TIMES they are a changing....and here we go!

The past 10 years has been a huge fast growth for my little blog! What began as a simple way for me to journal some embroidery seams...has leap frogged into a platform for announcing all of the free crazy quilt classes offered.

There is still so much more that I'd like to do. Like podcasts and videos...but Blogger is just not a great platform for that, too cumbersome. So, I've been holding off.

Plus, folks all work at various paces (which is very evident in the classes). Many sign up and about 60% always finish...then there are some that begin and get overwhelmed with the "blogging" aspect of it and frustrated. But, what to do?

Well, I'm going in new direction and I hope you'll consider coming along with me!

First off...my heart will always have a spot for new quilters that want to learn and traditional quilters that want to begin crazy quilting ECONOMICALLY...so, my classes will remain free. However, there will be fewer of them next year. I'll be putting the retired ones over on the Yahoo Group site at the end of this year for free download...just as I've done in the past.

If you are not familiar with the Yahoo Group...just scroll until you find the photo of the "rosebud" and click there. Put in your email address..and Yahoo will let me know you are interested in joining that group. I'll go and click "yes" and then you will have access. It's not a "chatting group"...just a place for me to dump any retired files and such. You can then just go to files and download whatever you want for your own use.

Secondly...I'm just plain "too old" to go back to work...but my hobby is taking a huge chunk of my time and my resources each day. So, I have to do something to correct this or give it all up. 

The problem is I have so many more ideas to get out of my head! More books (wait until you see the one in 2020...it will be spectacular; my C&T team is working on it now)! More patterns (applique quilts, standard quilts, crazy quilts...wool, fancy fabrics, batiks! Plus, I want to do more DIY little things as well. Like purses, organizers, needlebooks, etc.

I was not sure what to do until I saw a post from my cyber pal Mary Corbet of Needle'n'Thread...and her use of Patreon to help her with costs. So, I checked them out.

Wow! It's like an answer to my problem and a huge opportunity at the same time. I can establish a fan base that is seriously interested in what I do...and doesn't mind throwing a few pennies into the pot to help me do it. In exchange for that valued friendship and support...I can then direct specific benefits to them by gifting each with patterns, designs, etc. not available to the general public.

And, I can divide the group to help better understand their true needs and wants. Here's what I have done...and I hope you will go over to the new site and select a tier to join. You have my promise that I will return your support "ten fold" over this next year. 

My groups are defined as:

-- Basic Quilter - I see this person as a traditional quilter mostly who enjoys information on specific techniques and "how to" instructions.

-- Novice Quilter - More like myself, tired of the fast piecing methods and needs a bit more of a challenge...but still doesn't want to "think too much" about it either.

-- Crazy Quilter - Okay, this can be more than one definition...but I'm thinking "off the rails" wanting to experiment and do new things. Small projects and techniques are great and perhaps one large project a year.

So, given all of the above information (thanks for reading this far)...know that I'm going to be putting a lot of focus on support to my patrons in the next few months and transitioning my blog back to more of a traditional journal of "what's happening" with occasional notices still of classes. Next year, the Basic Course will be the only offering...but the Patrons will continually get new motif designs, patterns, instructional pamphlets, and much more!

The way I've set the tiers up is that the Basic Group will get patterns, etc. keyed to a more beginner level of expertise; the Novice Group will get all of these beginner level things plus more patterns, etc. keyed to a higher level of expertise; and the Crazy Group will get all of the beginner/novice level things plus designs, patterns, etc. for advanced level work. So, choose based on what you enjoy...or go "crazy" and just be prepared to download and save everything provided each month. The future posts at Patreon you see this year from me will be geared to the Tier you decide to sign up for. You can change tiers as the year progresses also.

So, Jump on over and check out my Shawkl Design Studio page at Patreon! (Just click the "Become a Patron" button at the top right hand corner of shawkl.com blog). That will take you to the new site...no commitment unless you join a tier group after reading everything. :)

Oh, and those of you that ARE willing to take the "crazy plunge" with me (Tier 3) and stick it out for a year...I pledge to you today, that you will get a free hard copy of my 2020 book when it releases next year. This is a special thanks...on top of the year full of creative content you'll be getting every month in 2019 after joining!.

Thank you for your continued support of my Crazy Journey!