Future Direction
In 2010 iQuilt will be undergoing some big changes. Due to technical and personal difficulties we have had problems publishing issues of iQuilt in the current format so we have decided that the format needs to be updated. We will still be publishing magazine issues and all the old issues will still be available but before we publish any more issues of the magazine we will be changing the website to a new format. Our aim is to be a quilting portal with lots of new features.
The first new feature will be a new home page. As articles come to hand an introduction, linking to the full article, will be published on the home page. This will include news, projects, techniques, profiles and all the other types of content we publish. Then on a regular basis these will be rolled into a magazine so the content, even when no longer new, can be easily accessed.
Another new feature will be some directories. Businesses as well as not for profit organisations will be covered by these directories. If you know of a business or a group that we should include you will be able to submit a listing for inclusion.
We are still exploring options for subscriptions but the current plan is that they will be purely time based giving access to all the exclusive content for a set period of time. The sort of content available to subscribers will be projects and techniques. However the projects, like all other content, will be published as they are sourced rather than waiting for an issue of the magazine to be published.
Another new feature we are planning is the option to buy a single project. So if you want a particular project but don't want to subscribe to the magazine you will be able to buy a copy of that project that is yours to access forever.
And this is just the beginning of what we have planned. But to give you some idea of future content below are a few upcoming projects and stories.
Early in 2010 we will bring you some clever quilts using fat quarter packs, jelly rolls and charm squares. “Olivias Quilt” has been made from a fat-quarter pack from the “Love is in the Air” range of fabrics, using split 9-patch blocks. This is a great project for working on colour and taking a more considered approach to making a “scrap” quilt.
Then we have a king size quilt that incorporates three side panels. The focus fabric for “Lorraine’s 50th” was selected by Lorraine (a Jacobean Rhapsody from A-Patchy Quilting), and then 50 – 60 related fabrics in dark, medium and light colours were chosen to create the multitude of strip pieced blocks. The blocks were then arranged in a tone-wash of dark through medium to light with the side panels finishing in medium tones. Every fabric represents some aspect of Lorraine’s life – things that only a best friend of thirty years could know.
We will be looking at the State of the Art Quilt '10 and the 25 quilts selected for exhibition by Dianne Firth, a gifted fibre artist and member of the tACTile group - starting at the Australiasian Quilt Convention in Melbourne. We'll be profiling a number of the artists over coming months.
Drag out the contents of your thread bags and all those bits and pieces in the “bag bin” and make yourself a funky scarf. We have two different creations as we roadtest some washaways that are currently on the market. We’ll have an article about the “The 1000 Cranes for Peace” project to remember Griff Ennion and how you can contribute to this worthwhile cause.
Looking forward to catching up again with you with our new look website,
Alison
|
