There is still plenty of time to enter your quilt (18″ x 26″) for the Live Your Brightest Life: A Tribute to Yvonne Porcella (all of the information can be found here), but I thought it would be fun to share a sampling of some of the completed entries so far:

“Pulse” By Laurie Ceesay

“A Toast to Yvonne (And Strong Women Everywhere)” by Cindy Cooksey

“Planting a Seed” by Judy Coates Perez

“Daily Joy” by Victoria Findlay Wolfe

“YP & Me” by Jamie Fingal

“A Tree for Yvonne” by Sue Bleiweiss

“Adios Amigo” by Therese May

“Uplifting” by Deborah Boschert

There is still just about three weeks left to enter a quilt and celebrate the life of this beloved and prolific artist. This tribute exhibit will debut in Northern California at “Quilting in The Garden” taking place September 24-25th in Livermore, CA at Alden Lane Nursery where C&T Publishing, Alex Anderson, and myself will be on hand. Please help spread the word and, I hope you will join us!

Many found out last week that Quilters Newsletter is shuttering (if you hadn’t heard, read Abby Glassenberg’s post). Current subscribers will now be getting Quilting Arts for the remainder of their subscriptions.

As the founder of Quilting Arts, I scratched my head on this decision, but out of the choices the parent company, F&W, had to offer, those at the helm thought this was the best fit.

Many of us—myself included—are incredibly disappointed and saddened that QNM is shuttering. It was an industry icon and leader—more so (in my opinion) than any other magazine in quilting.

No publisher wants to shutter a magazine; they want them to thrive. If an outside company acquires a magazine, the goal is to get a return on their investment and grow that investment, much of which includes leveraging the brand to create other offerings: special interest publications, TV shows, patterns, online communities, books, events and retreats, etc.

A serial print magazine has a lot of current pressures, competition and platforms that even 10 years ago did not exist. Anybody producing or publishing a specific piece of content—whether it be a news story, a technique, a pattern, an op-ed piece, in today’s world has to seriously consider how efficiently, cost effectively, and quickly they can deliver the content and be a cut above the competition. They have to take on rising print costs, competing online tutorials and classes (some deeply discounted or even free), free YouTube videos, blogs, podcasts featuring art & craft celebrities and industry leaders, free downloadable articles and patterns, and content that can be sliced and diced into bite-sized pieces where folks can pick and choose–and purchase for a smaller price than an entire subscription.

And herein lies the paradox: a lot of content is driven these days by SEO and Google Analytics. Editors and content managers take analytics very seriously, and also factor in the number of social media followers someone has in order to make a decision about whether or not to make a sizable investment such as producing an online class or a book (as examples).

But as consumers, sometimes we don’t know what we want…and we rely on the vision, knowledge, and passion of an authority to help guide and expose us to content that will be interesting to us.

Bonnie Leman had both the knack to drive an industry and the editorial foresight to expose us to stories, quilts, and happenings we may not necessarily know we wanted…but were sure glad we were given. I have the deepest respect for her and the support of her family for creating an incredible empire and a legacy.

I really do feel there are a lot of exciting possibilities in publishing today, serial print publishing included (have you checked out Flow or Uppercase?). Having said that, unfortunately a lot of things do have a life span. And, yes, I had wondered—and no, I do not know—if QNM was at all ever an option to be sold to another entity so it could keep going.

I am with everyone that I am deeply saddened about this magazine shuttering. I hate to see it.

I have a lot more to say on this subject but I’ll close by suggesting that if you like a magazine, go support it, then grab a cup of tea, coffee or glass of wine and enjoy the quiet, reflective time. Just think…there wont be any pop-ups or text alerts.

Breaking my silence to finally be able to say…

My art barn is done.

It took, from concept to design to construction, two years. But it’s at long last complete (minus a backsplash and a chandelier, but hey, those aren’t necessarily requirements for making art).

There were some sizable setbacks, like the 6.0 Napa earthquake just two weeks after I closed on the property, and learning–after a soil test during pre-construction–that I needed to excavate thousands of tons of dirt and truck in engineered dirt that was more stable for a foundation. Tantamount to all of this was what I placed on myself: very high expectations. I have felt on shaky ground getting to this point, consistently asking myself, did I take on too much?

Upon reflection, all of those mornings over the past two years calculating every construction cost; waking to the skull-rattling sound of hammering and sawing on the hill; watching (and worrying) as construction workers balanced themselves on narrow wooden beams 30’+ above ground; and the rare, startling occurrences like the emergency landing of a hot air balloon have all collectively been the key part of the journey. Building anything is risky, but the exhilaration during the process and at the end is heady stuff!

I am looking forward to hosting small art gatherings here as well as a few offsite workshops during Craft Napa, but as my office is headquartered in the loft, I’m eager to execute other ventures too.

For the moment, though, I am pretty happy that the building part is finally behind me.

Cheers,

Pokey

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