I need your advice about online advantages

[Alex A.]

I have to do a presentation very soon about the importance and relevance of the internet to quilters today. I plan to talk about TQS (of course), blogging, connectivity with quilters word wide, education (like Bob's eletter at superior threads) - can you offer any rocks that should be unturned for this presentation? THX

[Nancy R.]

I haven't gotten to this point yet myself, but it seems to me that the internet creates more opportunities for making this hobby a business. I look at people like Leah Day, whose blog and internet store have turned into a full-time business that supports her family.

Nancy

[Beverly C.]

I live in a very rural area. The closest quilt shop is an hour away. I shop there first because I want her to stay in business, but when I can't find the fabric I'm looking for, the internet enables me to find it and have it shipped to me. My local quilt shop can always order a book or notion for me, but is not able to carry every quilt fabric line in production. Fabric selection would be very limited without the ability to see what's out there.

[Betty J.]

Shopping online is so convenient, saves a bundle of time I can put on quilting, and I usually can find just what I want. My LQS is more than a half hour away and I almost never find everything I want there. I have learned a ton using Internet available videos from some of the top quilters in the world, not only on TQS, though that is one of my main sources. If I have a problem, I can put it up on the forum and get some really fine advice and comments...I can get feedback on my quilts that is really helpful along the way and share my finished projects with my online friends. Then there are the reminders and notices of upcoming quilt festivals. All of this and just plain fun watching the shows and "talking" to quilty friends who I may have never met but I consider them good friends. TQS has led the way in this and gives us longer quality shows than we would ever be "allowed" on TV. Can you tell I'm a big TQS fan?

[Keith D.]

There's so much design inspiration available online immediately, right when the creative moment strikes. After coming back from Wyoming I Googled images for "carved leather saddle art" and reviewed a ton of pictures and got some interesting ideas for appliqué and quilting designs. How readily available to most of us was carved leather saddle art before the internet?

Knock 'em over with a great presentation, Alex!

[Lotti D.]

living in switzerland - i have only gotten into the fabulous international quilters "guild" through the internet. we do have some guilds here - but they are spread far and wide (strange for such a small country - but as this small country has lots of hills and lakes - a few miles as the crow flies becomes many many as you follow the land-lines - with lots and lots of traffic lights and other slow-downers).

as most quilty things are coming from / sold from north america - most specifically the USA, it is often difficult to get just what i want here - it's all imported - all very very expensive and sometimes just not here.

TQS has introduced me to a fabulous world-wide community of friends - it's given me the confidence to use the internet for purchases, for classrooms, for ideas, for....

the internet has allowed me to participate in great exchanges like the SOTTTs, the STRIPPERs, and let me not forget the potholders (my fabulous cat is looking right at me from his spot behind the monitor).

the internet has allowed me to participate in special projects helping people that are ill, people that have lost everything due to natural (and not so natural) disasters.

the internet allows me to exchange ideas; to share my thoughts, my projects, my hopes; to take part in our world-wide quilting-friends' lives as well.

if you have a question, a request, there is sure to be someone out there that can help

the internet has turned the world into a small-town-community where we can all share and support & just pass on a hug and a smile :wink:

the interenet is WAY COOL 8)
go get 'em & have fun

[Rita C.]

I live in Ireland where quilting shops are as rare as hen's teeth! There is one shop in Dublin - but you have to book an appointment to go there as the lady runs it from a shed in her back garden. There are probably only about 5 in the whole country. The Irish Patchwork Society, while a worthy institution, seems to be a little behind the times and their internet sight leaves a lot to be desired. I know, Alex, that you are always recommending taking classes but there are very few classes to be had here and they tend to get booked out very fast. That is why the internet has been an invaluable source of information for people like me.

