This question recently came up on a mummy bloggers forum, and it got me thinking. Why did I start blogging AND why do I continue to do it?
A little bit of background... the abridged version :-)
Both my mother and grandmother have always been crafty. There was always some sort of craft going on at home. Knitting, crochet, embroidery. Mum even went through the macrame and hobbytex phases back in the 80's. My grandmother used to sew my clothes when I was young - she now has dementia, and has forgotten alot of things, but she still sits and knits - EVERYDAY!
My earliest memories of sewing were of sitting with my grandmother who would patiently show me how to use her sewing machine. It was a very old treadle Singer sewing machine, and it worked wonderfully - it just needed a little bit of co-ordination to get the pedal going at the right speed.
Fast forward a few years and it's highschool textiles class. You know the textiles or homescience class you have to take for a term, to see if you like it? Well I hated it. Big time. I don't know if it was the teacher, or the constant need for my seam ripper, but I was going to finish the term and never, EVER sew again...
Fast forward another few years... and I'm sitting at home with 2 kids and a husband who is away for work 4 or 5 days every week, I needed to find something new in my life. A new direction. Something to take my mind off being lonely and completely overwhelmed with a baby and toddler and very little support.
I decided to give sewing another try. Not clothes making (I can't bear the thought just yet) but quilting. So..... I googled, as you do. I found so many wonderful blogs offering inspiration, creativity and best of all - tutorials. They gave wonderful instructions with step by step photos, which got me started on this journey. I haven't looked back.
Why do I continue to blog?
Blogging has become a daily thing for me. Not necessarily just posting on my own blog - but blogging in general. I love those quiet times when I can sit on the computer and catch up with what all of my friends have been up to.
As my children are getting older, parenting issues are fast becoming another focus. No longer am I their main role model. Preschool and school, friends, teachers and coaches are all shaping their lives. Fun, exciting and a little bit scary times ahead.
I know - a long winded post without lots of pretty pictures. I'll include some pretty pictures next time :-)
A little bit of background... the abridged version :-)
Both my mother and grandmother have always been crafty. There was always some sort of craft going on at home. Knitting, crochet, embroidery. Mum even went through the macrame and hobbytex phases back in the 80's. My grandmother used to sew my clothes when I was young - she now has dementia, and has forgotten alot of things, but she still sits and knits - EVERYDAY!
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| Image from http://carpecupcakes.blogspot.com/ |
Fast forward another few years... and I'm sitting at home with 2 kids and a husband who is away for work 4 or 5 days every week, I needed to find something new in my life. A new direction. Something to take my mind off being lonely and completely overwhelmed with a baby and toddler and very little support.
I decided to give sewing another try. Not clothes making (I can't bear the thought just yet) but quilting. So..... I googled, as you do. I found so many wonderful blogs offering inspiration, creativity and best of all - tutorials. They gave wonderful instructions with step by step photos, which got me started on this journey. I haven't looked back.
It was now time to start my own blog - really as a way to document my progress. If anyone chose to follow my ramblings and poor quality photos, well that was a bonus.I think I've come a long way and now have a few tutorials and patterns of my own on offer.
Why do I continue to blog?
Blogging has become a daily thing for me. Not necessarily just posting on my own blog - but blogging in general. I love those quiet times when I can sit on the computer and catch up with what all of my friends have been up to.
As my children are getting older, parenting issues are fast becoming another focus. No longer am I their main role model. Preschool and school, friends, teachers and coaches are all shaping their lives. Fun, exciting and a little bit scary times ahead.
I know - a long winded post without lots of pretty pictures. I'll include some pretty pictures next time :-)
So tell me, why did you start blogging?
I started blogging as I'm really bad at keeping a diary. I thought I would give blogging a try so that I could keep a record of what I made, holidays and just life in general. It's been great and I have stuck with it and am so glad as I have made lots of blogging friends and found lots of inspiration.
