Shrinking LoveBug Studios to Grow Quilt Possible!

If you've been following along at all, you know that I'm working on launching a pattern business.  You also know that LoveBug Studios is a very wide business, and this weekend I took steps to try to rein it in.

1. I have suspended four online shops - LoveBug Studios on Etsy, UnPetitMot on Etsy, LBS@Artfire, and QuiltPossible on Etsy.  I know you're probably thinking - "Why would you suspend QP on Etsy if that's the business you're trying to grow?"  The simple answer is that I actually have a shop at my Quilt Possible site (http://quiltpossible.com/shop) and I really can't even fathom right now bringing yet another shop online.  Because I'm pretty new, I think I'd rather concentrate my sales in one spot before branching out.  I'm trying to find more time for my business, not less.  I'm running so many stores there's no time for sewing.  I did keep my destash shop online, because those things still need selling, and don't require me to do much except print a label, postage, and stick whatever sold in the mailbox.  It was a very hard decision to take my main shop offline, but I actually have a show in 3 weeks and don't want to deplete my stock any more than I have to.
2. I am not accepting any more customer quilts for the time being.  I have about 4 already in progress with delivery before the end of the year, and with everything else going on, I don't think I can take many more.
3. I have suspended tutorial writing on Handmade News.  Unfortunately, this means my Quilt Possible! series is on hiatus, which may be disappointing for some, while others may not notice at all.  I may eventually pick up this series on quiltpossible.com in a different format, but I don't think honestly that will start before the end of the year either.  In the mean time, I am still writing for HMN, but I've pulled it back to the shorter articles of ~250 words or 3-5 paragraphs.  I was thinking of stopping altogether, but every time I think to do this, I end up pulling another article out of my brain.  I'll limp along for another couple of weeks though and see how I feel, but I know I can't write fully photo-journaled tutes AND fully illustrated patterns at the same time.  Not right now anyway.

On the pattern (and other) front, I decided to attend the Madison Quilt Expo this weekend.  I had four major goals:

1. Look at booths to get ideas for setup.  I'm planning to attend the Spring Quilt Market as a Vendor, and wanted to get some ideas on what should be set up in a booth.
2. Test out long arm machines.  I came to the conclusion recently that I've outgrown my current setup, and the Madison show is big enough to have all of the major (and minor) players there.
3. Get hold of some 606 spray fusible.  I saw a video by Maddie Kertay and knew that I needed to try this.
4. Get some batting samples.  I'm about to run out of my roll of Warm & White, and I don't have a local wholesale source where I can save on shipping.  So I need to expand my batting options to something that doesn't cost me $150 to have a tractor trailer drop it off.

Stay tuned to see how I did!

Happy quilting!