Unless you yourself have spent hours working on a website you will think this post is absolutely crazy. I mean, you’ve been visiting us for a while, and you’ve seen “me” posting things here and there. And I do. I mean, I draw designs in EQ, I tweak graphics in Photoshop, I put my patterns together in Adobe InDesign, I create sections and pages and upload files here (Mambo powered). On average, I’d say I am pretty computer literate. For someone from my generation.
Not so when compared to my children. So I was a little apprehensive when my son and tech support Jared informed me at Christmas he was taking off a few days to go to the beach. And what could I say? That kid hasn’t taken a day off in years (literally)! So I put on a brave little smile, hugged him, gave him my blessing, and told him to go have some fun! While inside I quaked.
I have never had to update our frontpage or do any major “housekeeping” on this website. And what little I do is always after consulting with Jared. That’s our deal: I take care of the contents (the patterns, the tutorials, the writing, the graphics…) and he takes care of the backend. All those things you don’t necessarily see but that make a website work.
Seemingly, Jared had more faith in me than I did myself. After giving me what seemed like some extremely brief instructions (“it’s not that hard, Mom”), patting me on the back, and saying “you can do it,” he left me to my devices. It’s been an intense and on occasion somewhat lonely week. Meaning I miss him and realize how much I rely on him. That’s good, right? (I must tell him again how much I appreciate his wealth of knowledge.)
Yet I guess he was right. Today you would have found me glued to my computer mumbling things about “blocks and panels” that actually have nothing to do with quilting but with how this website is laid out. And in spite of all the trembling and quaking, I have managed to update this website and post all the new patterns and BOMs on the front page. It took me hours, where it would have taken Jared a mere minutes. But I did it!
Now I feel like a kid in a candy store: today I learned something new! What an absolute feeling of accomplishment! I am a godess!!! Oh, yes… thanks, Jare!
I am a self-learner. I taught myself to sew and to quilt. And I taught myself how to draw. I am learning how to dye my own fabrics and am dabbling with mixed media. I am a quilt designer and teacher, and design and publish my own line of quilt patterns. With this blog I would like to share the bits and pieces of my life.
3 Comments
Patterns
Submitted by Bonnie on Wed, 12/31/2008 – 22:01.
Hi Angie, I am as always so overwhelmed at the beautiful projects you bring and share with us. I think that you are undercharging for all of the work that you and your family do and that you should raise your yearly “dues”. I’m sure many others would agree with me and wouldn’t mind paying more each year.
Happy 2009 to you and your family.
Bonnie Miller Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Everyday we learn something new
Submitted by ipraragon on Thu, 01/01/2009 – 14:26.
Dear Angie:
That’s my favorite sentence: Everyday we learn something new, and we don’t know from whom, so, keep your eyes, mind and heart open…(It’s literally translated from my sentence in spanish, I hope is well.) Siempre he pensado que alguno de tus hijos te ayudaba con tu página como web master, es verdaderamente profesional, fácil de usar y tiene muchos “espacios”, y a todos es fácil entrar. Cuando paso de un tema a otro siento como estar en un palacio antiguo, con muchas habitaciones que dan a otras, a través de pasadizos, y en todos los ambientes hay algo interesante e inesperado. Además, sólo a Wonder Woman le daría tiempo para hacer todo lo que tú haces y además actualizar la página por tí sola. Felicitaciones a tu hijo, y ahora a tí por haber aprendido. Un feliz y productivo 2009 para todos ustedes.
Irene.
Untouched Talents
Submitted by carolredman (not verified) on Tue, 01/06/2009 – 00:19.
Angie,
I think everyone would agree that just by looking at your patterns, you have a great amount of untouched talent you don’t even know you have. I appreciate your sharing not only patterns with us, but also your other accomplishments like this. Keep going this way and you may start running webscreens around Jared. Pat yourself on the back and way to go.
Carol in SW Indiana, USA