2021 proved to be a year that was rewarding but full of challenges as I was determined to set up my new website.
I think you reach a point in your life where you take stock and reassess what you want , what you would like and how / if you can achieve it. Having children is wonderful but also all consuming, so much so that certainly in my case you carry on doing whatever you need to do to look after them both in nurturing terms and financial terms staying in the same " safe" job that then means years have slipped by and you think where did the time go and why did I do that job which had become boring for so long. I wished that I had pursued my real interest / hobby in a capacity that could fulfill me a lot earlier.
One day in 2020, I announced to my daughter that I was going to write a blog and wanted to set up a website. I said this probably a few times more after which I think she felt that it was just pie in the sky and it wasn't going to happen. I can admit I had no clue how to do either. I looked at the references that my daughter had given me but again they didn't make much sense, so on mentioning it to her again she tried a bit of reverse psychology on me telling me I was never going to do it.
A few years earlier I had gone to college to do a course in childcare and I have always held something that my tutor said in high regard. She was always of the belief that if you set your mind to do something that you really want to do, you'll do it. At the time she was wanting to place a bet for the grand national. She'd never placed a bet in her life but she thought it can't be that hard and after a bit of research, she did it and felt proud of herself for finding out how to do it. That really stuck with me. I thought it was admirable and I wanted to think like that and that is how I live my life now.
The early lockdown of 2020 gave me the opportunity and time to to a bit of research about best and easy website providers to use. I knew that I wanted my website to be based on my love of sewing, in particular quilting and started to set it up. Having done nothing like this before, it seemed completely alien to me and again asked my daughter for help. I'd already set up a logo for Ruby In The Dust but then trying to get this, the banner and the rest of the content, text and images set up seemed impossible. I remember that Sunday morning very well. She was having trouble trying to set up the banner and we left it that I'd try to do it later. Despair at this point could have set in but my tutor's words rang in my ears.
After a few days, I'd decided to roll up my sleeves and get to it. I found an instructional video on You Tube and slowed the speed down to 0.5 and put subtitles on and proceeded to put together my website bit by bit learning as I went and driving my family mad in the process by the slow slurring speech of the man that was presenting the video as I played it over and over again.
Slowly it all came together. I decided that I would feature a range of applique quilts that I had made as my first collection. Everything seemed a challenge. Photos had to be a particular size - boy that proved difficult! I can be somewhat of a perfectionist which can be irritating to say the least so every picture, text box or graphic had to be as good as I could get it.
The process that nearly finished me off was getting patterns on my website to sell as PDF's. Embedding codes, Head HTML's and PDFs were whirring around my head for about 3 weeks in total. That gave me a serious headache but that light bulb moment when I realised I'd worked it out was amazing and I think I looked like a Cheshire cat for the rest of the day!
I actually published my website by mistake. To my horror I had pressed the big green button that said PUBLISH. What a dingbat! To my relief, I found that I could take it offline and dot the i's and cross the t's so to speak.
It was a very proud moment for me personally when the website finally went live in September 2021. It had been a Herculean task at times but I had that real sense of achievement that I had done it. I'm glad in a way that my daughter found it difficult that Sunday morning because I can honestly say I did it!
I loved designing my collection of quilts, writing the patterns and seeing positive responses to them on social media. I'm pleased that I have had 3 orders which may not seem many to other quilters but you have to start somewhere and for me for 3 months, I'm happy.
Onwards and upwards now. New designs are in my head, ideas are constantly coming to me. I've had a slight set back as I managed to break my foot and tore a ligament in November. My brain says yes but the practical side of it has been challenging. My husband has been sent out to my craft room ( a summerhouse in the garden) many times for this, that and the other colour of fabric whilst I was trying to put these ideas in motion. My sewing station has become my dining room table with a box alongside to rest my foot on.
So now to 2022, I'm looking forward to new challenges now. I think I'll take a break from ones that really tested my little brain cells quite so much but I am really excited to design, create and share new quilts as well as learning along the way.
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