March 5, 2025 • 39 mins
In the latest season of 'Measure Twice, Cut Once,' we dive into the world of creative entrepreneurship and quilting. Join me as I welcome Amy Smart, of Diary of a Quilter, a well-established quilter and fabric designer for Riley Blake Designs.
Amy and I discuss her journey from blogging to designing fabric, the evolution of her business, her strategies for maintaining balance, and insights on the quilting community's changes over the years.
Learn practical tips for managing a creative business, the importance of taking breaks, and the benefits of outsourcing.
Plus, hear about Amy's inspiring trip to Mexico City and her upcoming fabric line with Riley Blake Designs, 'Mary Catherine.' It's an episode packed with valuable lessons for both aspiring and seasoned creative entrepreneurs.
Visit Amy at the following places:
00:00 Introduction to Season 5
01:03 Guest Introduction: Amy Smart
02:19 Current Projects and Business Insights
04:08 The Evolution of Blogging and Social Media
09:33 Balancing Business and Personal Life
20:30 Outsourcing and Delegation
22:59 Becoming a Fabric Designer
28:17 Inspiration from Mexico City
34:46 Conclusion and Farewell
Want to try free motion quilting but don't know where to start? Here's 3 simple steps to get going.
Are you looking to ADVANCE your machine quilting skills?
Machine quilting can be very solitary, especially on a longarm. It's just not that easy to pack up your machine and head to a friend's house for the day, right? But it's important to have that community - that sharing of ideas and tips, encouragement and motivation.
For more information and to sign up, visit our website.
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Resources:
ADVANCE, my monthly subscription membership
FREEHAND QUILTING MASTERCLASS, an on-demand comprehensive course
ALL-OVER FEATHER, sign-up for a FREE quilting class
And here's where you can find more of my work:
YouTube - LIVE & UNSCRIPTED episodes
Website - for more information on classes and quilting services
Facebook - current projects and photos
Instagram - current projects and photos
Pinterest - photo galleries and tutorials
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
Welcome to Season 5 of MeasureTwice, Cut Once.
This whole season is anexploration into behind the
scenes of not just quilting, butbuilding a creative business
that truly lights you up.
As someone who's navigated theexciting, sometimes bumpy world
of turning a passion into aprofession, I'm excited to pull
back the curtain and share myown experiences.
(00:26):
Some episodes will be just me.
Diving deep into my personaljourney, while others will
feature guests who are alsonavigating the world of creative
entrepreneurship, will explorethe nitty gritty of building a
creative business, the lessonslearned and the unexpected
challenges that come withtransforming your craft.
Into a thriving enterprise.
And don't worry, I'm not leavingstorytelling behind.
(00:48):
Instead, I'll be weaving theminto the conversations about
what it takes to grow a businesswhile staying true to your
creative spirit.
So whether you're dreaming ofstarting your own business, or
you just love hearing aboutcreative entrepreneurship, this
season is for you.
Susan (01:03):
Amy Smart has been quilting for over 25 years.
She's been writing and sharingat Diary of a Quilter since
2008.
That is remarkable.
And she started working recentlyas a quilt designer and fabric
designer for Riley Blake.
Clearly, Amy has lots ofexperience and stories to share.
Let's welcome her now.
Hi, Amy.
(01:24):
I'm so glad to be able to visitwith you today.
Amy (01:27):
Hi, Susan, I'm so excited to get to visit with you too.
And your listeners.
Susan (01:32):
Funny story on us, on me, really.
I met you in person a few monthsago.
We were at a kind of anentrepreneurial slash quilters
conference and I saw you andstarted chatting with you and
didn't in fact realize who youwere and then later on I was
like, oh, that's Amy Smart andthen I had to come introduce
myself properly.
Amy (01:53):
I like being incognito, so that I'm actually glad that
makes sense.
No.
Thanks.
And it was so fun to get to meetyou too, in person.
It's just always, it's always aspecial treat to get to, we have
so many people we interact withvirtually, which is amazing.
It's such an amazing community,but it's an extra bonus when you
(02:15):
get to meet people in real life.
Those opportunities are great.
Susan (02:19):
I want to dive right into the middle.
I like to start with what'scurrent?
Because we'll get into yourstory later.
But what's on your cuttingtable, so to speak right now?
What things are you working on?
Amy (02:29):
I'm trying to sort and reboot and clean out I'm doing a
literal purge of my sewing room,but I'm also doing it with my
business a little bit.
What?
are the things I want to focuson what's the best use of my
time and my energy and what arethe things that aren't.
And I'm, it's felt really great.
I feel really grateful.
(02:50):
I don't have any giganticdeadlines right now.
I will have a fabric collectioncome out in September, but I've
got, usually it's been everyyear.
And this time it's been reallynice to have 18 months.
So I'm just.
Using this time to really purgeand it feels great.
I love it.
Susan (03:07):
That sounds awesome.
Is this, have you found this tobe a sign of kind of cyclical
thing?
Because you have been inbusiness for a while.
You're the CEO of your ownbusiness.
You're the planner.
You do the quarterly plans andthe annual reviews and all those
things.
Is this something you kind ofcycle through like spring house
cleaning?
Amy (03:25):
Yes.
And I feel like for a lot of mybusiness, I've just like next
thing committed, maybe overcommitted myself in some years
for sure.
And every once in a while I'vestarted, I've taken time to
just, okay not make any bigcommitments and just get my own.
House and sewing room andcalendar in order.
(03:48):
And then I'm hoping to bestrategic and purposeful about
what comes next.
What are my next steps?
So I have, I definitely have along list of things I want to
do.
And it's okay, which of thosethings would be the most, which
excites me, Be the most best formy business growth.
And also just for the stage oflife I'm at.
Susan (04:08):
Because you've been blogging for such a long time
2008 is when you started, was Icorrect in saying that?
Amy (04:14):
Yes, you're right.
Yep.
Susan (04:16):
So I'm curious what has changed in the feeling of
blogging in that time?
I've only been in business for,I don't know, four or five years
in the quilting industry.
And it never seemed to me thatblogging was the way to put
myself in front of the people.
But was that what it was in2008?
And how has that flexed andchanged, and how does it serve
you today?
Amy (04:37):
That's such a great question.
Yeah, definitely in 2008 It waspre social media like Facebook
wasn't around yet Or if it was,college kids and at Harvard, you
know it wasn't a mass thing thatgets pre Instagram.
It was blogging was the waypeople I would say shared what
they were creating and connectedwith each other.
(04:59):
And then clearly, social mediamade it much simpler.
You didn't have to have awebsite.
You could just share onInstagram and build that
community online in that, in amuch more simplified format.
I continued to blog and a lot ofpeople thought A lot of people
that I originally met andconnected with in this quilting
(05:20):
community that were originallystarted on blogs they moved away
from that.
And I know I'm one of the fewthat, that stuck with it.
And that's partly because of,it's partly how I monetize my
business.
I consider myself a contentcreator and it's easier to
monetize your content onsomething like a website or
(05:41):
YouTube.
Rather than on a social mediaplatform.
So I've stuck with it and it'sworked out.
It's paid off.
It's still, I've instead of,when I first started blogging,
it was more like, here's what Idid today and here's.
The store I went to, it was morelike a day to day journal type
thing.
Maybe a little bit likeInstagram was when it was
originally started.
(06:02):
But now I look at my blog asmore of a website, like more of
a a resource.
I want it to be a resource.
I've got years of tutorials andcontent there and I want to make
it more accessible so it's notjust you're not just having to
sort through it, I want, it'schanged to more of a searchable
website where it can be aresource and and I've changed my
(06:23):
like, here's what I'm workingon, here's what I'm doing, that
side of it to my newsletter,like I share, the, I want the
website to be more evergreen andmy newsletter is where I'm like,
here's.
Here's what I'm thinking abouttoday.
Or here's the new project Istarted or things like that.
Susan (06:38):
Got it.
It feels like all thesedifferent places where we share,
they're not all social media,but they're places that we share
and create community.
They each have their own purposeand they each have their own
pros and cons, right?
And one of the things aboutactual social media, Instagram,
Facebook, TikTok, is thatthey're so short lived.
So does it put you in front ofpeople?
(07:00):
Yes.
But will they remember youtomorrow?
And if they remember somethingyou wrote, will they be able to
find it
Amy (07:06):
Find it again,
Susan (07:07):
And so that's the beauty of a blog.
