Friday, March 23, 2012

Top 10 Reasons to Create Your Own Quilt or Art Catalog

You might be shy about taking that step to creating your own art catalog. Well, here are 10 reasons that might convince you otherwise!
  1. Extend your creative juices! Be an author + artist.
  2. Document your work. Creating a catalog is just one way to formally document your quilts or other artwork. It's also a substantial marketing tool that has a cache different from a website or Facebook account.
  3. Earn a bit - Quilters buy quilt-related books - so there might be a market for your catalog! Consider this. There are 21 million quilters in the US, according to the industry study, Quilting in America. We spend $3.58 BILLION a year on quilting-related expenditures, up 9% since 2006. Quilters purchased an average of 4.4 books in the last 12 months, spending on average $21 per book.
  4. Gain new fans. The catalog we'll create can be available on Amazon, one of the largest marketplaces. You might just gain new admirers for your quilts who would not know about your art otherwise.
  5. Enhance the value of your art. It seems the formal documentation of your artwork may help to increase its value - to you and your collectors.
  6. Add a new tool to your workshops or lectures. Many quilters and artists also conduct how-to workshops or lectures. You can turn your workshop into a workbook or your lecture into a chapbook and have the results available for sale or signings.
  7. Promote your guild exhibit. I can't count how many times I've read about an exciting exhibit by a guild in another state that there's no way to see in person. Offering a guild exhibit catalog for sale will increase "attendance" and awareness for the great work of the guild! A series of the guild's catalogs may become a new revenue stream!
  8. Tell a story. Some of us quilters also engage in quilt history research. A catalog or short 24-page booklet is just the right size for publishing a niche historical art story. Others might want to combine their quilts with their poetry passions or other combination.
  9. Pass on a Pattern. If you have a special or innovative quilting technique, you can publish a how to catalog with instructions and a pattern for your technique.
  10. Give as a gift. You don't have to make a catalog of your own work, you could use your talents to create a catalog for another quilter, maybe an older quilter.... or your grandmother quilter. How wonderful would they feel to see their work documented in book form - to have a family party where they sign their books! Edwin Fuller created a catalog for his quilting mother's 92nd birthday. Eldest grandson Craig Biles created a quilt catalog for his 95 year old grandmother, Cora Lee Beeson. Son Abraham Simmons created a quilt catalog for his mother Hilda Simmons.
What's your number 1 reason for creating a catalog of your quilts or other artwork? Post a note here - let's read your comments. Enjoy!

8 comments:

  1. I think mostly I want to document. Maybe someday I'd use it as a marketing tool.

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  2. For historical reasons for my family

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  4. If I had a dollar for everytime I've been asked"when will I write that book", I would be wealthy. So this will be a valuable tool on learning the how-to's & the why's.

    Definitely will I be paying close attention! Thank you for doing this.

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  5. For documentation, family, and answering fans! Great reasons.

    I am also thinking about how I want my own quilt catalog.

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  6. For documentation,family and to share with others.

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  8. Lenora,

    Thanks for your comment. Can you imagine what our "documentation" will include in the early 2010s vs quilters from 1910 or 1810? Just think of the tools we have...we're able to create a document of our quilts that will be in book format, and potentially available for folks worldwide vs handwritten diary that was intended to be private. Technology and the times!

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