So many projects, so little (?) time

My name is Linda and I'm a retreat-aholic.  I began organizing them as part of my business because I love the concept! I got the email today from the woman who's organizing my home guild's retreat next week - and this is a rare treat because this is the one retreat a  year where I'm one of the masses, not the Julie McCoy of the retreat. I cherish this weekend - but now to get back to the issue of packing.

Clothes - not much of a problem - comfortable, clean and serviceable - oh, since I have a roomate, better drag out the retreat PJs. Yes, I own a set. Machine, cords, lights, chair, bed risers - all pretty standard faire. Wine - check. Now the big issue...

How many projects can I bring to work on? How many can I finish off my PhD (Projects half done) pile? Which deadlines are due first?  My dear friend Kate tells me that I have a touch of ADD on this subject - and she may be right.  In 5 minutes, I assembled 6 projects to take...

Orphan block challenge - due Jan

Downton Abbey Challenge for NHPTV - yes, that's a given!



My next handwork project -

How long can it take to finish the placemats? Ask

me when they were started!

 

And, of course - should I have any time left for relaxation...there's this pile...

 



With any luck, this'll be a computer bag!



Maybe I'll just enjoy the jacuzzi and the wine  -  check back soon to see what (if anything) gets done on this weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

OQC 10/08/12 - How are you celebrating?

October is here - the official start of  Q4 (and the holiday shopping season - if you don't believe me, check out any retail store, and sandwiched between the clearance patio furniture and grills, you'll see (gasp!) Christmas trees and ornaments.)  Personally, I have always held the concept that I want the shopping done by Thanksgiving, and the decorating done the weekend after  - but I'm guessing the decorating is there for a reason.  It's a good excuse to get outside in nature and enjoy the beautiful foliage.

October is a busy month here at TPP world headquarters, filled with a lot of  celebrations, activism, planning and preparations  - for me, this seems to be the start of a wild roller coaster ride which ends on January 1. I'm never bored or at a loss for things to do this time of year. But today I want to take a moment to talk about something that you don't hear about - and how I'm taking part this year.

The celebrating is actually for National Women's Small Business Month. The National Women's Business Council reports that women own 7.8 million business in the U.S. and generate 1.2 trillion dollars in revenue in all avenues of commerce.  I'm celebrating by paying it forward and helping out a budding entrepreneur fulfil her dreams.  Said budding entrepreneur is 11, has a product, a business plan, presold orders, and is working on her website and her Facebook page. I'm encouraged to know several young ladies that are similarly inclined (entrepreneurial), and I believe it's my responsibility to nurture such creativity whenever I can.

You can too - by following http://meredithsmarketplace.weebly.com/ and her facebook page, Meredith's Marketplace.  I can't wait to see how this takes off!

The Joys of Partnerships - OQC, 10/01/12

 

As of this morning, we're three quarters of the way through 2012, and we can see January from here.  It's a good time to take a moment and evaluate where you are and what you want to accomplish between now and the end of the year. It may seem as if this quarter is intrinsically shorter - and more jam packed - than the others, so this might be a good time to try something you may not have considered before.  Remember last week's post about stretching the comfort zone?

 

Joint partnerships have a long history within this industry - one of the first instances I remember is when Eleanor Burns became a spokesman for Elna machines.  Facebook and Pinterest have made it a lot easier for people to connect laterally, and if you want to see a good example of this, take a look at Aurifil's Alex Veronelli. Alex is partnering with both professionals and recreational quilters to bring new awareness to Aurifil's brand, adding his own personality and risque humor to the mix.

 

 

 

 

There's a lot of natural synergies available, whether  you're trying to build your brand nationally or locally. As long as the alliance seems like a natural fit between the parties, and the responsibilities are clearly delineated, it can be an effective way to increase your visibility (and your customer base) for all parties - it doesn't have to be just 2 people combining.  I have a specific example of that which I'll profile in the coming weeks.

 

In the short term - this might be a good strategy for both short term and long term growth - 2013 will be here before you know it.

When is the mojo coming back?

 

For some of us, the school bus and the familiar schedule that goes with it brings us back to deadlines and details that often leave for summer vacation in June. For others who are no longer bound to observe those summer rituals, fall comes in quietly, closer to the date on the calendar than the start of school. 

 

But how do you get the mojo - the to do list - the groove back?  Ten weeks is a long time to put things aside, and it's HARD to dive back in.

Sometimes that break can be liberating, allowing you to step back and take a look at what's still on the to do list. 

Can I re-arrange, remove (oh, the shock!), re-prioritize?

What about cooping with other quilters to have a stash busting kickoff to fall?

Try not only looking back at what was still left undone, but also look ahead to see what's coming up before the next hard deadline.  After all, lamenting about time lost isn't nearly as productive as planning ahead for what's the most meaningful way to spend your time.  Meaningful isn't necessarily measured in how many blocks made...