And for me, I've come around to,I do have one, and it's for that
reason.
It's findable.
And that's what, that'snecessary also.
Amy (07:17):
Yes, because I have people that I thoroughly enjoy like I
have learned about my health orRecipes or things like that I
love on Instagram, but it'sreally hard to go back and find
that content or you know You'retrying to share the funny cat
video with a friend and you haveto scroll and look it's really
hard to search So having awebsite is much more searchable
(07:41):
and by that same token YouTubeis much more searchable than
Instagram reels or tik tok.
So
Susan (07:46):
Yes.
Amy (07:47):
I'm starting to work on more as YouTube shorts and
things like that just becauseThey're more findable later.
Susan (07:56):
I was going to ask if you have a YouTube channel, and you
do.
Is that kind of tutorial basedtoo, or is it just, similar
content but delivered in adifferent format, or different
stuff?
Amy (08:06):
To be honest, YouTube is a frontier that I have not put as
much effort into.
And partly that's just you knowwhat?
Anyone listening knows what it'slike to When you're a self, a
solopreneur, you come, you onlyhave so many plates you can spin
at once.
And so that.
I've just had to make theconscious decision I just don't.
(08:27):
I need to set up a studio.
I need to research cameras andlights and things like that.
So I have just put that on theshelf.
I have some, I have one videowhere I taught a technique for
one of my patterns and that isby far the most viewed video on
my YouTube.
And it, the lighting's terrible.
I made it when you could stilladjust things in YouTube and
(08:48):
then they changed it before Ipublished it.
So it is not looking verypolished or professional, but it
gets a lot of yeah, it's justone of those things like trying
to find how to spin one moreplate for me is why I've, but I
am creating content videos forInstagram.
Not intensively, but I have thiscontent and I'm realizing I
(09:08):
should leverage that.
I should be sharing it in otherplaces.
Susan (09:12):
It is this kind of balancing act.
It always is.
Between, on the one hand tryingto rein yourself in from, as you
said, spinning all the plates,trying to do all the things.
And on the other hand, thinkingto yourself I've already created
the value, the content.
The pictures, the tutorials, andI want to put it in all these
places.
So I don't know if there's amagic answer to that.
(09:32):
Have you ever found one?
Or is it just something you areconstantly adjusting, balancing
your feet, strengthening yourcore?
Amy (09:39):
right.
And that's it.
And everybody's going to be sodifferent.
So one year I, at the beginningof the year, I decided to just
track where my revenue came fromthat, and it took, I did it for
the whole year.
And at the end of that year,just on a spreadsheet, just
where it was coming from patternsales or.
Fabric designer or ad revenue orjust wherever it was coming
from.
(10:00):
That was so eyeopening to helpme really decide, okay, here's
the places I should focus myenergy and here are the things
that aren't focusing on.
They're not generating revenue.
They're not.
Adding to contributing.
And so that I recommend that foranybody in a business, look and
(10:20):
see where your if revenue isyour goal, if it's just
connecting with people, likethat's another metric you could
measure.
That for me this is a businessand I, if I'm going to invest my
time, I want it to.
be worth it.
If I'm, sacrificing otherthings, then I want this to be
pay off.
And so I, I recommend that.
(10:41):
And I just hadn't, I justhaven't yet figured out how to
monetize YouTube.
So that, that's just like theoversimplified version of why I
can't, I haven't tackled otheraspects of growing a business,
but also I just, it's not wheremy, I see people who have, we
all have.
different strengths andinterests and for me, it's
(11:05):
photography and writing.
And so that's why I've justmostly stuck to the written
content rather than video.
Susan (11:11):
I think honestly, that's a huge tip buried in that, which
is.
For sustainable, for the longterm, for your, sanity, you have
to do the things that you'repassionate about and enjoy
doing, and don't pressureyourself to do other things just
because other people are doingthem.
That's not a good reason for
Amy (11:29):
Yes.
That is, you summed that up soperfectly.
Like we, it's so easy to lookaround and see they're finding
so much success in this area.
Maybe I should stretch myselfthere, but for it to be
sustainable.
You're exactly right.
It needs to be the things thatare, we enjoy and that we feel
confident in and that areproductive for growth.
Susan (11:52):
I totally agree.
I loved hearing about yourexperiment for tracking, your
revenue metrics for a year.
I'm currently in a coachingprogram, and I tracked for a
week only, I tracked my timeexpenditures.
Amy (12:05):
That's smart.
Susan (12:06):
what am I doing all day, with that exact reasoning in
mind which are the things thatmove the needle, which are the
things that accomplish my goals,which are the things that are
just busy work, or that I couldeliminate, or automate, or
whatever the thing is.
I feel like this whole, it'sjust an ongoing cycle, right?
You keep going around these andreviewing yeah, the decisions
(12:27):
never stop, do they?
Amy (12:29):
Yeah.
But it does help.
It's an invest, like you said,it's an investment.
Investments up front to, totrack those things, but it gives
you so much data and confidencemoving forward that you don't
have to continually.
Actually, it's still to continueto track it, but it's not like a
focus.
I just do it like to hone thehome spending my time.
Yeah.
Susan (12:49):
Honing is a good word and it's not like a continual burden
to try and track them eitherbecause the point of it is to
make smart decisions then aboutwhat things you do move off your
plate, what plates get out ofthe air and try to make life
easier.
So in that vein what are some ofthe things you found over the
years that our listeners,wherever they are in their
business, new, intermediate,been doing it forever?
(13:12):
What are some of the thingsyou've done to maintain your
personal space, time, interests,sanity, all those things?
Yeah,
Amy (13:31):
in mind is.
So obvious saying it, but mostpeople don't care.
If you don't show up every day,what in this world of social
media, you it's okay to take abreak and step back and you
don't have to announce it.
Like I'm taking a break.
Just it's okay.
Just take a break and then comeback.
And those people will.
Be excited to hear from you.
(13:53):
And that, and I knew could evensay when you come back Oh, I
took some time off and it feltso good and I feel inspired
again.
It's okay.
I, when I.
So when I first startedblogging, I felt like I needed
to post three times a week andmaybe, with Instagram or things
like that, people still feelthat need to pressure to post
constantly.
(14:13):
I, one thing I love about mywebsite is now I cut back to
twice a week and felt look atme, I'm cutting back, I've now
cut back to once a week and it'splenty.
And we live in this world of somuch content conception that
people aren't going to getbored.
And it's better if you're not,in their face all the time.
(14:34):
It's better to take time tocreate something of quality than
to just be that.
This is my personal feeling.
And how I to answer yourquestion, how I keep it from
being overwhelming.
And it's, I think people, I havepeople that they share something
(14:55):
once or twice a month and I lookforward to whatever they share
and I don't feel like, whyaren't you doing more?
Susan (15:02):
Really great
Amy (15:03):
we can all pace ourselves at our capacity and it doesn't
need to be, you As constant, Iwill say, one thing that people
say about Instagram, I have alot of beef with Instagram.
And so I, I don't invest a lotof my mental energy in it
because it is so demanding.
They do want you to post everyday.
And I don't think that'ssustainable or healthy for my
(15:26):
mental health.
So I'm fine.
Yeah.
Susan (15:32):
to as all the algorithms do.
But it does feel like right nowwith instagram, not only do you
have to post so often, but Iactually find Someone suggested
this to me, so I tried it out,and I found it to be true.
If you don't pay to boost, youdon't get seen.
And it can be ten bucks, whichdoesn't feel like much.
And yet, I just personallyobject to that pressure to pay
(15:56):
into the system in order to useit.
I'm like you.
That's just on a slow burnerright now, keeping it alive, but
not really nurturing it.
Amy (16:04):
Not, I don't want to be a slave to it.
Susan (16:07):
Exactly.
Good phrase.
Okay.
So that's one thing.
Don't be a slave to whatever youfeel like the demands are.
Know that you can set yourcadence and your timing.
What other things have you doneto keep, space for life and
family and even other interests.
Amy (16:21):
Just, yeah, setting aside time.
I'm trying to be more, I shouldpreface this comment by saying
my youngest just graduated andmoved out.
So I've hit this new stage oflife just in the past six months
of being an empty nester andI'm.
I'm finding, at first I thoughtoh, and I don't have kids that
(16:43):
need me all day or I, I, notthat they needed me all day, but
that we're, I have moreflexibility in my life and at
the same time, I now I'm doingit for me, not just for them.
