Hi everyone,
Did you have a chance to listen live to my interview on Pat Sloan’s Radio Show? If you missed the live show, you can listen to it here or via Itunes too.
On the show, I shared some of the plans for 2012 here at the Quilting Gallery. Here’s what’s planned:
I’ll be hosting 4 swaps this year, one each quarter. Registration for our first swap New Beginnings will start later this week. This will be an open-ended mini quilt swap where each quilter is free to interpret the theme as they wish. The other swaps planned for this year include projects designed specifically for the swap by Sandi Andersen, Lenna Green and Jennifer Ofenstein.
The Blog Hop Party we did last year was so much fun. Thanks to everyone’s feedback, I’ll be hosting four events this year. The first one will start around Valentine’s Day with others planned for April, August and November.
Our Weekly Themed Quilt Contests will continue for the third year. See the 2012 themes. You can submit a quilt for this week’s New Beginnings contest.
I really enjoyed last year’s Celebrate Christmas Quilt-Along. I plan to host a Spring Garden quilt-along starting sometime in April or May. Also, the Super Deals were very popular and I’m thrilled to announce that they’ll continue starting next Wednesday. More information will be posted on the site later this week.
I also have plans to create a 3rd edition of the Quilter’s Cookbooks. This one will feature quick and easy Summertime recipes.
More FUN things will be announced later in the year.
The Learning Center
Last but certainly not least, I’m extremely excited to be working with Pat Sloan on a new section for the site, called The Learning Center. I have known Pat since I first started this site and had the pleasure of meeting her for the first time in Nashville in 2008.
Over the years, we’ve seen each other at various shows and communicate regularly. She’s been a great mentor to me and always so eager and willing to share her advice and perspective whenever I’ve asked. We’ve been talking about doing something together for almost 2 years, and finally we start.
While Pat will be the hostess and organizer for The Learning Center, it’s really all about you. Pat will be organizing guest experts, sharing her own experience and links to fabulous tutorials and other useful information. We’ll be having linky parties, featured products, Q&A sessions and more. Each month, I’ll also be organizing and writing a couple of the posts.
Pat’s organized the draft agenda for the entire first year, and let me just say it’s EXCITING! Each month has its own theme. February is Storage and Organization and March will be Quilting Basics.
There will be a new tab at the top of the site for The Learning Center, where all the posts and resources will be stored. As we start to get content entered into the site and build up this section, it will become a super-organized resource for quilters of all levels.
I hope you’ll enjoy the new section and that you’ll share your own knowledge and participate. At the middle of each month, we’ll announce the next month’s theme and we will be asking for volunteers to guest write, answer questions, share their tips, etc.
Now, I’ll let Pat take over and tell you the plans for February…
From Pat:
I’m really excited to have you join Michele and I for our Fabulous new Learning Center section! The February topic is near and dear to my heart, organization! I know we talk a lot about it and people are always looking for the best solutions that fit their work style.
I believe we can all find a solution that works for us by sharing ideas! All during February you will find links, tips, interviews and ideas for how to proceed with organizing your studio space.
We want your ideas! Have you written a post on your own blog, seen a really clever storage/organization idea online or have your own ideas on fabric, notions & thread storage, project organization (including BOMs), and digital organization (what to do with all those free tutorials and patterns)? Send Michele or Pat an email.
If you have a specific organization/storage-related question leave a comment, or email it to us, and we’ll try and get you an answer!
Also, at the end of February we’ll be having a linky party where you get to show off your own creative space. Take before photos, organize, organize, organize and take after photos. You’ll write a blog post on your own blog and link it up in our linky party.
Give-Away: Share your Ideas for The Learning Center
We’d love to hear your ideas and thoughts about The Learning Center. What do you want to see included? Is there something quilting-related that you struggle with and need help? How should the Center be organized so that as it grows, it becomes a useful resource guide that you can refer back to?
Leave a comment below with your thoughts and suggestions. I have two free gift certificates from The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims to give away. One is for a free 6-month membership that is good for a new member only. The other is for one past online series of the show. I believe this certificate is open to both new and current members (I hope).
Two winners will be chosen randomly next Wednesday, January 18th.