 



Along the way, I've walked this path enough to have learned a few things.

If you want to start a quilting project as a Holiday present, now you understand why there are Christmas in July sales.  Life got much more tranquil once I accepted that no matter how I tried, if the gift wasn't done by Thanksgiving, forget about it. Why was I the last one to get that memo?

Maybe others are different, but I can work successfully and productively at one project at a time. Everytime I try to tackle too many things at one, I get 'stuck' and paralyzed.  I think I've finally got it! (There is a major exception to that rule - when planning for a retreat, always bring more than one!).

I work best with a deadline. Put it on the calendar, and then back into what needs to be done.

Never, ever enter a quilt into a show if it's not done.  See item above.

Fall will come soon enough, then winter, then spring.  The cycle repeats.

Life Begins at the End of Your Comfort Zone, OQC 09/24/12

          People who read this blog  know that I'm a huge advocate of doing what you do absolutely better than anyone else. There does come a time, however,  when leaving your comfort zone is the way to go.   It's doesn't always mean a complete re-write of the business or  life plan, but editing it a little to open other avenues can be a very good thing. Creativity is very important in business - especially if you're a SOHO or a solopreneur (as so many of us are),  and sometimes it's like looking at the same photograph from a different angle - you see things that you've never seen before. Fresh eyes - yours, or someone else's - should never be underestimated. Within the last several weeks, I've heard of several exciting twists on this theme within my own circle, which caused me to look at the bigger picture.

           - Has technology advanced in a way that you can modify an existing product to release a 'new' version?

           - Is there a new tool that you can leverage to take something that had been 'shelved' and get that project moving again? 
            - Has someone asked you to be a speaker or a mentor on a subject, but you find that you just don't have the time to cover that format adequately? 
            - Is someone offering to pay you for your time as a consultant?

         If several people are coming to you asking for your expertise, leverage your time (and cash flow) by standardizing enough information to help them out (getting you recognized as an expert in the meantime), and then see about a daytime event or a pay per view webinar. It's flattering to be asked, but several people asking at once is a sign that you have something that people want to buy. 

         And that new product or service may be the incentive to move you further outside the Zone.

 

   

A comment from LinkedIn made me think

One of the groups I belong to asked it's members the question - Why do you Quilt?  The answers are far ranging - everything from artistic expression to variations on "It's finally My time" to healing from personal challenges. It's probably a question that will have a different answer for everyone, because everyone's journey is different.  This might be a good time to unearth the time capsule from the mid-80's, and talk about my journey.

I began to quilt when my oldest went off to public school, and I really had time to myself for the first time in a long time - his brother didn't arrive for another couple of years.  I found myself in a quilt shop, and before I knew it I had signed up for a beginners class in quilting, based on a handmade sampler. I unearthed it this morning - the colors make it almost too painful to look at. I'm pretty sure that was the last dark background I used. I don't think it'll need a quilt appraiser to date it - it screams '1980's' to me. Or maybe it's just the voices in my head.

The second quilt I made - shortly after beginning membership in a guild - was this one, that has become my logo on my business card and website. It's also the first of the Challenge quilts - make a star, but nowhere in the rules did it say make a star with 200 pieces...that was my own special type of insanity.

Neither of these pieces have proper names - which seems a little sad. Oh, and there's that beautiful harvest color again - was I decades ahead of Tangerine Tango?

So fast forward a couple of decades, and many quilted pieces, and this is the one that I'm finishing today...

It's actually off my design wall and quilted - I'm off to a doctor's visit and will finish back tacking the binding there.

So now that I've shown you mine, what was your first quilt? Do you still have it? Confession - my first quilt is still intact, but each of my son's first quilts have long since bit the dust.  I had a lot to learn about construction...and more to learn still...

What I did on my summer vacation

Well, it's the last official weekend of summer, and I can already sense a chill in the air.  I noticed it first this past week as I went out on my screen porch - usually referred to as the summer office! - for morning coffee.  At 6AM, there was still enough dark out that I had to turn on the light - not something I'm used to having to do. Sigh.

Coffee in the AM on the porch is my time - whether to read a book, a magazine or to work on handwork.  It's just not the same inside - is it OK to sigh twice in one blog?

Still it's been a good summer - full of lots of surprises (mostly good, some not so much), and time to just chill out. We were fortunate to have 4 major shows up here in the northeast, and I was fortunate enough to make it to all 4! There was a lot of inspiration and motivation out there...

On the what's on my design wall front, you might recognize some of the blocks in the picture from my design wall earlier this summer.  That's a project that Linda Lum DeBono designed for American Patchwork and Quilting (Dec 2006), called Be Merry.  You never know what you'll find in the sharing box at Guild meetings.

Here's the wall today - one last row to finish.  I hope to get to it before next week's rounds of Show and Tell begins again. 

How was your summer?