I used to be, I will set asidetime for my family because they
need me, but when I have moretime to myself, I'll just keep
going.
But I get burned out.
I found I want to do things for,set aside time for my own health
(17:05):
and wellbeing.
So it's trapped, making time totravel taking I definitely take
Sundays off and it's so nice tojust know I'm not even gonna
open my laptop that day It'sjust nice to have a day of
Mental health break and I'mtrying to just be work certain
(17:26):
hours and then shut it down, butI'm not always great at that.
It's one of the blessings andcurses of building a business
around things that you love issometimes I feel like I doing
this stuff, so I'm just going tokeep doing it.
But.
I also know other people need myattention.
I need to set things aside.
So I don't, that was such a longrambling, unclear answer that I
(17:50):
don't know that really evenhelped.
Maybe it's because I'm stilltrying to figure it out myself.
Susan (17:54):
we see inside your thoughts, because I feel like
this blessing and curse, twosides of the coin also falls
into play when you're workingfrom home, which you do too,
Amy (18:02):
Exactly.
Susan (18:02):
so do I.
So the obvious pro is I have a17 stairstep commute.
Yay.
The obvious con is it's all tooeasy to never, fully stop, fully
close the door on it and leaveit and sit down and enjoy a
movie with the family.
Right?
Amy (18:19):
Yes.
You summed that up so well.
And yeah, that's, I'm still, nowthat it's just my husband and
I'm still trying to, we're in anew dance.
Like he's self employed too andwe could just spend all our
time, but the making time tojust, okay, set aside, let's
just sit and watch a showtogether.
Let's go for a walk.
Let's go watch, go to a movie orsomething.
It's important to do thosethings.
(18:40):
Yes,
Susan (18:42):
as creatives, how important do you think that is
that we Have time doing otherthings like to literally have
our minds in a different gear ina different vein To be able to
come back and then create uniqueand wonderful things I that's my
experience if I push through allof a sudden the tap is just not
(19:02):
running the same way and It'scounterintuitive, but it works
stop do something else.
Do you find that too?
Amy (19:09):
Yes, oh yeah, that's, it's so important to to step away, to
do something, read a book, to, Iknow it's, burnout is real, and
especially when you're so luckyto have a creative based
business, but the hustle and thewhat's the word I'm looking for,
just the business aspects aretaxing, and they're not
(19:30):
inspiring most of the time, andyeah.
Yeah, even making time to say,today I'm just gonna pull out my
scraps and I'm just gonna play.
That's rejuvenating.
Even just cleaning out myfabric, I find, oh, I forgot I
had this and I love this andthat's motivating too.
But also stepping away and doingsomething entirely different.
My husband and I like to hike.
(19:52):
That's a really, been a reallygood thing for me to just go
outside.
The outside is a greatrejuvenation.
Susan (19:58):
Nice, nice.
Have you done other, have youdone other practical things in
your life?
We've heard over the years aboutWorking women and this whole
balance, between home and workand etc.
And in some respects, we'refacing that too.
We work from home and it's easyto just run, do a load of
laundry, be twixt in between.
But have you done otherpractical things that have
(20:18):
shifted some of those tasks offyour shoulders to free you up to
do more of your business relatedthings?
Did you need to make that shiftor do you just
Amy (20:28):
Yeah.
That's such a good question.
Learning to outsource the thingsthat someone else could do that
I could trust somebody else todo for my business.
For example, I don't machinequilt my quilts.
I'm so thankful to people likeyou that have that gift and
talent and that I can trust withmy quilts to get them finished.
(20:49):
That was an easy one.
And no brainer because that'salways been Just how I've, my
quilting process has worked.
I've started it's only in recentyears though, I've started
hiring, I've just, again,looking for what are the things
I can take off my plate, someoneelse could do.
I've started hiring people topiece for me now too, especially
if I'm preparing for a, Likequilt market or something where
(21:12):
it's a time, even though that'ssomething I, the part that I
like and enjoy, I just can't doit all.
And so finding other people tohelp with that.
I hired a clean, a couple ofwomen who come and clean my
house every other week.
And that Been a huge, I knowit's you just the thing, looking
creatively at the things of whatis something I can pay someone
(21:33):
else to do, because my time ismore valuable doing the things
only I can do.
And
Susan (21:40):
That's the key right
Amy (21:41):
I can.
Susan (21:42):
That's the key.
Doing the things only I can do,but there are other things that
someone else could, and in manycases, can do better,
Amy (21:50):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Susan (21:51):
Housecleaning being one, in
Amy (21:53):
Yes.
Exactly.
I'm just so great.
That's been a That was a goalfor years and finally I just
found someone that was And it's,oh, it's been so helpful.
Yeah.
Just other things.
I would love to find someone, Iwould love to find a virtual
assistant at some point that Istill don't trust someone to
answer my emails.
It should let that go.
Susan (22:13):
It's a tough one.
It's a tough one.
Especially, I think, when you'vebeen a solopreneur for a long
time, it's almost harder.
It's almost harder.
Amy (22:21):
This is there's literally speaking for me and I did hire
someone at one time to write mynewsletter to, I would, and I
discovered I was spending justas much time like assembling,
All the things to go in it andthen it just wasn't my voice.
So that is something I just tookback and that, and it's actually
something I really love doing iswriting my newsletter every
(22:41):
week.
Yeah, there are just some thingswhen you are a solopreneur, when
you're not just products, butyou're selling you, there's some
things that you have to maintainthat control over, but how clean
my toilets are, no one elsecares.
And so I can have someone elsedo that.
Susan (22:58):
Lovely.
All right, switching lanes alittle bit.
What was the trajectory for youfrom, blogging slash
newslettering to becoming afabric designer?
That's not something I've everexplored.
I would like to know what, whatmade that happen.
What piqued your interest in itand how did you go about that?
Amy (23:15):
know, I had a really unique experience because, but most
people's experiences are there.
There's such a variety ofexperiences as it comes to
designing fabric.
I don't consider myself atraditional artist, like with a
paintbrush or even digitallybeing able to draw using Adobe
illustrator or things like that.
And so I've never reallyconsidered it because I just
(23:35):
felt like that's not where mystrengths are.
The learning curve would bereally high, but I was creating
for a lot of.
Fabric companies.
I was creating content for them.
I was creating, I was sewingwith their fabric and creating
tutorials or projects orpatterns or things like that.
And I'm really, in my case, I'mvery lucky.
(23:55):
I live very close to the RileyBlake headquarters and I was
frequently there and frequentlysewing and creating for them and
teaching for them.
And they reached, theyapproached me and said, we, have
you considered this?
And at first I was like, I justdon't think Do it.
And they said pitch your ideas.
What would you do?
(24:16):
And so I did have a concept thatI was a pallet ideas and I ended
up hiring somebody to digitizeit all because I did not have
that skillset and they reallyliked it and it actually did
really well.
So they were happy to keepaccommodating me.
I continued to hire somebody tohelp me digitize.
(24:37):
They've started helping me withsome of that too.
I now partner with my sister whois an actual artist and she
creates a lot of the designstoo.
So I feel like I have a uniquejourney to becoming a fabric
designer, but I think they alsorecognize I brought an audience.
I brought at the time they had alot of digital artists who
(24:57):
weren't necessarily quilters.
And so they.
Didn't write their own quiltpatterns.
They just provided artwork and Icame from a different I have a
quilting audience and I know howto write quilt patterns and I
know how to market and sellfabric So I brought that
strength Is so we all can bringdifferent strengths.
There's different don't sellyourself short But I do know
having an audience already is areal asset if you want to become
(25:22):
a fabric designer.
There's so much competition inthe surface design world that
bringing an audience of quilterswith you is a huge asset.
Susan (25:30):
Mhm.
And by surface design, you meannot only fabric designing, but
for example, for cricket cuttersand for,
Amy (25:37):
Yeah,
Susan (25:37):
gift wear and things like that.
So that can be widelyencompassing.
This is such a goodillustration.
When you talked about, you hiredsomeone else to do the
digitizing portion, such a goodillustration of knowing your
strength, which is perhapsconcept idea and then, related
patterns and marketing, butgetting someone else to do the
bit that felt like the bigroadblock.
(25:58):
I think that's pretty key.
Again, we keep coming back tosome of the roadblocks that
solopreneurs face.
