Modern Quilt Guild Webinar Review

Last night the Modern Quilt Guild (MQG) hosted yet another wonderful webinar. Shea Henderson, of Empty Bobbin Sewing Studio, gave a wonderful talk about the Ins and Outs of Pattern Writing. If you are a MQG member and would like to see previous webinars, you can find them on the Resources tab of the MQG community site (after you log in) by scrolling down to the “Creative Webinar Series” section. Some older webinars also exist under Forums > Webinars.

Modern Quilt Guild

If you are not a MQG member, I would like to say that it is really worth your consideration. I am an individual member as there are no guilds particularly near me (the closest is over an hour drive away). In the year that I have had my membership, I feel that the creative webinar series alone has been worth my money; let alone the early registration opportunity and membership discount for QuiltCon2015.

Some other webinars given in the past include:

• Showcasing Your Creations: How to Use Photography to Maximize Your Appeal by Vanessa Christenson
• Quilt Design a Day: Discovering Your Creative Process (AKA You are Creative!) by Anne Sullivan
• Improv with Intention by Cheryl Arkison
• Copyright, Trademark, and Quilting by Kristen Lejnieks
• Design Fundamentals of Modern Quilting by Heather Grant

I would like to talk a little bit more about the webinar from last night. I am amazed at the information that Shea shared. She freely gave a lot of awesome tips that she learned the hard way: by experience! I took a lot of notes and will definitely be thinking about a lot of the things she said. If you are a pattern writer or interested in writing quilt patterns, there is probably something (or lots of somethings) valuable for you in Shea’s webinar. It is really tempting for me to type up my notes from last night, but what was important and spoke to me might not be what you need to know. Seriously, go check out the webinar series if you can! (Side note: it takes up to 48 hours after the webinar event for the content to be available on the MQG website, so you might want to check for Shea’s talk this weekend.)

I think the thing that Shea said that will stick with me the most is: “You have a skill as a quilter. Value it!” She has very high regard for quilters, pattern testers, and pattern editors, and we should all have high regard for ourselves and our skills. Beyond just the wonderfully awesome tips, tricks, and suggestions that Shea offered for improving pattern writing, she really showed her passion and support for the hard work that this wonderful community does.

In closing, I am going to say that I have found a lot of wonderful inspiration via the quilting blog community, and being a MQG member has enhanced my quilting experience as well. Do you have any sources of inspiration and community you recommend?