practice self-critique or join a
critique group; take up journaling,
sketching, painting, or photography;
work in a series; write an artist
statement; incorporate new color
combinations, fabrics, and materials
into your creative practice.
Learn to use technology in
your creative practice. Explore
creating patterns or planning your
next quilt with design software;
start a blog; develop a personal
website to share your work; learn
the basics of digital photography.
Promote yourself and your
work. Identify opportunities to
exhibit your quilts in shows, quilt
challenges, art calls, and solo or
group exhibits; share your work
online through your website, blog,
and social media; teach or lead
a demonstration for your quilt
guild; present at conferences; write
articles; develop a book proposal;
apply for an art residency.
Tips to achieve your
creative goals
By now, you probably have a
laundry list of ideas for your
goals—and that can be quite
overwhelming. Take the time to
narrow down your list of potential
goals and defi ne parameters to
help keep the process manageable.
Oftentimes, as I review my list,
I group a few experiences into an
overarching goal such as “Teach
and Inspire” or “Invest in my Own
Artistic Development.”
I asked three of my quilting
friends to share their process. Each
has a different approach: Cheryl
Brickey opts to focus on between
one and three big goals for the
year. When making her list of
“Do You Know the Way to San Jose?”
22" x 34"
This work incorporates unconventional
materials sourced from old laptops.Use photography as a tool to study design and color.Learning to use a software program can
be a valuable design tool.possible ways to improve, Yvonne
Fuchs believes in “not limiting
myself when I am brainstorming”
and later fi nds a balance between
long- and short-term goals. Quilter
Sarah Ruiz adopts the S.M.A.R.T.
goal philosophy, making her goals
Specifi c, Measurable, Attainable,
Relevant, and Time-based. For
Sarah’s recent 100 Day Project, she
made an improv quilt block every
day which helped her break the
process down into smaller, more
measurable pieces.