What Type Of Follower Are You?

This post isn't about quilting or craftiness and doesn't contain beautiful photos - there's a possibility what I'm about to write will have some of my 'followers' heading for their 'unfollow' button but that's fine by me.  

I like to think I manage my blog with integrity.  I watch other blogs grow based on asking for follows in return for giveaway and linky party entries and other similar methods - I'm not saying they're wrong (so please don't come after me with knives!) but it's just not for me, that's the choice I've made.  I have only held two giveaways on my blog in over two years and there has been no such condition of entry for either.  Interestingly, although I had plenty entries, there was no increase in followers evident from either giveaway.  

Yep, it's disappointing to discover when people have the option to follow or not to follow on a giveaway they choose not to but I prefer to think each and every one of my followers follows for no other reason than because they want to and they like what I write.

Another strange phenomenon takes place each and every Wednesday on my blog. My weekly post 'Previously On ... ' is a great way to revisit old posts; what a shame to put all that work and effort into a blog post for it to gather dust in the back of the archives and, as my blog continues to grow, it's a smashing way to introduce new readers to great projects they've missed.  This policy of revisiting old posts is also considered part of good blogging practice - that is, it seems, in all blogging interest areas other than quilting! 

Now this may just be a coincidence but for over a year now every Wednesday, after the 'Previously On ... ' post goes out I lose followers.  Maybe these followers find another way to follow? - I don't think so!  The conclusion I draw from this is maybe some people don't appreciate this post, are sick of seeing my old work or don't feel I've anything new or of value to offer to them the reader, so they hit 'unfollow'.  This isn't some strange imagining on my part, the fact is I rarely lose followers on any other day of the week and as I post at least twice a week how come this doesn't happen when I post new projects?

Today the 'Previously On ...' post went out, then I lost 3 Bloglovin' followers within minutes of each other.  I found myself actually considering ending this post series but I've decided to continue.  I believe I'm holding on to my integrity, I make whatever I want, however I want, with whatever I want - I share my work and write posts the way I want to.  

If you choose to read what I write then I thank you, in a blogland of many quilting blogs I truly appreciate you being here.  If you choose to follow then that's the most positive reinforcement I can receive, for that I doubly thank you, and if you choose to hit the 'unfollow' button, sorry to see you go, but that's okay too and thank you for helping keep my blog true :D

Chris

 

 

 

   

     

Recreating Klimt - My July 2013 NYC Metro Mod Bee Block

Time to sort out my July NYC Metro Mod Bee Block - Queen Bee Deidre did say there was no hurry but I figure now Joe and Katie are back in England and Flicky's off to Seville to visit Jack, it's time to clear the decks again - crikey that might mean getting up to date with my Skill Builder BOM by the end of the week and we all know how I love to fall a few months behind with that one so don't hold your breath!!!

Before we start - here's the finished block - I read somewhere that it's best to give people a glimpse of the end result at the start of a blog post - hooks them in, makes them read more of the post.  Well the real reason I'm doing this is because Bloglovin (and I guess most feed readers) uses the first image from a post and I don't want that image to be a sheet of paper with a piece of yellow fabric - don't know about you but when I'm skimming down my Bloglovin 'to read' list a picture like that's not going to get me doing the magic click through to the post itself!

Now on to the real post:

This is what Queen Bee Deidre sent me - a piece of yellow and metallic gold fabric and some instructions:

make a block inspired by a section of this painting (see below), any size, style or shape block, try to keep to colours similar to the original, use some of the included fabric somewhere in the block.

Gustav Klimt 'The Kiss'

I chose this section from the man's robes:

Using Photoshop I edited the section using the 'Cut Out' filter - this defined the design and colour sections more.

Using a pen and ruler I divided the section into strips and blocks I could reproduce as part of a quilt block.

I raided my stash and chose colours appropriate for the block - Kona solids (black, yarrow, wheat, corn yellow and curry) and a small piece of Timeless Treasures 'Sketch' to add a little interest and texture.

I labelled the sections with my colour choices and cut into three strips.

I started sewing strips of fabric together, slicing as I went - no measuring just piecing and seeing what happened. 
This is the first strip complete.

I did have to take more care sizing the next two strips to make sure the overall length was the same as the first so all three strips could be joined together.  I still didn't measure, I just did it by eye.

The finished block

And that first photo again!

As always I had a lot of fun making the block.  I like the unexpected challenges being in a Bee brings - fabrics, colours, designs, styles you would never dream of using yourself that involve pushing your own boundaries,  I really enjoy the months we have a more artsy, creative challenge rather than following a pattern, makes you have to think and step outside the box a bit - great stuff :)

You can also check out all the blocks that our Bee make for Deidre on my Quilty - Klimt Pinterest Board - I'll add more pins as each person in the Bee posts photos of their finished blocks and you can see my NYC Mod Guild Post here too.

Click these buttons to see more of my NYC Mod Guild blocks and my tutorials

Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only, no payment or commission is received on click-throughs and opinions are my own.

So Long Google Reader - What Does It Mean For Bloggers? PROBABLY NOT A LOT!!!

For the last few days I've been watching and reading a whole heap of craziness across the Internet over the announcement that Google Reader won't exist after 1 July 2013. What does this really mean to us bloggers?  In my opinion, the answer is 'probably not a lot'.

Will your Blogger/Wordpress account still exist? - YES

Will you still have your Google Followers? - YES

So what exactly does Google Reader do? - It allows you to easily access/read all the blogs that you follow.

How will you read your blogs once Google Reader doesn't exist? - Simply change to another reader such as Bloglovin or Feedly.

These other readers already exist, it takes only seconds to sign up for them.  Hey, you can really go mad and sign up for both of them and even stick with Google Reader too for now - there's no Reader Police checking how many you've signed up to and are using - which is what I've done just to try them out and see which I like best.

Your blog isn't going anywhere, you don't need to tell your readers where they can follow you now (how many posts have you read over the weekend telling you just that information and asking you to click to follow them at their new location?!!!).  Your blog will still be sat on Blogger or Wordpress or whatever platform you're already using.  

I don't believe that you'll lose Google Friend Connect Followers either - this is another separate Google application and not directly connected to Google Reader.  This doesn't mean they won't ever make other changes that could affect this application though in the future. 

Of course, you may lose some readers if they don't move to a new reader themselves but do you think they're not going to that?  Are any of us really going to stop reading all blogs, forever?  I don't think so.  It's up to the individual to move to a new reader and they can quickly have their old Google Reader blog list transferred for them by the new reader system.  

You as the blogger don't have to do a thing - though as a reader you'll probably want to move to a new reader yourself so you can carry on reading all the fab quilty posts out there (how many reads can you have in one sentence?) ;)  As I type this post my favourite new reader is Feedly - I'm enjoying using it over Bloglovin via my laptop but I haven't tried either via my phone yet - that's a task for tomorrow.  I'll let you know which I settle on as I go.

I wanted to type this post to try to alleviate some of the confusion/worry that seems to be out there right now.  This latest Google change isn't a disaster for any of us, but who knows what they'll do next?!!!