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2009 in Review
If you're new here, welcome! True Up is a blog dedicated to fabric. If you'd like to read about fabric news, get educated on fabric types and design, and ogle over gorgeous fabrics new and old on a regular basis, please consider subscribing to the RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Hey! Happy New Year! Thank you SO much for reading and commenting and sponsoring and just being part of this whole crazy ride. Running this site has been a complete blast and I’m so thankful that I get to do it. And special thanks to Mary Beth, who came to my rescue to cover the Spring Quilt Market, and agreed to stay. The site might not have survived without her wit and general awesomeness. It’s because of her I now switch randomly between first person singular and the editorial “we.” I hope you’ll excuse me/us for the stylistic transgressions.
Anyway. How about a wrapup of 2009?
Probably the most popular post of the year was My Big Digital Fabric Printing Experiment. In fact, all the posts in Digital Printing Week were great fun — I still reference 20 Ideas for Digital Fabric Printing.
One of my favorite things to research and write are Fabric Study posts. This year we all learned about Spandex, Rayon, Silk, Wool Felt, Gingham.
And we published a few source roundups. We are going to make bunches more of these and make them a more prominent part of the site when we redesign this year. But so far there’s organic fabric, wool felt, and vintage fabric.
We hosted several blog tours. We love these not only because of the rock star factor but because we get to take the day off … so keep them coming, publishers and manufacturers! And thanks again to Rashida Coleman (I ♥ Patchwork), Meg McElwee (Sew Liberated), Katherine Bell (Quilting for Peace), Betz White (Sewing Green), Heather Ross (Weekend Sewing), Maria Peagler (Color Mastery) …
Designer interviews (which now have their own category!) began in earnest this year, and there are sure to be plenty more in 2010. This year we welcomed Tula Pink, Patty Young, Paula Prass, Jennifer Paganelli, Laura Gunn, Erin McMorris, Patricia Bravo, Bari J., Valori Wells, Joel Dewberry, Josephine Kimberling (parts 1 and 2), Anna Maria Horner, and Lizzy House.
And, of course, there was the fabric — it’s certainly been the most amazing, overwhelmed-with-choices year in fabric offerings yet. This year I’m going to ask YOU to name your favorites — stay tuned tomorrow for details. For now, here’s to a happy, prosperous, peaceful, lively, healthy, and of course fabric-filled 2010!
Merry Christmas!
The internet has slowed down to a crawl this week, so I guess I’ll take the cue too and sign off till Sunday. I just finished the one and only thing I managed to make this Christmas season — this yo-yo wreath. What do you think? Too much? Not enough? Just right? I’d like to thank this knot, without which all that hand-stitching would not have been possible.
So, a very merry Christmas to you and yours, if that’s your holiday of choice. My warmest wishes for a peaceful holiday. See you again in a few days!
Blog Tour Delay in Takeoff
Hey all! We’re sure you’re here looking for our interview with Meg McElwee of Sew Liberated on the occasion of her new book from Interweave Press of the same name. We’re experiencing some engineering difficulties, so please sit back, relax, visit the duty free shop, don’t storm the counter … we’ll be boarding as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience.
(In the meanwhile, visit Meg’s blog today and leave a comment for your chance to win a copy of the book and host the final stop of the blog tour. Same goes with Rashida’s blog — Rashida and Meg are co-touring, and we’ll have Ms. I Heart Linen/I Heart Patchwork here on Monday!)
Here’s the tour schedule:
Saturday, Dec. 12: Rashida on In the Studio with Cate
Sunday, Dec. 13: Meg on In the Studio with Cate
Monday, Dec. 14: Rashida right here on True Up!
Tuesday, Dec. 15: Meg on Apron-iCity.com
Wednesday, Dec. 16: Rashida on FabTalk
Thursday, Dec. 17: Meg on Grosgrain Fabulous
Friday, Dec. 18: Rashida Twitter event – Noon EST on Twitter with @iheartlinen
Friday, Dec. 18: Meg on Living Life as Art
Saturday, Dec. 19: Meg on CraftyPod.com
Sunday, Dec. 20: Rashida on Zakka Life
Monday, Dec. 21: Meg on Craftsanity
Monday, Dec. 21: Rashida on Craft Critique
Tuesday, Dec. 22: Rashida on all buttoned up
Wednesday, Dec. 23: Meg on maya*made
Thursday, Dec. 24: Designer-to-Designer: Rashida and Meg interview each other on their respective blogs
Monday, Jan. 4, 2010: Blog Tour Winners’ Posts – location to be announce
Welcome to Book Month
2009 was sure a fantastic year for craft books, wasn’t it? Over the next two weeks we’ll be running reviews of all the recent textile and pattern-related titles we could get our hands on.
