QuiltingAndPatchwork.com
Blogging has become an important part of many quilters’ lives, as well as numerous other people.  It keeps them in touch with others, lets them express themselves and their creativity, helps them promote a business, and makes them happy.
(Just take a look at the article, Blogging, How it can Expand Our Creative & Personal Growth, in the Jan./Feb. issue of Cloth Paper Scissors.) 
The question, “Why do you blog?” has become the determining factor in the final (8th)week of the challenge at the b5 Business Channel.  The blogs have been narrowed down to four.  Home Biz Notes, where I co-blog with Yvonne …read more

 Stop! Look! Listen! Find out what regulations are involved if  you decide to start selling some of the quilted and fabric art items you make, teach workshops, hold shows, open a fabric shop, etc.  
Will there be regulations that restrict you from doing this from your home?  Or in another location? Will you need a business license? 
When I operated a dressmaking business with gift shop and later my quiltmaking business from our home, a number of years ago, there were no regulations that prevented this.  However, would there be regulations now that directed the size and type of sign I placed …read more

  Learning techniques from other businesses may act as a springboard for your quilting business, even if the others  don’t involve quilting, patchwork or fabric art.  I read about a fun home business recently and think you might learn from this family…at least how to “find a need and fill it.”
This is the Christiansen family in Utah, who developed an online business based on the sons’ need to learn how to tie their ties.  They decided to create a web site to disperse this information…and then sell ties and related items.
I’ve mentioned them at my Home Biz Notes blog, in the …read more

If you’ve been following the “apprentice” type competition at the b5media Business Channel, you may be interested in viewing our team’s ideas for the challenge for Week #4.
Kay’s problem for week #4 involves her business expanding too rapidly for her to fill her Christmas orders. (Kay has started a business producing chef’s aprons and hats for children.)
What’s she to do to solve this challenge, which actually is a good one to have?
Rachel Clarke, at Behind the Buzz, hosts our entry this week. If you’re following Kay, our prototype business owner, and her challenges, check out When a Business Gets Successful. Find out …read more

 If you are following the b5media Business Channel “Apprentice” type contest, you may like to know that the PROS were announced the winners in Week#2 entries.  The post, If You Handle “Made in China” Items in Your Home Business, with the accompanying sample press release,  Get the Lead Out of Toys Day, (posted at Home Biz Notes) were the winning entries.  (I co-author Home Biz Notes with Yvonne Russell.)
This “Apprentice” type contest, continues through December.  If you’ve become a Business “Apprentice” follower, you can check out weekly results at Home Biz Notes regularly.)
See the ACES entry at: Greener Assets in the post, Facing the Lead …read more

  You’re excited about your quilting or fabric art business.  You’re making items you enjoy, giving talks, teaching workshops, and/or writing books.  It’s something you basically enjoy.  You work for yourself, from your home, and can be somewhat flexible about your hours. 
However, no matter how much you enjoy this venture, there will be times when it becomes routine, monotonous, frustrating, and perhaps discouraging.  For instance, when I was making children’s quilted vests, I had to set up an assembly line type of routine to be most efficient and earn the most money for my time.  Basically, it became somewhat boring as …read more

Quilters and fabric artists, who are earning their living from their art, may desire to look into retirement plans for the self-employed.  Perhaps they’re doing this parttime and have a retirement plan where they work or a spouse has one.  Yet they might never know when they could be depending on their parttime work for full time income.
At Home Biz Notes, I’ve written a post on this topic, Home Business Owners Should Consider Retirement Plans,  I also refer to Miranda’s information at Yielding Wealth which will provide you with data and details.  It’s often puzzling to know what you should do …read more

In a previous post, Would You Like an At-Home Quilt Bookstore?, I mentioned the idea of operating a bookstore for quilters, either from your home, online, or in conjunction with a quilt fabric shop.  Yvonne Russell,  of Grow Your Writing Business, who wrote a post about this on Home Biz Notes, also contributed information recently at Alzheimer’s Notes.
   She answered questions an Alzheimer’s Notes’ reader, Kathy of KnowItAlz.com, asked about obtaining books for such a venture.  Even though Yvonne specifically addresses Kathy’s question about Alzheimer’s books, the information she gives is universal for any bookstore.
So, if you’re considering this type of …read more

Yvonne Russell, of Grow Your Writing Business,  asked me to write a guest post, Virtual Blog Tours – The Latest Innovation for Promoting Your Writing .  Going on a virtual blog tour has become a popular technique for promoting one’s writing business and books.  I’ve hosted a number of writers at my author blog, Mary Emma’s Potpourri of Writing and encourage writers to try this method of promotion.
I also wrote about this topic here on  Quilting and Patchwork to let writers of quilting and fabric art books know they could become involved in virtual blog tours, too. 
I’ve also interviewed blog tour coordinator Dorothy Thompson at Home Biz Notes, …read more

Essentially, look before you leap before setting up your quilting or fabric arts home business.  I’ve mentioned before the need to check out zoning regulations pertaining to your home before you decide to set up a quilting business, particularly one that involves customers/clients coming to your home.   (However, online business might be affected, too, in some areas.)
 I just read a news item, License Denied for Existing Home Business, that concerned this topic.
Now this involves a lawn mower service business.  However, the same principles probably apply to any home business in that town.  The aldermen decided, according to the mayor’s statement ” they’re running a …read more