And one of them is this ideathat I have to do everything.
And I think getting over thatidea can really free us up to
keep having fresh, new, brightideas, but we don't have to
carry out every single step ofdelivering those ideas.
Amy (26:19):
Yes.
So perfectly said and I agree.
No one can do it all.
It's just a recipe for burnout,but to find your strengths and
not to say Don't learn newthings.
I've learned a lot about searchengine optimization.
I've learned a lot aboutphotography.
I've learned a lot aboutmarketing that I didn't know
before, but those things werefun.
(26:41):
And I've just, year after year,continue to add to that
knowledge.
I didn't learn it all at once.
A lot of it, a lot of ourlearning is just by doing, and
that's part of it too.
But, yeah.
To your point, and it's thepoint we've been talking about,
it's okay to not do it all.
It's okay to hire it out.
It's okay to leverage yourstrengths and let someone else
(27:04):
use theirs.
It's a huge time saver.
I hire someone to tech, to doall the technical writing of my
patterns.
I write the patterns and thenshe does the graphics and the
layout and it's It saves me somuch time.
I pay her.
It's getting more expensive.
I should learn these thingsbecause it's getting more
expensive, but I've alsolearned.
Susan (27:23):
if you would, define technical writing for me.
Does that mean creating thegraphics, the pictures, the
drawings, with the seamallowances, etc.
in it?
Amy (27:31):
she does the graphic layout.
I write the pattern and then shedoes the illustrate.
She illustrates it with theimages and then does the whole
layout in.
Adobe InDesign.
So I can go back and edit it andadd things, but she makes it
look pretty and that is not oneof my strengths.
And I'm yeah, it's another areawhere I'm happy to pay for help
(27:53):
because in the long run thatpattern gets done so much faster
than if I were doing that parttwo.
Susan (27:58):
yes.
Your leverage word I think wasabsolutely key.
Because of course there is valuein learning new skills and in,
broadening your skill set, butit is impossible to do all the
things and certainly to do allthe things at once.
So leveraging.
Yeah.
Such a good
Amy (28:12):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Susan (28:14):
Okay.
Taking another turn again.
You recently took a trip toMexico City.
Can you tell us what inspiredyou?
Amy (28:22):
Oh, my goodness.
It was so fantastic.
I feel like just what inspiredus to go or what inspired us,
what inspired me after beingthere?
Susan (28:32):
Oh both.
Let's take what inspired you togo first.
Amy (28:35):
Okay.
I, it, Mexico City was justsomething I'd never considered.
I just never thought about it.
And we had some friends thatwent and then I've had a son
that has been studying Spanish,has worked with a lot of
Hispanic communities, mostlyMexican.
And he just really wanted to.
Go to Mexico and we had been tolike a resort on the beach part
(28:57):
of Mexico, but we'd never beento like authentic Mexico.
And so we went to, we plannedthis trip to Mexico City and it
just exceeded all myexpectations.
It was a beautiful city andbeautiful communities, just
world class museums.
It, I've been to a lot ofEuropean capitals and it very
much reminded me.
(29:17):
Of that, like a similarexperience to those but with its
own culture and the food was soamazing.
We just I'm a taco lover, sogoing there we just ate tacos
all, every day.
It was so good, but justwonderful people, wonderful.
I, we got to visit, I don't knowhow to describe it, a woman who
(29:38):
demonstrated traditional methodsfor how they would source fiber
from an agave plant and how theywould use the whole plant to for
parchment, for fiber, how theywould dye it for even the
points, the tip of the agaveplant for as needles.
It was so interesting.
(29:58):
And just watching her just in afive minute demonstration show
how she dyed the fibers usingrose petals and then adding
calcium turned it a differentcolor and it was really cool.
So it was really
Susan (30:12):
fascinating.
Not a thing we have superfrequent opportunities to see
firsthand.
Amy (30:17):
Yeah, I would totally recommend going there.
It was from this, from NorthAmerica, from the States and
Canada.
It's.
You don't have to deal with jetlag because you stay at the same
time zone and and the cost isreally it's really affordable
and we just had a greatexperience.
Susan (30:34):
you do it through some type of tour or was it something
you planned on your own?
Or did you
Amy (30:38):
We just planned it, we just planned it on our own.
We stayed in an Airbnbapartment.
We did hire local tour guideswho were great.
I probably, I was grateful ourson was with us.
who spoke fluent Spanish.
I don't know how well I wouldhave done with my Duolingo
(30:59):
Spanish.
Susan (31:00):
Yeah
Amy (31:01):
not as many people speaking.
If you go to Europe, you'll,you're gonna find more English
speakers probably than in MexicoCity.
The tour guides that we hiredall spoke great English.
You can do it.
They were, yeah, it was reallygreat.
Susan (31:15):
that's awesome.
So one more reason to step outand try new things,
Amy (31:18):
Explore the world.
It really, yes, it really piquedmy interest into going to more
Latin American cities andcountries.
Susan (31:28):
Did you put any emphasis during that trip like on seeing
any textile related things orwas this just strictly a, work
is not in mind type of trip?
Amy (31:36):
Mostly it was I am a big, I love culture and history, so I,
we did a lot of seeing thehistory and things, but I always
like to go, because if I'm goingto come back and share it, I
want it to relate to my audiencetoo, but I love I love folk art,
and we, there was an excellentfolk art museum that had
beautiful examples of textiles,whether it's the clothing
embroidery, the, just theweaving.
(31:58):
The woman that gave us theinformation and demonstration
about how they use the agaveplant, there was a loom there
and they had native textiles.
We went to a couple of artisanmarkets and it just was really
fun.
I love seeing folk art.
I would almost rather see themfine art because it's just such
a window into a culture Ofeveryday laborers, which is also
(32:25):
what I love about quilting.
It just evolved.
They've become fine artquilting, obviously, but
quilting evolved from womenusing everyday objects,
leftovers of their aprons ordresses or remnants of, and
creating rugs, creating quilts.
So I love that aspect of peopleexpressing, not needing a fine
(32:49):
arts degree to express theirartistic creativity and talents.
And so I love that.
Susan (32:55):
And people who is speaking of my family anyway,
generations of quilters, butdefinitely did not think of
themselves as artists.
But when we look at it now, wesee absolutely the artistry
Amy (33:07):
Yeah.
I'm, I love poker.
It's
Susan (33:09):
is that does that kind of express your style of quilt
patterns and designs and evenyour fabric today like you like
love that pulling in ofscrappiness and of memories in
history, or are you much more anorganized line of fabrics type
quiltmaker?
Amy (33:25):
It's so funny.
I will say one thing that heldme back from wanting to design
fabric is I just love thescrappier the better.
My favorite quilts are vintagequilts that are just wild and
full of so many colors.
It's not, it's this curatedlook, and I know that's how the
industry works, so I'm, I'veadapted my creating to miter how
(33:50):
the industry works how fabriccompanies and retailers market
fabric.
It needs to work that way, butif you were to ask me my
favorite quilts to look at, myfavorite quilts to create are
ones that are just fullyscrappy, wild
Susan (34:06):
Love it.
And it turns out my favoritedesigners tend to be the ones
whose lines marry well togetherover time.
So I can keep on making
Amy (34:16):
So you can
Susan (34:17):
and pick and choose, and it all still plays happily
together.
Amy (34:21):
Yes.
I, one of my favorite designersis Jen Kingwell and you look at
her quilts and they are justwild like that You're like, how
did she put those fabricstogether and make that magic
happen?
It's so inspiring.
So I'm with you I love when Ican add as many I've tried to do
that with my own fabriccollections, make them so they
(34:41):
all can work together, playtogether over time,
Susan (34:44):
Nice.
This has been lovely visiting.
Remind our listeners when yournext line of fabric is coming
out and some of the places wherethey can find you and catch
Amy (34:53):
Okay, yeah, so my next line of fabric will come out in
September for Riley Blake.
Designs
Susan (35:01):
Does it have a name?
Amy (35:02):
Yes, it's called Mary Catherine.
It's named after my mother andmy mother in law.
It's based on their, it's avintage inspired collection.
It's based on their 50s.
childhood.
We even used my mother in law'sbedroom curtains as some of the
color palette inspiration anddesign inspiration.
So I'm really excited.
(35:23):
It's a gentle, just a softvintage inspired collection.
So I'm excited for that to comeout.