You might notice that we will be linking profusely to Amazon. As you might know, we receive a small commission if you follow a link and buy something (anything — it doesn’t have to be the book to which we link). BUT, I’ll be donating all of December’s referral fees to Caritas of Austin, an organization here in Austin that provides food, shelter, education, and employment for people experiencing poverty. So go crazy!
True Up Interview + Special Sale
Just a quick note to point you here: Sondra of Contemporary Cloth turned the tables and interviewed me. She is also offering a special coupon code for True Up readers: 25% (!) off your order (10-20% off fiber artists) with code trueup now through Friday, October 9. And you can sign up for the CC email newsletter for new arrivals and sales. Thanks so much, Sondra!
Author Introduction: Mary Beth
Thought I’d pop in and (re-)introduce myself — you’ll be seeing more contributions from me here on True Up, and some people like to know who it is what’s talkin’ to ‘em. So hello! I’m Mary Beth.
When last we spoke, I was waxing rhapsodic about my Quilt Market fabricoma and giving you peeks at upcoming fabric lines. I may have intimated that I was going to propose to Amy Butler. And I very likely said something about Kokka that involved the words “drool” and “rouse me if my head hits the floor.”
So. To tell you a little about myself: I’m a self-taught sewing enthusiast; I adore thrift stores; I feel a special affinity for vintage fabric that looks like it came from your mother’s linen closet; and I play fast and loose when it comes to tea. (I don’t even know what that means. I like tea. I might be drinking some right now. That is all.)
(I should also tell you that I may have a parenthetical addiction. I am trying to quit.)
So. I should also tell you that I say “so” a lot. Just so’s you’re warned.
Birthday Boy.
Taking the day off today to heap love on my guy. And make cupcakes. See you Sunday!
True Up Is 1.
One year ago today, on Tax Day, I launched True Up. I can’t believe it’s been a year already and that I’ve managed to write posts nearly six days a week!
I’m not doing anything fancy to celebrate, no big giveaways or announcements (though there are plenty of those in store for the future). I spend lots of time fretting over unfinished (and unwritten!) to-do lists and thinking of all the things I could and should be doing with the blog and the business. But today, I just wanted to take time to think of where I started and how far I’ve come, to thank YOU for reading, and to thank all the past and current sponsors for their support. I’m so fortunate to have met all you, either online or in person. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, True Up would not be possible without your support and words of encouragement.
Me and My Boys.
I also want to express my eternal gratitude to my family. Maintaining the site takes up more time than I ever anticipated, and it has been a struggle to do it all at once. Thank you putting up with me and supporting me in the pursuit of my dreams.
Let’s take stock of this first year, shall we?
Fabric Study has been one of my favorite topics to write about. So far I’ve covered weaves and a few different fibers — linen, rayon, and barkcloth. A silk series is coming later this month, wool is down the road, and there’s still plenty to write about plain old cotton.
I’ve loved sharing tutorials and talking to artists about surface pattern design: this post on pattern directionality, written with the help of Michelle Engel Bencsko, is one of my favorites.
I’ve had the privilege to interview many inspiring, brilliant, and hardworking people: Anna Maria Horner, Lizzy House, Patricia Bravo of Art Gallery Fabrics, textile design student Aurora Fox, Kimberly Niesz of Niesz Vintage Fabric, Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr of FunQuilts, Jan DiCintio of Daisy Janie. And then there’s my ongoing meet the sponsors series, providing fascinating (to me, anyway!) little “behind the bolts” peeks into the lives of fabric retailers. I’ve also loved taking a back seat for the day and letting authors on blog tours take over: Heather Ross, Betz White, and Maria Peagler have all been my esteemed guests. I’ve only scratched the surface of people I’d like to interview and host, so look forward to plenty more of that. Lastly but not leastly, I was honored to be interviewed by Sew, Mama, Sew!, and interview my own self via SMS’s stash interview meme.
Speaking of memes, for some reason my attempt at one (your favorite fabric ever) was kind of a dud. Too hard to pick a favorite? Not enough readers at that point? Who knows … (wait, I said I’m not beating myself up today!)
