams to one side or another and move onto the next project. Both methods are exactly right as long those utilizing them are happy about it.

One of my quilt along followers with her version of Modern Trees. I love how she embraced the improv aspect of the design and chose scrappy pinks for the background!

Making it yourself can have different meanings, too. For me, I enjoy the entire process of creating a quilt. From prewashing and starching my fabrics to machine quilting my quilts and binding them by hand, I relish every step. That is why I’m so keen to explain every part of the quilt making process in my tutorials and in my teaching. I try to make it seem as un-scary as possible to make a complete quilt. After all this is supposed to be fun! 🙂

I totally understand that finishing is not for everybody and I’m cool with that, too. Making it yourself can mean cutting, sewing or just playing with fabric for awhile. Some may enjoy designing and come up with dozens of virtual quilts that never get physically made. But does that lesson the importance of their art? Absolutely not. Remember that many times, the joy is in the journey.

QAL follower Lynn’s adorable version of Sea of Squares. She worked at her own pace and finished this on her own time schedule, over a year after the original QAL began.

I often hear from blog readers who avidly follow my quilt alongs but never make the quilts. They enjoy reading about the process and get lost in their imaginations and the inspirations of others. I do the same thing when I purchase books about quilts I’ll never make. I still enjoy reading them just as much.

So I invite you to continue along with me on this journey of self-discovery. I find that the more quilts I make, the more I love to quilt. And the more I blog about quilting, the more I love to share my processes.

You don’t even have to agree with me and that’s ok, too – you can still be my friend! Just remember to be kind and courteous in any of your responses. It goes a long way. 🙂

What’s your favorite part of the quilt-making process?