Susan (35:31):
And do people look for you as Diary of a Quilter or as
Amy Smart or some of
Amy (35:35):
that's, either one, if it's so funny, there is an actress
named Amy Smart, so if youGoogle Amy Smart, she will
probably come up first, but ifyou Google Amy Smart Quilter,
then I will show up, and you canfind me on my website is www.
diaryofaquilter, all one word,and same with Instagram,
Facebook, that's also my handle,Diary of a Quilter.
Susan (35:59):
Perfect.
Thanks again for joining me.
Amy (36:01):
Oh, it's been a pleasure, it's just been fun to talk with
you, Susan.
Susan (36:05):
Indeed.
And we have been visiting withAmy Smart of Diary of a Quilter.
I do encourage you to check outher website and particularly her
blog because she's been doing itfor so long.
She has got a wealth oftutorials and ideas and tips and
patterns.
You're sure to find somethingthere that will help you in your
own quilting journey.
(36:27):
Well friends, until next time,may your sorrows be patched and
your joys be quilted.
Welcome to Season 5 of MeasureTwice, Cut Once.
This whole season is anexploration into behind the
scenes of not just quilting, butbuilding a creative business
that truly lights you up.
As someone who's navigated theexciting, sometimes bumpy world
of turning a passion into aprofession, I'm excited to pull
back the curtain and share myown experiences.
(00:26):
Some episodes will be just me.
Diving deep into my personaljourney, while others will
feature guests who are alsonavigating the world of creative
entrepreneurship, will explorethe nitty gritty of building a
creative business, the lessonslearned and the unexpected
challenges that come withtransforming your craft.
Into a thriving enterprise.
And don't worry, I'm not leavingstorytelling behind.
(00:48):
Instead, I'll be weaving theminto the conversations about
what it takes to grow a businesswhile staying true to your
creative spirit.
So whether you're dreaming ofstarting your own business, or
you just love hearing aboutcreative entrepreneurship, this
season is for you.
Susan (01:03):
Amy Smart has been quilting for over 25 years.
She's been writing and sharingat Diary of a Quilter since
2008.
That is remarkable.
And she started working recentlyas a quilt designer and fabric
designer for Riley Blake.
Clearly, Amy has lots ofexperience and stories to share.
Let's welcome her now.
Hi, Amy.
(01:24):
I'm so glad to be able to visitwith you today.
Amy (01:27):
Hi, Susan, I'm so excited to get to visit with you too.
And your listeners.
Susan (01:32):
Funny story on us, on me, really.
I met you in person a few monthsago.
We were at a kind of anentrepreneurial slash quilters
conference and I saw you andstarted chatting with you and
didn't in fact realize who youwere and then later on I was
like, oh, that's Amy Smart andthen I had to come introduce
myself properly.
Amy (01:53):
I like being incognito, so that I'm actually glad that
makes sense.
No.
Thanks.
And it was so fun to get to meetyou too, in person.
It's just always, it's always aspecial treat to get to, we have
so many people we interact withvirtually, which is amazing.
It's such an amazing community,but it's an extra bonus when you
(02:15):
get to meet people in real life.
Those opportunities are great.
Susan (02:19):
I want to dive right into the middle.
I like to start with what'scurrent?
Because we'll get into yourstory later.
But what's on your cuttingtable, so to speak right now?
What things are you working on?
Amy (02:29):
I'm trying to sort and reboot and clean out I'm doing a
literal purge of my sewing room,but I'm also doing it with my
business a little bit.
What?
are the things I want to focuson what's the best use of my
time and my energy and what arethe things that aren't.
And I'm, it's felt really great.
I feel really grateful.
(02:50):
I don't have any giganticdeadlines right now.
I will have a fabric collectioncome out in September, but I've
got, usually it's been everyyear.
And this time it's been reallynice to have 18 months.
So I'm just.
Using this time to really purgeand it feels great.
I love it.
Susan (03:07):
That sounds awesome.
Is this, have you found this tobe a sign of kind of cyclical
thing?
Because you have been inbusiness for a while.
You're the CEO of your ownbusiness.
You're the planner.
You do the quarterly plans andthe annual reviews and all those
things.
Is this something you kind ofcycle through like spring house
cleaning?
Amy (03:25):
Yes.
And I feel like for a lot of mybusiness, I've just like next
thing committed, maybe overcommitted myself in some years
for sure.
And every once in a while I'vestarted, I've taken time to
just, okay not make any bigcommitments and just get my own.
House and sewing room andcalendar in order.
(03:48):
And then I'm hoping to bestrategic and purposeful about
what comes next.
What are my next steps?
So I have, I definitely have along list of things I want to
do.
And it's okay, which of thosethings would be the most, which
excites me, Be the most best formy business growth.
And also just for the stage oflife I'm at.
Susan (04:08):
Because you've been blogging for such a long time
2008 is when you started, was Icorrect in saying that?
Amy (04:14):
Yes, you're right.
Yep.
Susan (04:16):
So I'm curious what has changed in the feeling of
blogging in that time?
I've only been in business for,I don't know, four or five years
in the quilting industry.
And it never seemed to me thatblogging was the way to put
myself in front of the people.
But was that what it was in2008?
And how has that flexed andchanged, and how does it serve
you today?
Amy (04:37):
That's such a great question.
Yeah, definitely in 2008 It waspre social media like Facebook
wasn't around yet Or if it was,college kids and at Harvard, you
know it wasn't a mass thing thatgets pre Instagram.
It was blogging was the waypeople I would say shared what
they were creating and connectedwith each other.
(04:59):
And then clearly, social mediamade it much simpler.
You didn't have to have awebsite.
You could just share onInstagram and build that
community online in that, in amuch more simplified format.
I continued to blog and a lot ofpeople thought A lot of people
that I originally met andconnected with in this quilting
(05:20):
community that were originallystarted on blogs they moved away
from that.
And I know I'm one of the fewthat, that stuck with it.
And that's partly because of,it's partly how I monetize my
business.
I consider myself a contentcreator and it's easier to
monetize your content onsomething like a website or
(05:41):
YouTube.
Rather than on a social mediaplatform.
So I've stuck with it and it'sworked out.
It's paid off.
It's still, I've instead of,when I first started blogging,
it was more like, here's what Idid today and here's.
The store I went to, it was morelike a day to day journal type
thing.
Maybe a little bit likeInstagram was when it was
originally started.
(06:02):
But now I look at my blog asmore of a website, like more of
a a resource.
I want it to be a resource.
I've got years of tutorials andcontent there and I want to make
it more accessible so it's notjust you're not just having to
sort through it, I want, it'schanged to more of a searchable
website where it can be aresource and and I've changed my
(06:23):
like, here's what I'm workingon, here's what I'm doing, that
side of it to my newsletter,like I share, the, I want the
website to be more evergreen andmy newsletter is where I'm like,
here's.
Here's what I'm thinking abouttoday.
Or here's the new project Istarted or things like that.
Susan (06:38):
Got it.
It feels like all thesedifferent places where we share,
they're not all social media,but they're places that we share
and create community.
They each have their own purposeand they each have their own
pros and cons, right?
And one of the things aboutactual social media, Instagram,
Facebook, TikTok, is thatthey're so short lived.
So does it put you in front ofpeople?
(07:00):
Yes.
But will they remember youtomorrow?
And if they remember somethingyou wrote, will they be able to
find it
Amy (07:06):
Find it again,
Susan (07:07):
And so that's the beauty of a blog.
And for me, I've come around to,I do have one, and it's for that
reason.
It's findable.
And that's what, that'snecessary also.
Amy (07:17):
Yes, because I have people that I thoroughly enjoy like I
have learned about my health orRecipes or things like that I
love on Instagram, but it'sreally hard to go back and find
that content or you know You'retrying to share the funny cat
video with a friend and you haveto scroll and look it's really
hard to search So having awebsite is much more searchable
(07:41):
and by that same token YouTubeis much more searchable than
Instagram reels or tik tok.
So
Susan (07:46):
Yes.
Amy (07:47):
I'm starting to work on more as YouTube shorts and
things like that just becauseThey're more findable later.
Susan (07:56):
I was going to ask if you have a YouTube channel, and you
do.
Is that kind of tutorial basedtoo, or is it just, similar
content but delivered in adifferent format, or different
stuff?
Amy (08:06):
To be honest, YouTube is a frontier that I have not put as
much effort into.
