Blogging Is So Cool Sometimes

I've been putting my thoughts down for this blog since 2009, with an abbreviated stint even earlier. For the most part, I've remained steady at it. I've had some hiatuses (hiati?) from time to time, but I try to force myself to be reliable in my posting. (Self-discipline - something I've always struggled with.) *grin*

So let me tell you why just now, out of the blue, I think blogging is so cool.

In the last 3 or 4 months, I have had some really cool things happen; things that wouldn't have happened had I not blogged.

Cool thing #1: After the several posts I did about cleaning out Grandma's quilting closet, I received an email from a woman who'd recently published a book on her grandmother and the gifts she makes for her great-grandchildren. We are now in the process of trying to coordinate a give-away of her book through my blog. Isn't that awesome?

Cool thing #2: Again, after the several posts about Grandma when I'd reminded visitors that I had a tab at the top which features some of Grandma's quilts, I had another email. This time the sender inquired about the pattern of one of Grandma's quilts. It is one that his mother (or wife? or m-i-l?) had made and lost the pattern for the last 4 blocks. He wondered if I could locate the pattern or take a picture of the blocks in question to send to him. He expressed that this is a quilt that is something like a 40-year-old UFO because of these lost block patterns. I am still in the process of trying to find what he needs.

Cool thing #3: I was catching up on some reading of blogs that I'd not had time for since starting back to school. One that I enjoy is Material Culture by Barbara Brackman, well-known author, fabric designer and quilt historian. One post that I read featured quilting bees in primitive paintings.You'll have to go to the post to see the picture in question, but Barbara wondered why a quilter would be holding a spool of thread up to her head like a cell phone. The painting was Civil-War era, so it was definitely NOT a cell phone. One reader left a comment explaining what the woman was doing. When I looked, I saw it exactly, and then I noticed something more, so I made a comment, too, explaining my theory. Last night, I revisited that post, and Barbara has updated with my theory! Whoa! Barbara Brackman! That's like having a rock star notice you sitting in the front row of a concert! Yeah, that's cool, for sure!

Cool thing #4: A woman emailed me after she saw my picture of The Dressmaker's Quilt, in my finishes. She had been looking for the pattern and said that it was no longer available. She'd tried every avenue she could think of to find the pattern, and wondered if I would send her mine. I am in the process of finding said pattern to put in the mail to her. (Is it against copyright laws to copy a pattern if the pattern is out of production?)

Cool thing #5: Another blog that I enjoy immensely is Humble Quilts. While catching up, I happened upon a post that she put up for a friend who was searching for that fabric. You know you've been there. Busy cutting and stitching away on a project, and then you realize that you are short on one fabric - and it has to be that fabric. No substituting! Well, I had about a yard of that fabric, so I commented to Lori who in turn put me in touch with her friend. Now I need to get that fabric in an envelop and mail it off to Canada, of all places!

Now you know why I think blogging is so cool. Barbara Brackman talked about the social aspect of the quilting bees that our ancestors enjoyed. Today, quilters have a 21st century method of socializing through quilting. I love it. Blogging has definitely enhanced my quilting experiences.