ReplyDeleteI started blogging to share my work with a wider audience. Because I work full time in a job that also requires extra work outside normal hours (a school teacher) I do not get the time to sew with other like minded ladies so thought this might be a good alternative! And boy, have I met some fabulous ladies who I now call friends!
ReplyDeleteit's my online sewing group...........I live in a remote area and blogging gives me a sounding board, support and assistance, inspiration and world wide friendships........
ReplyDeleteI originally made a website way back in the 90s when it was geocities or hand code (I coded it myself)... these days a blog is just a super easy (and lazy way since I"m a web developer by trade) for me to share stuff, get feedback and ask questions online. Too easy, since now I have so many blogs. I didn't want to lump everything in one and overwhelm people who may only want to follow my quilting stuff for example, so I split other topics off into other blogs.
ReplyDeleteIt is so handy to have the world at our fingertips these days!!
You're story is similar to mine, both my gran and my mum were knitters and my mum made lots of clothes. She had a group of friends who met up every tuesday night where they would knit, cut out patterns etc. I used to love helping to lay out the fabric and watching them pinning and cutting. They still meet up every Tuesday - at least 39 years later! I've only started quilting and sewing in the last few months although I've always enjoyed crafty stuff. I found myself in a similar situation with 2 young kids and looking for something to do for myself. I signed up for a local class in Jan and I love it! I've since discovered all the amazing blogs which are so inspiring and I'm thinking about maybe starting a blog myself although feeling a bit shy about it!
ReplyDeleteI originally started blogging as a way to share my digital scrapbook pages with the scrapbook community.
ReplyDeleteBack then there weren't many Aussie mummy bloggers, so my community was the US mommies!
I started for a number of reasons, to make a general post for family all around the world to keep up with my family...instead of multiple emails. Then to show my new items for my etsy shop, which I don't really do anymore. Then I journal on my blog. Lastly, I'm following/quilting now. It's fun!
ReplyDeleteGreat post.
Good morning...well;my reason is different. My daughter-in-law suggested it as a way to get my work out there. I have quilted and sold them for a number of years. My mother-in-law taught me. Little did I know that I was joining a world of quilters...lol. But I am addicted. \
ReplyDeleteI have had so much fun blogging the past few months; I can't stop now...met so many lovely people along the way....
And after 25+years of quilting; I am still learning so many things from all of the young people on here;an the older ones as well. It is a treat every morning to get up and connect with all of you.
I started blogging when I joined Don't Look Now's joes coat quilt along, I haven't finished that quilt but I sure am hooked on blogging! It is like my personal sewing diary, I don't write much about my family going ons, just mostly crafty things. And I love blog surfing, seeing what everyone else is doing and getting inspired and sometimes intimidated. It is great!
ReplyDeleteI started becasue a knitting firiend had a blog, it looked interesting, I liked reading other blogs, and I like writing. My blog was mostly about my knitting, very occasionally about other things.
ReplyDeleteI stopped for seven months because I was working 50+ hours a week on the Internet researching my mother's family history as a Christmas present.
I started again for myself - I blog about all my activities (including knitting), a real "web log". One day my grandchildren might read it and find out who their Grandmum was, and what made her happy (or not). The bonus is that people read my posts and some leave comments, which I, like most bloggers, love to get and read.
For the fun of it - and to help me keep a journal of my crafty adventures. So that the probability of me actually finishing the things I start increases :)
ReplyDeleteBest wishes,
Berit
So many different reasons... I just like trying new things and now I have made some such special friends..... and I love the sharing of ideas...
ReplyDeleteHugz
I'd tried facebook and I'd tried msn chat and my old computer then didn't like either as there was too much for it to process. DD had me change my hotmail address for a gmail one so she could talk to me on google talk when she went to Uni and that's how I discovered blogger and all those tutorials on almost anything I wanted to know. So I started a blog too. No tutorials yet on mine though!
ReplyDelete