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Blogging Presentation Made to Quilt Guild – Part I

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Last Wednesday, on May 16, I made a presentation to the members of my quilt guild on blogs and blogging.

The Program Committee thanked me for my presentation and awarded me with a gift certificate to my favorite quilt shop, Hamels.

Many of you have written and asked me to update you with how the presentation went. From my perspective, it went very well. The ladies were a perfect audience, listening intently and engaging themselves in the presentation by asking some very good questions. I can say that I did enjoy myself.

Ideally we would have had an Internet connection, computer, and projector so that I could surf with the ladies and show them all of your blog sites. However, the venue that we meet in for our guild meetings is not that technologically advanced, so we had to move to plan, B. I took along a basket of quilts, patterns, and ideas that linked to my presentation. Many of the items I showed were inspired by my blogging friends. I felt that even if the members of the audience were not interested in blogging itself, they would have something to enjoy in the items I brought along to show.

I decided to use the 5-Ws to help me cover my topic: the who, what, where, when, and why. I tell my kids to make sure and cover the 5-Ws when they ask me about going somewhere to make sure they don’t leave anything out so I thought the logic would help guide me in putting together my presentation.

The following was put together from my speaking notes so that you get a flavour of what I covered in my presentation.

WHAT

What is blogging all about, and what is a blog anyway?

In order to answer these questions, I am going to tell you about how I started quilting and eventually started blogging.

I was introduced to quilting by a co-worker in 1997.

A co-worker was talking about getting together with some friends to discuss their next quilting project. They were getting together for tea on a Sunday afternoon and they were all bringing along their patterns to decide what project they would be working on during their planned weekend quilting retreat before Christmas. I was invited to come along.

I had started a Jacob’s ladder quilt prior to this meeting and had purchased a rotary cuter, ruler, and mat. I was watching quilting shows on the PBS stations regularly and had some idea of how to start quilting but that was all. I was truly a beginner.

In November 1997, the 5 of us got together to quilt for the weekend–Colette (my co-worker), Teresa (the most experienced of us all and the unofficial teacher and leader), Veryan, Cindi, and I (the most inexperienced of everyone). We had decided to work on log cabin quilts. I was going to do a simple two colour version in a small manageable size–a wall hanging–while the more experienced of the group were working on a more difficult bed size tulip version.

This is the finished quilt that was completed to the flimsy stage that weekend and quilted many years later.


Colette and I worked together until the fall of 1999. At that time the office we were working in closed and every one’s employment was terminated. We kept in touch as we moved through our careers and as Colette moved from Alert Bay to Seattle, and eventually Arizona.
In December 2005, I received a Christmas card from Collete. As you can see the card was fabulous–a cactus in the desert with a dusting of snow.
Inside the card was a note. The note read, “I’m not doing a letter this year–but I’m going to post on the blog–so after December 22nd–go have a look at: www.lapagedecolette.blogspot.com and then post your comments if you want.”
I had no idea what a blogspot was. I was disappointed that Colette had not written a letter, but instead was directing me to a web page somewhere on the Internet. That would mean turning on the computer and correctly typing this address. I was busy and not sitting in front of the computer so I set the card aside. Between Christmas and New Year’s that year, after things had settled down again, I remembered the note in the card and I got curious. I turned on the computer and after trying several times to get the correct web page I got Colette’s blog. (Colette’s penmanship has not improved over the years and it took me a bit to realize the French connection! *LOL*) This was cool! There was information all about what Colette had been doing, pictures of where she had been and the things she had seen. I left a comment and waited for a reply.
I was curious who else was out there blogging and so I googled the words, blog and quilt. I got some hits and realized that there were quilters out there doing this blogging as well. After some encouragement from Colette, I started my own blog on January 2, 2006.
I originally intended for my blog page to be a way for friends and family to read about what I had been doing. I soon found out that my friends and family were not motivated to leave me comments and weren’t as interested in this blogging thing as I was so I reached out to other quilters by applying for membership in a blog ring. After connecting with other quilting bloggers, I was hooked!
So, what is a blog?
A blog is a cross between a journal and a web page.
A blog is less formal than a web page.
A blog is a very user friendly method of sharing specific subject material with the world.
A blog can be private or very public.
A blog is interactive and feedback can be immediate.
A blog is a means of communication that is not dependent on the time of day or day of the week for a response. Because blogs are on the Internet and the Internet is always open – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week–you can connect with someone somewhere in the world at any time of day or night.
WHO
You can see that there is one person responsible for both my addictions–quilting and blogging and that is Colette!
Who blogs? Everyone!
If you can think of a subject there is probably a person who is blogging about it somewhere in the world.
Art Quilters blog.
Authors blog.
Well known quilters like Pat Sloan and Debbie Mumm have their own blogs.
Long Arm Quilters blog.
Everyday quilters blog.
……………. to be continued.

Applique Quilt Show – Quilts by Marigold Appliquers

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The Marigold Appliquers is the Kamloops Chapter of the Applique Society. The Applique Quilt Show was another of the small quilts shows held in Kamloops last weekend during Quilt BC. The Applique Quilt Show was held in this beautiful historic building: St. Andrew’s on the Square.


