10,000 Hits

WOW! I was waiting for the 10,000 hits, and some how I got almost 2000 hits today. What happened? I think maybe a scavenger hunt from something called vampire stats.com?? Any way, I have had about 20 loyal followers for all the time I have been on the blogoshere, and I want to THANK THEM for staying with me. I know many of my friends in Fyber Cafe and the Umpqua Valley Quilters Guild also check me out all the time. Please take the time to become a follower, and please leave comments on what you like, or don't like. I need some feedback to know what I can do better. I have added a "Foto Friday" and a "Stash Saturday" to spice things up a bit, and give you more inspiration. I have added labels to all my posts, so now, you can find certain subjects that interest you, just by clicking on that label. I'm also trying to setup a photo slide show of my art quilt photos, but Picasa has not been cooperative so far. I think I need to download smaller files of just my art quilts, in a limited album. The favorite post so far has been "How to Thread Paint a Dragonfly." I have also been taking more step by step photos of the projects I'm working on, so you have a better understanding of the techniques I've used. If you have done any projects based on something you've learned or seen on my blog, please email me a photo, and a link to your site, and I'll post it too. I know my art quilting has been improving, I hope my writing style has too, I'm always searching for new techniques and projects to try and share with you. I'd also like to thank the wonderful members of Fyber Cafe for their friendship, and inspiration, challenges, workshops and play days. So please, everyone have fun being creative, have no fear, be inspired and PLAY! -AMY

Thoughts on Blogs, computers, and the Internet

Several years ago I seldom turned my computer on, people would email me info and I'd not get it, 'cause I only turned on the computer every 2 weeks to once a month. Instant messaging with my family across the country encouraged me to connect more often, then my Dad got me a wireless connection, and I got a newer computer. I still didn't work on it very often, I would much rather quilt!! With the addition of a digital camera I was finally ready for the internet revolution. My Dad showed me how to download my pics, and a friend showed me how to sort and file them. I love photography, and was getting to the point of not being able to afford the developing, and some film sat in a drawer for years. Printing my photos on fabric treated with bubble jet set, was economical and easy. I got a cheap version of Adobe Photoshop Elements ver. 6 and was very frustrated with it. It did SO MUCH!!! My knowledgeable friend was using a HP photo editing program and my other friend a Mac, so I had to be self taught. This is where I got sucked into the computer, I purposefully sat down to LEARN Photoshop. I had several quilt books about quilting with photos, they all assumed a basic knowledge that I didn't have. I read and reread them, struggled with one part of the program at a time. I started to get the hang of it a little bit, I was managing to make quilts with my photos in spite of the learning curve. Then a friend wanted to learn how to download her photos to the computer, she had just been buying new memory cards when they were full. So I helped her and a few others, suddenly I was the one who knew what was going on??? How did that happen? By spending A LOT of time on the computer. I started typing up directions for them, but they didn't do their homework, they weren't putting in the time I had. Computers led to Facebook, and more knowledge, and the wireless connection made it so much easier. One of the ladies in our textile arts group Fyber Cafe, had to start a blog as an assignment for one of the Cities and Guilds units she was doing, so I thought if she could do it, so could I. Where did this confidence come from? I have always photographed ALL my quilting work, and I digitized the older photos so they too were available. Photos of in progress pieces gave me a starting point for the blog, talking about technique, inspiration and projects. I am really enjoying the writing, I feel like I am sharing my work, and making connections with family and friends. Staying in touch with my quilting friend in California was a big plus, we both got more involved in quilting about the time I moved to Oregon. I would still rather quilt, paint fabric, machine quilt, and take photos, then spend time on the computer, but it too is a creative outlet for my thoughts. Through hard work I am learning Adobe Photoshop and helping others with it, and my goal is to use my photos in my quilts. I still don't know how to add links, gadgets? or other stuff, but I am very proud that I managed to add a counter, and the webring info, and I feel like more people are seeing my site now too. So I have been pulled kicking and screaming into the new millennium, for a long time we kept saying we had no cell phone, no satellite TV, a 1999 car, no CD player, etc... I even started a blog for the Fyber Arts Group, check it out at FyberCafe.blogspot.com See you on the internet! AMY