Quilt News

Quilt Designers Blog Ring

Welcome! This is the entry form to join the Quilt Designers Blog Ring. If you have any questions please email quiltnews[@]gmail.com

If you are a professional designer and you blog about your quilting in whole or in part, this is the ring for you. By joining this ring you agree that

* you are a quilt designer in the business of quilting
* your blog links to your retail website (not a “pay to enter” site)
* you blog about your quilting projects
* you update your blog at least 4 times a month, hopefully more often than that
(the bad news: I monitor posting because I believe in the value of the ring.
If you fail to post for 3 weeks I will remove your blog from the ring without notice)
* you will not post offensive content
* you will post the ring code ON THE SIDEBAR of your blog where it is easily visible (I know that as a new blogger it is tempting to bury the ring code at the bottom of your sidebar…please don’t do this. Have confidence in your ability to hold a reader by content alone and please *don’t* make it hard for an uninterested reader to leave.)

When you have installed the code correctly on your blog, it will look like this, but it won’t work – - keep reading – -

To join the Quilt Designers Blog Ring click on this link:

Click here to join

When you have filled out the form on Alt-Webring to join the ring, you will be sent an email that will have your ring code (specific to YOUR blog) in the email.  Installation instructions are below.  When you have installed the code, send an email to quiltnews[@]gmail.com and I will activate your site in the ring.  The code does NOT work until I activate your site.

BLOGGER/BLOGSPOT users – - you will add a Gadget to your blog (on the sidebar, not the bottom) and it should be an HTML Page Element. You don’t need to give it a title unless you want to. Copy (cut and paste) the code to the page element and then email me when you see it. It won’t work until you email me and I can see it – then I will activate it. [email is quiltnews @ gmail.com]

WORDPRESS bloggers – - – add a Text Widget to your blog and paste the entire code into the widget. You don’t have to give it a title.

TIPS ABOUT BLOGGING FOR NEW BLOGGERS: Blogging can seem daunting to quilters, especially if you consider yourself a ‘private’ person….quiet, not assertive, a listener. You might think “what would I say and why would anyone want to read it?”

Quilters are caring, sharing people who *love* to see the process of quilt creation, and sometimes get to know a little bit about you. When you start your blog, make sure that you are telling the viewers the basics: who you are (your name), what you do (design patterns for my: pattern co/shop/fabric mfg/publisher), where you live (what state/country and/or city), why you design (because you love it?!), how long you’ve been quilting/designing. Make sure this info stays where first time visitors to your blog can see it. It’s your introduction to them as viewers ~ treat it as if it were an introduction to a new best friend.

Subjects to blog about:

quilts – quilts you have designed; quilts you are designing; your first quilt; your subsequent quilts; quilts you admire; your quilts on display somewhere or contests they are entered in

the process of designing – sources of inspiration; design challenges; what you love about designing

fabrics – fabrics you own or just purchased; fabrics you are currently working with; fabrics you want to own; fabrics that inspired you

sewing studio – where you design and quilt; what’s in it? Your favorite tools, machines, room design, method of organization

your local quilt shop – if you teach there: what you teach and when; what it is, where it is, what you love about it (link to it it they are online)

your guild or quilting group – who they are, what they like, links to them

sewing – your sewing experiences (garment, decor, etc.) from the first item you made to the most recent; what you learned to sew on

color – anything you have to say about color: color mixing, favorite colors, disliked colors, color challenges

foods – favorite recipies and why; cooking techniques

special events – weddings, births, travels, moving, trunk shows or other showings of your quilts

friends and family – introductions and links if they are on the internet