In the photo is a frame I bought at a farmer's market in Old Forge, NY on vacation last week. It was made from a 100 year old barn that is being repurposed. It has a patina and character that you can't manufacture. Behind it is a wall quilt I made. I think this speaks to me on how I view quilts.
I don't have the words for what I am reading is going on in the quilt world. Stores closings, magazines shutting down, book publishing ceased, blogs given up. I don't know what to say.
I am a quilter. I have had a lot of different jobs and did all kinds of art, but I am in my heart, a quilter. I love fabric. Everything about it- color, texture, shape, pattern, feel. I love cutting up scraps and reassembling in a credible composition. I love making and giving comfort quilts and seeing the difference a quilt makes in a life. And those are only the ones I hear about. I have devoted time and resources, learning from blogs, classes, books, and shows to make me a better quilter - one who can handle fabric better to make unique quilts that give something nothing else does. I have read the Generation Q article. other bloggers views, and the interest waning in blogs over Instagram. What can I even say?
Why I blog and read blogs and not Instagram:
* They have content and process which are a lifeblood to my work and progress.- they are communication.
Photos alone are a consumption of images, but no story or sharing or how to accomplish.
I need to know how people work and how they think. It gets me out of myself and enables me to be more creative in my quilting. I say without a doubt that without quilters' blogs, I would be a slave to kits or making the same mistakes over and over. There is so much I do not know, and the quilters out there are relentless in sharing and communicating a better way, a twist on the old, a path out of frustration.
Quilters put a lot of themselves into their blogs to educate people like met. Without Wanda, Sarah, Bonnie Hunter, Missouri Star Quilt Company, and many others on my reading list, I would not be a very good or very creative quilter. I have so much to learn, and hopefully share with readers.
* My blog documents my process and working for myself and others who are looking to expand their horizons.
* They are personal, you get a flavor for how a person looks at things and how their life flows.
* Over times and seasons, they form a human thread woven through their posts.
* They bring me into the worlds of people I will never get to meet or have a one on one conversation with.
* They show mistakes, dead ends, eureka moments, and work over time, progress, insights.
* Blogging forces me to write and to simplify and explain instead of just charging ahead, unthinking, unreflective. I am not a writer, it is work for me to write. But work is good because it pays dividends.
There is so much in my heart and head I would love to say, but there are no words that underline my life in quilting.
It is therapy when chronic pain and migraines would have me pull the covers over my head.
It is joy to give, mostly anonymously, to those so needing comfort and care.
It is always new and there are so many ideas in my head that sometimes I think I will burst.
In my quilt guild, I have met the most caring and sharing people. In classes, I have met strangers and become friends.
In fabric stores, I have experienced excitement and anticipation of creating.
In books, I have seen concrete steps to take and ideas to try.
I buy patterns from independent designers and am able to communicate with them via email.
I have been the recipient of quilters generous scraps and yardage to keep me going. I have the joy of restoring vintage machines and keeping them purring flawlessly sewing quilts.
So it is with sadness I see that the quilt world is shrinking and people would rather view thousands of Instagrams and Pinterests (they have their place) and not want the content of blogs nor participate, books, shows, and classes. I earnestly hope I can continue to share my process and ideas and receive the same.
I am a quilter.
5 comments:
Well said!
I think there will still be thousands of blogs to read. I see the people who were only sporadic posters stopping their blogs. None of my regulars have stopped. I think the quilt industry finally got the message that we have to use what we already have and only buy a few new quilting items. We don't need 20 new books every month from various publishers. I have an Instagram account but I agree, there isn't enough content there. I want to hear the whole story and that is why I read blogs.
I am a quilter, too - a Left-Handed quilter - and I enjoy sharing my quilting hits and misses - to help others trying to figure out how to "just reverse it". The blogs that I read give me a glimpse into the lives of other quilter and how they do things - their process - something that is sadly lacking in photos alone. Unfortunately, I think that blogs will disappear one day and be replaced with YouTube videos - no one will have the time nor the inclination to actually "read" a blog - it takes too long - ;))
It appears we just missed each other again - - LOL- I was in Old Forge the very end of July, after I went to AQS. I love old barn wood frames - wish they had been at the market when I was in OF.
Excellent post -- I am a forever blogger even though I have an IG account. I crave the stories and process notes that are such a big part of blogging. There is so much disembodied information out there (including much of what is shared on IG) -- I need context.
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