Wow.  All they say is true…never say never.

I have a blog.

And a new website.  And I didn’t die.  I even built it all by myself…learning to code HTML and use WordPress.  If you know me at all, you know this is a HUGE step for me.  I am the sort of person who can crash computers by giving them a side eye.  I can do something 5 times, give up and ask any one of the three members of my family for help…have them do the EXACT same thing…but for them, it will work fine. In fact there are things I HAVE done 15 times and still don’t cooperate with me.  My tech people tell me Apple are a bunch of prima donnas and their sampling encoding is the bane of the programing world…and I may never be happy that an older iPad will sample a 1″ square of an image and blow it up in a preview, while it will look great in literally every other device I can lay my hands on. Im just going to have to live with some things I guess.  (Don’t get me started on things like SEO scores and WordPress hidden cookies…I may have invented new curse words.)

I’ve been talking about revamping my webpage for close to two years….but to be honest in the back of my mind, I was hoping that some kind of overzealousness would overcome one of my kids and they would be seized with the burning desire to just do it for me.  Beyond posting my show quilts, Ive been basically ignoring my website…especially since every update meant my husband had to set aside personal time and do it for me.

It was just time.  I am no longer a longarmer for hire who teaches too.  Life has evolved.  I love teaching and sharing what I know, what I do.  I think of myself more as an artist, who teaches others to enjoy and embrace quilting as their way of connecting to their creativity.  I do still quilt for others…pantographs mostly, and a few very special long term clients, but my old website just wasn’t cutting it anymore.

I want one spot to communicate, share my art, my teaching, my shop and my interactions with the quilt community.  Plus..snazzy stuff like widgets.  I didn’t even know what that was until this project.  A widget..is a thingy that allows a constant action…like letting you sign up for email notification of my new product launches!

Creating a blog is a daunting thing…and Ive been teaching for 4 years now.  I could potentially say a lot of things!  I could do pages and pages of content mining my history and each quilt project going back in time.  Where would it end?  Id never publish this thing.  So, Ive decided to just start as of now.  When something comes up, I’ll just add it…but I decided re inventing the wheel of history was a fast way for me to burn out on this endeavor.

I hope you will enjoy this, and subscribe to hear more.  I promise, I will never abuse our relationship!  I don’t like junk in my inbox any more than the next person. If you subscribe, you’ll get an email with new blog posts…which I envision maybe twice a month.  You can also just get on a product notification email or use Blogspot to keep up.   My blog will just be helpful quilty stuff and things I’m up to in my own quilt bubble. If you are the sort that wants vacation pictures and cat doings and kids shooting archery…well…friend me over on Facebook.

Much love to all my students, clients, customers, friends and quiet quilt stalkers (yes..I know about you 🙂

~Bethanne