This collection of fabric postcards was fabulous.

This is a close up of my favorite postcard. It would seem that the female fisherman has caught the “big one” in this case!

The quilting on this quilt was fabulous!





This quilt had many mini quilts on its border. Each one was a miniature piece of art in its own right.




I loved this classic blue and yellow tulip quilt.


My favorite quilt was this teddy bear quilt.


This quilt was an original design.




Being from the Prairies, I can appreciate this landscape quilt.

There are never too many chicken quilts!


I loved the background behind this sunflower.

Fibre Expressions ~ Art Quilts by Myrna Giesbrecht

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Last Saturday, our Quilt Guild chartered a bus and headed to Quilt BC in Kamloops. There were many quilt shows in various locations within the city. My favorite was a display of quilts in the Art Gallery by local artist, Myrna Giesbrecht.

You may recognize Myrna’s name from the monthly column that she used to write for Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine from 1999 to 2005 called, “The Quilter’s Web”.

Myrna has a delightful personality and was on hand to chat with the visitors to the gallery as they passed through looking at her art.

Myrna is a quilter with an obvious traditional past. Although her work is in the category of art quilts, the workmanship and skill in her work demonstrates the structure and discipline that traditional quilters are known for. (I think Myrna must be friends with the Quilt Police.)

If you are interested in learning more about Myrna or having a look at some of her other pieces, have a look at these sites:

http://www.myrnagiesbrecht.com/

http://www.sewandquilt.com/learn/workroom/11myrna.html

http://www.fibreartnetwork.com/Gallery/MP-MyrnaGiesbrecht.htm

http://www.realwomenquilt.com/archives/MyrnaGiesbrechtFQ.html

This was my favorite piece. Myrna explained that this piece represented her neighbourhood–houses that were all the same in style and colour. She purchase a house in the neighbourhood and proceeded to renovate–painting the door bright blue, adding brightly painted Adirondack chairs and planters to the front porch. When Myrna was finished decorating, it was obvious that her house stood out amongst the rest of the plain beige boxes. Myrna’s house is represented by the bright square slightly tilted that nests amongst the rest of the orderly houses in the neighbourhood.

Myrna warned me that this quilt was difficult to photograph–she was right. This is definitely a quilt that is best seen in person. A picture definitely does not do this quilt justice!







An Artist In Our Midst

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This is my MIL. You met her in my previous post. She celebrated her 78th birthday today, May 4, 2007. She is the featured artist at our annual local art show tomorrow.

This is the article that appeared in our local newspaper a couple of weeks ago:

Even though she had been selected to be the featured artist for the Monday Painters group’s May art show, Frieda had not expected it.

“I was very surprised when told that I had been chosen to be the featured artist for our May art show,” she says. The honour comes, she says, from being chosen from among “so many great Monday painters.”

Frieda’s painting subjects are usually flowers and landscapes and the occasional still life. She has been painting with the group for 25 years. She traces her start with the Monday Painters back to a visit with artist Agnes Key. Key helped her decide which types of paints and brushes to buy and encouraged her to start with the group.

After her initial start in oils, Frieda tried her hand at the more easily set-up watercolors in the few years she wasn’t able to spend a lot of time painting. She chose to be educated in the medium, signed up for a course and enjoyed it. But the versatility of this artist doesn’t stop there. Frieda has also made both pencil and ink sketchings.

Currently she does most of her painting at Monday Painters, but in the past she has set aside a few hours in the morning for painting as well. She describes a three-step painting process: conceptualizing, sketching, and painting. Her paintings are usually completed in several sessions, Frieda says.

Frieda has completed and framed about 30 paintings, though she has even more just waiting for final improvements and completion. She stayed on with her art even when life got in the way. Though “family responsibilities kept [her] from painting — time-wise and emotionally” she still had “fun doing greeting cards” in those times.

Prior to joining the weekly art group, Frieda had not painted but she had a history with drawing.
“Joining Monday Painters was a great way to a bigger commitment for my art. Much as I was apprehensive, the painters were most encouraging and I received many great pointers and helpful hints,” she says.

The Monday Painters show featuring Frieda will be held May 5 at the United Church. Pieces at the show are priced individually, varying according to size and type of framing. Smaller investments available are the cards which Frieda predicts based on past experience will be “very popular at the show.” Both a percentage of the painting’s sales and regular donations collected at the show will be added to the group’s yearly contributions to the church “to use as they please,” says Frieda.

She has these words to encourage new artists: “starting is the hardest part” and “remember we are all beginners at one time, and are still learning.”

Frieda recommends painting regularly, citing the adage, “practice makes perfect.” In this way “our Monday Painters are most helpful,” says Frieda. Her experience with the group is the reason for her recommendation to others. “Being a Monday Painter for so many years,” she says, “The fellowship has been great. I have met so many wonderful people who love art and do such a variety of beautiful work.”

By Michelle Vandepol
The Observer
Apr 18 2007