Antiquequiltdating.com is Exposed Across the Pond and a Border!

What a surprising year 2009 is turning out to be- wow! I am so grateful. My website, officially titled New Pathways Into Quilt History ,is in its 8th year having begun in the spring of 2001. I owe so much to Judy Breneman, of Womenfolk America's Quilt History websites for helping bring me into the cyberspace world. In 2001, she posted her new website on the QHL and invited anyone who was interested in starting a website on the same server she was using, WebSeed, to let her know. WebSeed required weekly updates and other things as they were making advertising dollars off of our websites. It didn't succeed for them  but Judy and I continued on a regular hosted network system. We were on our own now.  Judy and my husband helped me operate and grow my website, as well as a second one for selling my Antique Quilt Dating Guides...by Style. I am grateful for their belief in my ideas and their support and troubleshooting through the years.

It was exciting when guest authors wrote fabulous articles specifically for my website's audience. Requests for fabric and book reviews have been a welcomed adventure.  I have a stack of books on my desk now that are awaiting to be shared with you. Because of all the input from quilters and writers from around the globe, the website developed its own diverse expression. I am not taking credit, instead I am thrilled that the outreach of many has come to the attention of publishers in England, Ireland , France, Canada and Australia, as well as US magazines and publications online and in print. Here is what has occurred this year.

In the January issue of Britain's Patchwork & Quilting magazine,  Yvonne Jenkins editor of Wandering the Web, featured my website "An excellent website for any quilter interested in the history of quilt making" is her opening sentence. And her closing sentence is just as lovely. Quilters Spirit is described, so all of you are in the magazine too, in Spirit!  Thank you Yvonne for this generous review and a wonderful surprise!

It was my Irish friend, Roselind Shaw, who told me this article was published in the magazine she reads faithfully.

 

 

Some of you may recognize Roselind's name because she has two articles about Irish Quilts on my website. It is this quilt article of Roselind's that caught the attention of the editor of the newest quilt magazine Irish Quilting, Sherry Nugent. Other quilters featured in Irish Quilting's Vol. 1, Issue 2 magazine are Mark Lipinski, Pat Sloan, Kimberly Einmo and Terry McNeill. This is a gorgeous magazine, with the quality of paper and photos as that of Quilt Mania magazine. This issue has 99 pages of patterns, travel, articles and quilts quilts quilts, mostly contemporary, but obviously not all. Rosalind and I were thrilled to receive the request to be in this magazine. I have seen the first two issues and it is not only for Irish quilter's. Quilters anywhere would love this magazine and where else can one find out about what the Irish are up to in the quilt world! They are busy and innovative. There is a  Quilter's Guild of Ireland, an Irish Patchwork Society, and of course, the Quilter's Guild of the British Isles. For more information and to subscribe to this magazine contact info@irishquilting.ie and subs@irishquilting.ie It will be available in the US. Turns out Sherry's mom lives in the same town where  my quilt guild meets. Small World!

Canadian web designer and quilter, Michele  Foster, founder of the Quilting Gallery invited me to be in her month long series about quilt bloggers.  This month, on the 18th, I was the featured blogger. I was among many wonderful quilters, so check them all out when you take a peek at mine. I decided not to write the typical normal this is how I got started kind of thing. I hope you enjoy the views I share in this piece which has a few photos too. The art quilt I made, title Reverberations, needs to be quilted. I can't figure out the best pattern to use and would love input from those of you much better at quilt patterns for contemporary quilts than I am.

If you are interested in quilt history study groups, I have posted a detailed summary of our discussion about them earlier this week on Women On Quilts, check it out here. IF nothing else, there is a long list of suggested topics provided by the Illinois/Iowa Quilt Study Group. They meet at the Kalona Quilt & Textile Museum in Kalona, Iowa twice a year and their meetings and efforts help raise funds to keep the museum running and caring for their collections. The Group also  produces the magazine "Pieces of Time" which their study group meeting's photos and focus contribute to and the members do most of the writing in it. What an incredible accomplishment!

May your year be filled with wonderful surprises and people as well. I certainly value your readership and sharing. Piece on!

Kim Wulfert