And partly that's just you knowwhat?
Anyone listening knows what it'slike to When you're a self, a
solopreneur, you come, you onlyhave so many plates you can spin
at once.
And so that.
I've just had to make theconscious decision I just don't.
(08:27):
I need to set up a studio.
I need to research cameras andlights and things like that.
So I have just put that on theshelf.
I have some, I have one videowhere I taught a technique for
one of my patterns and that isby far the most viewed video on
my YouTube.
And it, the lighting's terrible.
I made it when you could stilladjust things in YouTube and
(08:48):
then they changed it before Ipublished it.
So it is not looking verypolished or professional, but it
gets a lot of yeah, it's justone of those things like trying
to find how to spin one moreplate for me is why I've, but I
am creating content videos forInstagram.
Not intensively, but I have thiscontent and I'm realizing I
(09:08):
should leverage that.
I should be sharing it in otherplaces.
Susan (09:12):
It is this kind of balancing act.
It always is.
Between, on the one hand tryingto rein yourself in from, as you
said, spinning all the plates,trying to do all the things.
And on the other hand, thinkingto yourself I've already created
the value, the content.
The pictures, the tutorials, andI want to put it in all these
places.
So I don't know if there's amagic answer to that.
(09:32):
Have you ever found one?
Or is it just something you areconstantly adjusting, balancing
your feet, strengthening yourcore?
Amy (09:39):
right.
And that's it.
And everybody's going to be sodifferent.
So one year I, at the beginningof the year, I decided to just
track where my revenue came fromthat, and it took, I did it for
the whole year.
And at the end of that year,just on a spreadsheet, just
where it was coming from patternsales or.
Fabric designer or ad revenue orjust wherever it was coming
from.
(10:00):
That was so eyeopening to helpme really decide, okay, here's
the places I should focus myenergy and here are the things
that aren't focusing on.
They're not generating revenue.
They're not.
Adding to contributing.
And so that I recommend that foranybody in a business, look and
(10:20):
see where your if revenue isyour goal, if it's just
connecting with people, likethat's another metric you could
measure.
That for me this is a businessand I, if I'm going to invest my
time, I want it to.
be worth it.
If I'm, sacrificing otherthings, then I want this to be
pay off.
And so I, I recommend that.
(10:41):
And I just hadn't, I justhaven't yet figured out how to
monetize YouTube.
So that, that's just like theoversimplified version of why I
can't, I haven't tackled otheraspects of growing a business,
but also I just, it's not wheremy, I see people who have, we
all have.
different strengths andinterests and for me, it's
(11:05):
photography and writing.
And so that's why I've justmostly stuck to the written
content rather than video.
Susan (11:11):
I think honestly, that's a huge tip buried in that, which
is.
For sustainable, for the longterm, for your, sanity, you have
to do the things that you'repassionate about and enjoy
doing, and don't pressureyourself to do other things just
because other people are doingthem.
That's not a good reason for
Amy (11:29):
Yes.
That is, you summed that up soperfectly.
Like we, it's so easy to lookaround and see they're finding
so much success in this area.
Maybe I should stretch myselfthere, but for it to be
sustainable.
You're exactly right.
It needs to be the things thatare, we enjoy and that we feel
confident in and that areproductive for growth.
Susan (11:52):
I totally agree.
I loved hearing about yourexperiment for tracking, your
revenue metrics for a year.
I'm currently in a coachingprogram, and I tracked for a
week only, I tracked my timeexpenditures.
Amy (12:05):
That's smart.
Susan (12:06):
what am I doing all day, with that exact reasoning in
mind which are the things thatmove the needle, which are the
things that accomplish my goals,which are the things that are
just busy work, or that I couldeliminate, or automate, or
whatever the thing is.
I feel like this whole, it'sjust an ongoing cycle, right?
You keep going around these andreviewing yeah, the decisions
(12:27):
never stop, do they?
Amy (12:29):
Yeah.
But it does help.
It's an invest, like you said,it's an investment.
Investments up front to, totrack those things, but it gives
you so much data and confidencemoving forward that you don't
have to continually.
Actually, it's still to continueto track it, but it's not like a
focus.
I just do it like to hone thehome spending my time.
Yeah.
Susan (12:49):
Honing is a good word and it's not like a continual burden
to try and track them eitherbecause the point of it is to
make smart decisions then aboutwhat things you do move off your
plate, what plates get out ofthe air and try to make life
easier.
So in that vein what are some ofthe things you found over the
years that our listeners,wherever they are in their
business, new, intermediate,been doing it forever?
(13:12):
What are some of the thingsyou've done to maintain your
personal space, time, interests,sanity, all those things?
Yeah,
Amy (13:31):
in mind is.
So obvious saying it, but mostpeople don't care.
If you don't show up every day,what in this world of social
media, you it's okay to take abreak and step back and you
don't have to announce it.
Like I'm taking a break.
Just it's okay.
Just take a break and then comeback.
And those people will.
Be excited to hear from you.
(13:53):
And that, and I knew could evensay when you come back Oh, I
took some time off and it feltso good and I feel inspired
again.
It's okay.
I, when I.
So when I first startedblogging, I felt like I needed
to post three times a week andmaybe, with Instagram or things
like that, people still feelthat need to pressure to post
constantly.
(14:13):
I, one thing I love about mywebsite is now I cut back to
twice a week and felt look atme, I'm cutting back, I've now
cut back to once a week and it'splenty.
And we live in this world of somuch content conception that
people aren't going to getbored.
And it's better if you're not,in their face all the time.
(14:34):
It's better to take time tocreate something of quality than
to just be that.
This is my personal feeling.
And how I to answer yourquestion, how I keep it from
being overwhelming.
And it's, I think people, I havepeople that they share something
(14:55):
once or twice a month and I lookforward to whatever they share
and I don't feel like, whyaren't you doing more?
Susan (15:02):
Really great
Amy (15:03):
we can all pace ourselves at our capacity and it doesn't
need to be, you As constant, Iwill say, one thing that people
say about Instagram, I have alot of beef with Instagram.
And so I, I don't invest a lotof my mental energy in it
because it is so demanding.
They do want you to post everyday.
And I don't think that'ssustainable or healthy for my
(15:26):
mental health.
So I'm fine.
Yeah.
Susan (15:32):
to as all the algorithms do.
But it does feel like right nowwith instagram, not only do you
have to post so often, but Iactually find Someone suggested
this to me, so I tried it out,and I found it to be true.
If you don't pay to boost, youdon't get seen.
And it can be ten bucks, whichdoesn't feel like much.
And yet, I just personallyobject to that pressure to pay
(15:56):
into the system in order to useit.
I'm like you.
That's just on a slow burnerright now, keeping it alive, but
not really nurturing it.
Amy (16:04):
Not, I don't want to be a slave to it.
Susan (16:07):
Exactly.
Good phrase.
Okay.
So that's one thing.
Don't be a slave to whatever youfeel like the demands are.
Know that you can set yourcadence and your timing.
What other things have you doneto keep, space for life and
family and even other interests.
Amy (16:21):
Just, yeah, setting aside time.
I'm trying to be more, I shouldpreface this comment by saying
my youngest just graduated andmoved out.
So I've hit this new stage oflife just in the past six months
of being an empty nester andI'm.
I'm finding, at first I thoughtoh, and I don't have kids that
(16:43):
need me all day or I, I, notthat they needed me all day, but
that we're, I have moreflexibility in my life and at
the same time, I now I'm doingit for me, not just for them.
I used to be, I will set asidetime for my family because they
need me, but when I have moretime to myself, I'll just keep
going.
But I get burned out.
I found I want to do things for,set aside time for my own health
(17:05):
and wellbeing.
So it's trapped, making time totravel taking I definitely take
Sundays off and it's so nice tojust know I'm not even gonna
open my laptop that day It'sjust nice to have a day of
Mental health break and I'mtrying to just be work certain
(17:26):
hours and then shut it down, butI'm not always great at that.
It's one of the blessings andcurses of building a business
around things that you love issometimes I feel like I doing
this stuff, so I'm just going tokeep doing it.
But.
I also know other people need myattention.
I need to set things aside.
So I don't, that was such a longrambling, unclear answer that I
(17:50):
don't know that really evenhelped.
Maybe it's because I'm stilltrying to figure it out myself.