I could not believe my eyes when I first stumbled upon all the different possibilities on the internet. I started by finding Eleanor Burns programmes on Vimeo and I still look at those as new ones come up. You could say that Eleanor taught me a lot of the basics about piecing. And then came the eye candy with The Quilt Show! My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw what Yvonne Purcella and Edita Sitar were doing - these were the first two shows that I watched, and I was hooked. Every show that I have watched has taught me something new that I have incorporated in some way into my quilting.

The forum on TQS is also a wonderful resource with everybody giving so generously of their time and experience whenever somebody has a problem. And as others have said it is great to be part of a community of like-minded people where we can share ideas, finished pieces, joys and sorrows.

The internet also informs us as to what is going on in the wider quilting world - i.e. new books, tools, fabrics, shows etc., without which we would not be aware of even newer and greater possibilities that there are out there.

I have also found Youtube to be a constant source of both inspiration and practical information with online tutorials etc.

In truth at this stage if the internet was taken away I would feel bereft - like my right arm had been cut off. Is the internet relevant for quilters today? I would have to say HELL YES.

Good luck,
Rita.

[Margo C.]

Hey Alex! You know that I am a huge fan of the fabulous episodes that you and Ricky provide for us, but I am even more thankful for the world-wide community that TQS has brought together. For those of us who can't get to local guild meetings, for whatever reason, TQS is priceless.

Besides that, the Internet in general is the source of wonderful on-line classes where I have learned a LOT! Both free tutorials (especially You Tube and specific web sites) and on-line interactive classes with excellent teachers have greatly enriched my quilting knowledge, from "Quilt Whispering" to Photo Shop for Quilters.

Shopping? Oh yeah!
Information and inspiration? You bet!
Forums to ask questions? Invaluable!

I can't imagine going back to quilting by lamplight!

[Margo C.]

There are also selling sites like Etsy.com for original work; sites to help you locate fabric when you, cough, ran short; and informational sites that that pictures of quilts and lots of information.

[Alex A.]

this is really helping - keep em coming!

[Alex A.]

Dittos with all the comments. The Internet and TQS helps me keep an open mind and up to speed. It has soooooo many options and possibilities along with the shopping and discounts.

Out here in the very rural Rocky Mountains the Internet provider service is very limited and slow. I am currently shopping for my fourth provider in 2 years. If the website

is busy, I usually can't place an order or I have reconnect, same with watching the clips and videos. Sure do appreciate TQS and all it has to offer, therefore I am hooked on the Internet.

Thank You

[Margo C.]

What about the ability to see winning quilts in far-away quilt shows, sometimes the day the show opens? Amazing!

[Rita C.]

And let us not forget Skype! Alex when I saw the interview you did with Deborah Kemball I immediately googled her and bought her book and made a wall-hanging. It's the immediacy of the internet that works so well for the impatient quilter like myself. And 'look it up in the dictionary' has been almost replaced in our house with 'google it'!

I also have to confess that I don't buy very many magazines in shops anymore because there is so much available on the internet and by the time they get here they are so expensive and out of date. They have been replaced by online magazines, newsletters and and updates from various websites of interest.

[Rita C.]

I agree with all of the comments so far about the advantages the the Internet brings to quilters. There is at least one disadvantage, however that should be addressed, namely, becoming addicted to the Internet. Online, we talk about quilting, look at beautiful quilts, learn about quilts and quilting techniques, connect with quilting resources, connect with other quilters worldwide, and watch inspiring shows about quilting; but that isn't quilting. Quilting is the actual doing of the thing, and we're not doing it while we're online. Obviously, the advantages far outweight this disadvantage, but we need to be remined that after we've been given all the quilting tools the Internet provides, we actually need to do it to call ourselves quilters.

Good luck with the presentation. You're always an ace!

[Nancy R.]

There is at least one disadvantage, however that should be addressed, namely, becoming addicted to the Internet.

It's funny, but for me the quilting resources on the internet make me spend more time quilting rather than less. The surfing time comes out of other activities because what I find online inspires me both to finish my current projects (so I can post pictures) and start new ones. For me, it's all win/win!

Nancy