Happy New's Eve 2012

Today is the last day of 2012. It has been a very fast and busy year. It has been a year of change for me with a sudden retirement which is a postive for me. It was time to get out of nursing which opened a new adventure in having my own quilting business. I have a wonderful and supporting quilt husband that I love dearly. Today is his 64th B-Day. I'm looking forward to 2013. It will be a fun year of quilting. I want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year 2013. Happy Happy Quilting!!!

Happy Winter

Yesterday was the 1st day of winter and was to be the end of the world. We must be still here because I'm writing this blog today. Now the days will be getting longer which will be nice. My husband wanted me to have a sign with name of my business on the road and on the mailbox. I will post a picture of the sign which turned out great. It helped to have the sign because on Monday I had a possible client come to the studio. She saw the Barn Quilt on the side of RV shed and then saw the sign just passed it. She said her GPS said she passed my house. It was great to meet Shari to talk about doing the machine quilting on her quilts that she designs and sells on her online business. The business is called Bear Creek Quilting Company in Salem OR. Last Sunday, we went to our neighbors Christmas Open House. One of my neighbors wants me to make a baby quilt for her 1st grandson. I would do the whole quilt which will be fun plus get paid for it. I'm working on the binding on my challenge quilt now. I got my photo stand and background last week. I will get it assembled so I can take a picture of the quilt. It will make it much easier to take pictures of quilts.

Happy 12-12-2012

This is the last time in my lifetime that the date is all the same numbers. The next time this happens is 2101. I posted on my other blog about 12-12-12 because it makes me appreciate my life and to live every day as if it was your last on this earth.

Happy December

I can't believe that today is the 1st day of December. I realized that I haven't written on this blog since Oct. I have been working on learning how to use my Quilt Artist by practicing on sampler fabric. I have put my challenge quilt on the frame before Thanksgiving. I'm having fun working on each block that has a boat in it. It is called Come Sail Away. Our challenge was "Your Dream Vacation" with a red with small dots/cream color as the challenge fabric. My goal was to do a Challenge Quilt for my guild. This quilt needs to be done by our January meeting. I did put in our Quilt Ink which is our newsletter about my business. I didn't think I would get much business in Nov or Dec. It takes a year to get customers so plan to work on getting out in the community to tell them about my business. Happy Quilting!!

MQX West

This was our view out our hotel window and Downtown view from the Saturday Market.

MQX West/Downtown Portland

I went to the Saturday Market near the Burnside Bridge and to Voodoo Donut shop. I got 3 Bacon Maple and 3 McMinnville cream. I have had about the donut place but had never been there. They have a line out the door but I got their about 9:45 for a short wait.

MQX West

MQX West

MQX West

I attended MQX which is Machine Quilting Expo in Portland on Oct 17-20. I stayed at the Red Lion Inn near the convention center. I decided to find a roommate to help with the cost of the room. MQX had a place on their website to apply for a roommate. I was very lucky to find a wonderful roommate from Utah that has a long arm quilting business. Her name is Cindy. It is great to have a new friend. I meet her friend Sally who lives in Sisters. I took several classes on starting a quilting business: 1) Creating a Website Sally Terry 2) Step System to Building Your Professial Long Arm Business Sally Terry 3) Your Worth It: Pricing Your Work Dawn Cavanaugh 4) Practical Guides for Machine Quilting Business DeLoa Jones I got alot of get ideas for my business. I really enjoyed Sally Terry and she is from Paducah, KY. I took 2 classes on Art and Stitch with Linda Matteotti which I don't have but was overall view of how to design your own designs. I went to the Banquet

on Friday night which was fun. Kim Brunner was the speaker. I meet a gentlemen from Seattle and 3 ladies from Spokane. Saturday, I went downtown to the Saturday Market and Voodoo Donut Shop before going home. I ran into Sally Terry twice and took her about the MAX. I gave her my free ticket to go to the airport later that day. I will post a few pictures of the Quilt Show/Vendors, view from our room and downtown.

Quilting Studio

I have been working on learning my computerized Pfaff Grandquilter 18.8/Quilt Artist this past week. I have several things to learn in the next month. I took some pictures of my new setup of the quilt studio. I have a pallet stove that is great in the winter. I have to buy a quilt stand/photo stand to take pictures of my and my customers quilts. Here are a few pictures of the studio.

New Business

Last week, I received my business cards and labels. I really like my business cards. I feel like my dream of starting my quilting business is getting closer. I got a cute art sign that I put my studio door too. I went to the Northwest Quilting Expo in Portland on Thurs with my friend Paige. After the show we stopped at EE Schnecks so I could establish an account with them. There are a wholesale company that sells fabric, batting, thread, books patterns etc. It was so exciting to get my own account instead of using Paige's account. I got a roll of batting and several Superior threads. I have a few pictures of my business card and the art sign on my door that I will post now.

Welcome to Quilting at Mistletoe Hollow

I got my 18.8 Pfaff Grandquilter with the Quilt Artist in Jan and decided it would be fun to start a quilting business. My nursing career ended on a sour note but I believe that everything happens for a reason. It was time to move on and now I can enjoy retirement with quilting. I got a book called Professional Machine Quilting Revised(The Complete Guide to Running a Successful Quilting Business by Carol A Thelen. It has been very helpful in learning what to do to establish a quilting business. My goal is to enjoy quilting for myself and other people with the Quilt Artist. This business is to support my habit " Quilting". I have been leaning how to use the Quilt Artist(computerized quilting) and will go to the MQX West in Portland next month for several computerized classes. I found a roommate from Utah that has her own business. I hope to learn several things from her and other quilters at the show. I applied for my business license at the beginning of this month and got the license yesterday. I was so excited to get it. I have ordered business cards and labels too. I have my quilting studio set up and want to get a portable quilt stand/portable photo stand with backdrops to take pictures of the quilts.