Susan (17:54):
we see inside your thoughts, because I feel like
this blessing and curse, twosides of the coin also falls
into play when you're workingfrom home, which you do too,
Amy (18:02):
Exactly.
Susan (18:02):
so do I.
So the obvious pro is I have a17 stairstep commute.
Yay.
The obvious con is it's all tooeasy to never, fully stop, fully
close the door on it and leaveit and sit down and enjoy a
movie with the family.
Right?
Amy (18:19):
Yes.
You summed that up so well.
And yeah, that's, I'm still, nowthat it's just my husband and
I'm still trying to, we're in anew dance.
Like he's self employed too andwe could just spend all our
time, but the making time tojust, okay, set aside, let's
just sit and watch a showtogether.
Let's go for a walk.
Let's go watch, go to a movie orsomething.
It's important to do thosethings.
(18:40):
Yes,
Susan (18:42):
as creatives, how important do you think that is
that we Have time doing otherthings like to literally have
our minds in a different gear ina different vein To be able to
come back and then create uniqueand wonderful things I that's my
experience if I push through allof a sudden the tap is just not
(19:02):
running the same way and It'scounterintuitive, but it works
stop do something else.
Do you find that too?
Amy (19:09):
Yes, oh yeah, that's, it's so important to to step away, to
do something, read a book, to, Iknow it's, burnout is real, and
especially when you're so luckyto have a creative based
business, but the hustle and thewhat's the word I'm looking for,
just the business aspects aretaxing, and they're not
(19:30):
inspiring most of the time, andyeah.
Yeah, even making time to say,today I'm just gonna pull out my
scraps and I'm just gonna play.
That's rejuvenating.
Even just cleaning out myfabric, I find, oh, I forgot I
had this and I love this andthat's motivating too.
But also stepping away and doingsomething entirely different.
My husband and I like to hike.
(19:52):
That's a really, been a reallygood thing for me to just go
outside.
The outside is a greatrejuvenation.
Susan (19:58):
Nice, nice.
Have you done other, have youdone other practical things in
your life?
We've heard over the years aboutWorking women and this whole
balance, between home and workand etc.
And in some respects, we'refacing that too.
We work from home and it's easyto just run, do a load of
laundry, be twixt in between.
But have you done otherpractical things that have
(20:18):
shifted some of those tasks offyour shoulders to free you up to
do more of your business relatedthings?
Did you need to make that shiftor do you just
Amy (20:28):
Yeah.
That's such a good question.
Learning to outsource the thingsthat someone else could do that
I could trust somebody else todo for my business.
For example, I don't machinequilt my quilts.
I'm so thankful to people likeyou that have that gift and
talent and that I can trust withmy quilts to get them finished.
(20:49):
That was an easy one.
And no brainer because that'salways been Just how I've, my
quilting process has worked.
I've started it's only in recentyears though, I've started
hiring, I've just, again,looking for what are the things
I can take off my plate, someoneelse could do.
I've started hiring people topiece for me now too, especially
if I'm preparing for a, Likequilt market or something where
(21:12):
it's a time, even though that'ssomething I, the part that I
like and enjoy, I just can't doit all.
And so finding other people tohelp with that.
I hired a clean, a couple ofwomen who come and clean my
house every other week.
And that Been a huge, I knowit's you just the thing, looking
creatively at the things of whatis something I can pay someone
(21:33):
else to do, because my time ismore valuable doing the things
only I can do.
And
Susan (21:40):
That's the key right
Amy (21:41):
I can.
Susan (21:42):
That's the key.
Doing the things only I can do,but there are other things that
someone else could, and in manycases, can do better,
Amy (21:50):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Susan (21:51):
Housecleaning being one, in
Amy (21:53):
Yes.
Exactly.
I'm just so great.
That's been a That was a goalfor years and finally I just
found someone that was And it's,oh, it's been so helpful.
Yeah.
Just other things.
I would love to find someone, Iwould love to find a virtual
assistant at some point that Istill don't trust someone to
answer my emails.
It should let that go.
Susan (22:13):
It's a tough one.
It's a tough one.
Especially, I think, when you'vebeen a solopreneur for a long
time, it's almost harder.
It's almost harder.
Amy (22:21):
This is there's literally speaking for me and I did hire
someone at one time to write mynewsletter to, I would, and I
discovered I was spending justas much time like assembling,
All the things to go in it andthen it just wasn't my voice.
So that is something I just tookback and that, and it's actually
something I really love doing iswriting my newsletter every
(22:41):
week.
Yeah, there are just some thingswhen you are a solopreneur, when
you're not just products, butyou're selling you, there's some
things that you have to maintainthat control over, but how clean
my toilets are, no one elsecares.
And so I can have someone elsedo that.
Susan (22:58):
Lovely.
All right, switching lanes alittle bit.
What was the trajectory for youfrom, blogging slash
newslettering to becoming afabric designer?
That's not something I've everexplored.
I would like to know what, whatmade that happen.
What piqued your interest in itand how did you go about that?
Amy (23:15):
know, I had a really unique experience because, but most
people's experiences are there.
There's such a variety ofexperiences as it comes to
designing fabric.
I don't consider myself atraditional artist, like with a
paintbrush or even digitallybeing able to draw using Adobe
illustrator or things like that.
And so I've never reallyconsidered it because I just
(23:35):
felt like that's not where mystrengths are.
The learning curve would bereally high, but I was creating
for a lot of.
Fabric companies.
I was creating content for them.
I was creating, I was sewingwith their fabric and creating
tutorials or projects orpatterns or things like that.
And I'm really, in my case, I'mvery lucky.
(23:55):
I live very close to the RileyBlake headquarters and I was
frequently there and frequentlysewing and creating for them and
teaching for them.
And they reached, theyapproached me and said, we, have
you considered this?
And at first I was like, I justdon't think Do it.
And they said pitch your ideas.
What would you do?
(24:16):
And so I did have a concept thatI was a pallet ideas and I ended
up hiring somebody to digitizeit all because I did not have
that skillset and they reallyliked it and it actually did
really well.
So they were happy to keepaccommodating me.
I continued to hire somebody tohelp me digitize.
(24:37):
They've started helping me withsome of that too.
I now partner with my sister whois an actual artist and she
creates a lot of the designstoo.
So I feel like I have a uniquejourney to becoming a fabric
designer, but I think they alsorecognize I brought an audience.
I brought at the time they had alot of digital artists who
(24:57):
weren't necessarily quilters.
And so they.
Didn't write their own quiltpatterns.
They just provided artwork and Icame from a different I have a
quilting audience and I know howto write quilt patterns and I
know how to market and sellfabric So I brought that
strength Is so we all can bringdifferent strengths.
There's different don't sellyourself short But I do know
having an audience already is areal asset if you want to become
(25:22):
a fabric designer.
There's so much competition inthe surface design world that
bringing an audience of quilterswith you is a huge asset.
Susan (25:30):
Mhm.
And by surface design, you meannot only fabric designing, but
for example, for cricket cuttersand for,
Amy (25:37):
Yeah,
Susan (25:37):
gift wear and things like that.
So that can be widelyencompassing.
This is such a goodillustration.
When you talked about, you hiredsomeone else to do the
digitizing portion, such a goodillustration of knowing your
strength, which is perhapsconcept idea and then, related
patterns and marketing, butgetting someone else to do the
bit that felt like the bigroadblock.
(25:58):
I think that's pretty key.
Again, we keep coming back tosome of the roadblocks that
solopreneurs face.
And one of them is this ideathat I have to do everything.
And I think getting over thatidea can really free us up to
keep having fresh, new, brightideas, but we don't have to
carry out every single step ofdelivering those ideas.
Amy (26:19):
Yes.
So perfectly said and I agree.
No one can do it all.
It's just a recipe for burnout,but to find your strengths and
not to say Don't learn newthings.
I've learned a lot about searchengine optimization.
I've learned a lot aboutphotography.
I've learned a lot aboutmarketing that I didn't know
before, but those things werefun.
(26:41):
And I've just, year after year,continue to add to that
knowledge.
I didn't learn it all at once.
A lot of it, a lot of ourlearning is just by doing, and
that's part of it too.
But, yeah.
To your point, and it's thepoint we've been talking about,
it's okay to not do it all.
It's okay to hire it out.
It's okay to leverage yourstrengths and let someone else
(27:04):
use theirs.
It's a huge time saver.
I hire someone to tech, to doall the technical writing of my
patterns.
