If there is one thing that 2018 has given me, its a renewed belief in my abilities and talents. I’ve always known that I had many types of different skills including artistic. But when I was deciding on a career path, I never even considered art or quilting as one of my choices. These things only existed in my life as a happy hobby and that was perfectly fine.
I think very few artists or quilters (although some do) start out from high school or college feeling as though they will have a financially sound career making art or quilts, or that they will become an entrepreneur or business owner in the quilt industry. For most of us, we choose a career path, perhaps raise a family and spend time quilting or creating art in between.
For many years, this was my life. I was dedicated to building my professional career and to raising a family. I went to work each day and used my education, abilities and talents to contribute to the overall success of the companies and the individuals that I worked for. The career choices that I made along the way contributed greatly to the lifestyle I enjoy now.
But after leaving my professional career a few years ago, there was a short period of time where I felt something was missing, a void, as though I had lost my purpose. Strictly speaking from a career standpoint of course because the purpose to care for my family was still as strong as it ever was. Making the decision to transition from hobby to art quilter and teacher is what filled that void and gave me purpose again.
I had a spectacular 2018! As the new year began my shows were airing for Quilting Arts TV, I created several amazing quilts, won a first prize for my quilt at Quilt Festival, taught for the first time at Quilt Festival, developed a new abstract style of mosaic quilting, lectured locally, made a bunch of new and supportive quilting friends, fulfilled a dream to be a guest on the set of The Quilt Show and more.
During this past year working as an art quilter and teacher have been very good to me and I have experienced many gifts to name a few: personal happiness, an artistic outlet, new friends and business relationships, financial compensation and a sense of pride as I give others inspiration and support. But equally as important, the year has given me a renewed belief in my abilities and talents as they apply to art and quilting and my aim is put those special skills towards something I will do my best to be successful at, working as an art quilter, something many years ago you'd never hear me say and from it I will reap many valuable rewards that will remain with me for years to come.
I am excited to share that amongst the hustle and bustle of the holidays and festivities with friends and family I have been quietly working on a new workshop for 2019, “Stylish Mosaic Art for your Table”. I have designed 3 original mosaic quilted table accessories: a vase wrap, muffin wrap and décor napkin. The workshop is project and information based. It provides an overview of my newest inspiration, abstract mosaic quilting and the digital cutting techniques involved. This is a ½ day or 3 hour workshop, suitable for beginners and intermediates and requires no experience about digital cutters. Additional details found here at: https://www.heidiproffetty.com/1-2-day-workshops. This workshop would be great in a classroom setting or a good fit for a guild accompanied by one of my lectures. The details can be found here: https://www.heidiproffetty.com/lectures.
Thank you 2018 and Cheers Friends!