I write the patterns and thenshe does the graphics and the
layout and it's It saves me somuch time.
I pay her.
It's getting more expensive.
I should learn these thingsbecause it's getting more
expensive, but I've alsolearned.
Susan (27:23):
if you would, define technical writing for me.
Does that mean creating thegraphics, the pictures, the
drawings, with the seamallowances, etc.
in it?
Amy (27:31):
she does the graphic layout.
I write the pattern and then shedoes the illustrate.
She illustrates it with theimages and then does the whole
layout in.
Adobe InDesign.
So I can go back and edit it andadd things, but she makes it
look pretty and that is not oneof my strengths.
And I'm yeah, it's another areawhere I'm happy to pay for help
(27:53):
because in the long run thatpattern gets done so much faster
than if I were doing that parttwo.
Susan (27:58):
yes.
Your leverage word I think wasabsolutely key.
Because of course there is valuein learning new skills and in,
broadening your skill set, butit is impossible to do all the
things and certainly to do allthe things at once.
So leveraging.
Yeah.
Such a good
Amy (28:12):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Susan (28:14):
Okay.
Taking another turn again.
You recently took a trip toMexico City.
Can you tell us what inspiredyou?
Amy (28:22):
Oh, my goodness.
It was so fantastic.
I feel like just what inspiredus to go or what inspired us,
what inspired me after beingthere?
Susan (28:32):
Oh both.
Let's take what inspired you togo first.
Amy (28:35):
Okay.
I, it, Mexico City was justsomething I'd never considered.
I just never thought about it.
And we had some friends thatwent and then I've had a son
that has been studying Spanish,has worked with a lot of
Hispanic communities, mostlyMexican.
And he just really wanted to.
Go to Mexico and we had been tolike a resort on the beach part
(28:57):
of Mexico, but we'd never beento like authentic Mexico.
And so we went to, we plannedthis trip to Mexico City and it
just exceeded all myexpectations.
It was a beautiful city andbeautiful communities, just
world class museums.
It, I've been to a lot ofEuropean capitals and it very
much reminded me.
(29:17):
Of that, like a similarexperience to those but with its
own culture and the food was soamazing.
We just I'm a taco lover, sogoing there we just ate tacos
all, every day.
It was so good, but justwonderful people, wonderful.
I, we got to visit, I don't knowhow to describe it, a woman who
(29:38):
demonstrated traditional methodsfor how they would source fiber
from an agave plant and how theywould use the whole plant to for
parchment, for fiber, how theywould dye it for even the
points, the tip of the agaveplant for as needles.
It was so interesting.
(29:58):
And just watching her just in afive minute demonstration show
how she dyed the fibers usingrose petals and then adding
calcium turned it a differentcolor and it was really cool.
So it was really
Susan (30:12):
fascinating.
Not a thing we have superfrequent opportunities to see
firsthand.
Amy (30:17):
Yeah, I would totally recommend going there.
It was from this, from NorthAmerica, from the States and
Canada.
It's.
You don't have to deal with jetlag because you stay at the same
time zone and and the cost isreally it's really affordable
and we just had a greatexperience.
Susan (30:34):
you do it through some type of tour or was it something
you planned on your own?
Or did you
Amy (30:38):
We just planned it, we just planned it on our own.
We stayed in an Airbnbapartment.
We did hire local tour guideswho were great.
I probably, I was grateful ourson was with us.
who spoke fluent Spanish.
I don't know how well I wouldhave done with my Duolingo
(30:59):
Spanish.
Susan (31:00):
Yeah
Amy (31:01):
not as many people speaking.
If you go to Europe, you'll,you're gonna find more English
speakers probably than in MexicoCity.
The tour guides that we hiredall spoke great English.
You can do it.
They were, yeah, it was reallygreat.
Susan (31:15):
that's awesome.
So one more reason to step outand try new things,
Amy (31:18):
Explore the world.
It really, yes, it really piquedmy interest into going to more
Latin American cities andcountries.
Susan (31:28):
Did you put any emphasis during that trip like on seeing
any textile related things orwas this just strictly a, work
is not in mind type of trip?
Amy (31:36):
Mostly it was I am a big, I love culture and history, so I,
we did a lot of seeing thehistory and things, but I always
like to go, because if I'm goingto come back and share it, I
want it to relate to my audiencetoo, but I love I love folk art,
and we, there was an excellentfolk art museum that had
beautiful examples of textiles,whether it's the clothing
embroidery, the, just theweaving.
(31:58):
The woman that gave us theinformation and demonstration
about how they use the agaveplant, there was a loom there
and they had native textiles.
We went to a couple of artisanmarkets and it just was really
fun.
I love seeing folk art.
I would almost rather see themfine art because it's just such
a window into a culture Ofeveryday laborers, which is also
(32:25):
what I love about quilting.
It just evolved.
They've become fine artquilting, obviously, but
quilting evolved from womenusing everyday objects,
leftovers of their aprons ordresses or remnants of, and
creating rugs, creating quilts.
So I love that aspect of peopleexpressing, not needing a fine
(32:49):
arts degree to express theirartistic creativity and talents.
And so I love that.
Susan (32:55):
And people who is speaking of my family anyway,
generations of quilters, butdefinitely did not think of
themselves as artists.
But when we look at it now, wesee absolutely the artistry
Amy (33:07):
Yeah.
I'm, I love poker.
It's
Susan (33:09):
is that does that kind of express your style of quilt
patterns and designs and evenyour fabric today like you like
love that pulling in ofscrappiness and of memories in
history, or are you much more anorganized line of fabrics type
quiltmaker?
Amy (33:25):
It's so funny.
I will say one thing that heldme back from wanting to design
fabric is I just love thescrappier the better.
My favorite quilts are vintagequilts that are just wild and
full of so many colors.
It's not, it's this curatedlook, and I know that's how the
industry works, so I'm, I'veadapted my creating to miter how
(33:50):
the industry works how fabriccompanies and retailers market
fabric.
It needs to work that way, butif you were to ask me my
favorite quilts to look at, myfavorite quilts to create are
ones that are just fullyscrappy, wild
Susan (34:06):
Love it.
And it turns out my favoritedesigners tend to be the ones
whose lines marry well togetherover time.
So I can keep on making
Amy (34:16):
So you can
Susan (34:17):
and pick and choose, and it all still plays happily
together.
Amy (34:21):
Yes.
I, one of my favorite designersis Jen Kingwell and you look at
her quilts and they are justwild like that You're like, how
did she put those fabricstogether and make that magic
happen?
It's so inspiring.
So I'm with you I love when Ican add as many I've tried to do
that with my own fabriccollections, make them so they
(34:41):
all can work together, playtogether over time,
Susan (34:44):
Nice.
This has been lovely visiting.
Remind our listeners when yournext line of fabric is coming
out and some of the places wherethey can find you and catch
Amy (34:53):
Okay, yeah, so my next line of fabric will come out in
September for Riley Blake.
Designs
Susan (35:01):
Does it have a name?
Amy (35:02):
Yes, it's called Mary Catherine.
It's named after my mother andmy mother in law.
It's based on their, it's avintage inspired collection.
It's based on their 50s.
childhood.
We even used my mother in law'sbedroom curtains as some of the
color palette inspiration anddesign inspiration.
So I'm really excited.
(35:23):
It's a gentle, just a softvintage inspired collection.
So I'm excited for that to comeout.
Susan (35:31):
And do people look for you as Diary of a Quilter or as
Amy Smart or some of
Amy (35:35):
that's, either one, if it's so funny, there is an actress
named Amy Smart, so if youGoogle Amy Smart, she will
probably come up first, but ifyou Google Amy Smart Quilter,
then I will show up, and you canfind me on my website is www.
diaryofaquilter, all one word,and same with Instagram,
Facebook, that's also my handle,Diary of a Quilter.
Susan (35:59):
Perfect.
Thanks again for joining me.
Amy (36:01):
Oh, it's been a pleasure, it's just been fun to talk with
you, Susan.
Susan (36:05):
Indeed.
And we have been visiting withAmy Smart of Diary of a Quilter.
I do encourage you to check outher website and particularly her
blog because she's been doing itfor so long.
She has got a wealth oftutorials and ideas and tips and
patterns.
You're sure to find somethingthere that will help you in your
own quilting journey.
(36:27):
Well friends, until next time,may your sorrows be patched and
your joys be quilted.
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