Some of my most successful posts, on the other hand, have been my own original tutorials: Three Signs of a Cluttered Stash and 10 Steps to a Decluttered Stash. And then one I merely reposted: How to Care for Vintage Fabric – 36 Tips by Nan Jaeger of Revival Fabrics. (See a pattern here? As Problogger says, use a number in your post title, watch the links roll in. Well, I hope there is good information to back it up, too!)
As weird and maybe trivial as it might seem, I do believe True Up has also become the source for breaking fabric industry news, gossip, and controversies. To wit: Amazon buys Fabric.com, Heather Ross to leave fabric design, Westminster to Adopt MAP Policy (which was quickly scrapped).
I’ve (gasp) left my computer screen and actually made some field trips: to the Fall Quilt Market 2008, where I met nearly everyone I could ever hope to meet, and got head-spinningly inspired. And though the main purpose of the week I spent in San Francisco was to go to my sister-in-law’s clifftop wedding, I also got to take a mini textile tour with the most wonderful Lisa Solomon.
And of course, there have been oodles of my “workhorse” posts: new fabric collection previews, Sale Alert Sundays, Show-Us-Your-Stashes (which has kind of gone by the wayside but is due for a triumphant return), indie designer spotlights, and Daily Swatches. It’s become my goal to be an exhaustive catalog/archive of all the great new and old fabrics that I love, and I hope that I’ve become your reference of choice to keep up with new releases, trends, and information.
Here is to another year, another 853 posts, another 3,456 comments, another 2,000 subscribers … and of course, to more fabric. Now, bring on the cupcakes!
Recent Press!
True Up has been featured in a few places recently. In case you missed it:
Sew Mama Sew named True Up a “Site We Love” (I love you back!) and did an interview with me. I knew Sew Mama Sew was big, but I didn’t know HOW big — all my site traffic records were blown out of the water the day the interview was posted! Have you been bookmarking their Handmade Holidays posts like crazy, like I have?
The Craft Mentality Podcast mentioned True Up and the Sunday Sale Alerts in their episode #9. Warning, boobies!
Anne Harris wrote about True Up and Dioramarama on my former employer The Austin Chronicle’s design blog, Chronique.
You’ve probably been seeing Interweave Press‘ special issue magazine Stitch all over the craft blog world, and for good reason … it’s basically craft blog goodness in magazine form (except craft blogs can’t give you full-scale skirt patterns, which Stitch does). The premiere issue has 25 inspiring sewing projects, including a quilt by Malka Dubrawsky of a Stitch in Dye, plus articles on organic fabrics, Spoonflower, Hable Construction, Natalie Chanin, Clothkits, Oliver + S, and even a blurb about me! Look for future issues published quarterly in 2009.
See? Proof!
Thanks SO much to everyone for featuring little old me. This is a small-time operation, done while my son naps, and I don’t have much time to publicize … so I really appreciate when others do it for me!
True Up Seeks Posse
Quilt Market was a big opportunity for me to increase the True Up audience, so I ordered 500 business cards from Overnightprints.com to help promote the site. I was going to challenge myself to get rid of all of them. Unfortunately, I waited too long to place the order, which forced me to have them shipped directly to my hotel in Houston. Stupid, stupid me, I was one digit off on the ZIP code so they never made it there. After much back and forth they were finally delivered to me last week.
Hopefully I can turn lemons into lemonade here. Can I put you to work? I’d love to mail you a short stack of my business cards to distribute to fabric loving friends and family, customers, local shop owners, whomever you see fit. Just email me your mailing address (my email address is on the card above). I will try to make it worth your while, though exactly how I don’t know yet!
Thank you so much!
Oh and: the cards are a glimpse of True Up v.3, which will happen whenever I get the time to redesign!
Happy Halloween!
Happy Halloween, folks! I’ll be back next week with more Quilt Market reports — I haven’t even touched Westminster/Freespirit yet, and I’ve also got a post about the process of buying fabrics at Market with Diane of Bee Square Fabrics. Above is a tiny peek at next year’s Halloween fabrics from Alexander Henry. Below, Trick or Treat, a Japanese fabric from Superbuzzy.
Just a Note …
Sale Alert Sunday and The Daily Swatch are on vacation this week so I can concentrate on Quilt Market recaps. I’ll still be putting extra-noteworthy sales up on Twitter, though.
Advertise on True Up
I am now accepting advertisers on True Up. Please check out the available ad sizes and download the rate sheet. Your ad will reach thousands of fabric and textile fans/addicts and support my continued efforts to share fabric news and inspiration six days a week.
Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. Thank you very much for your consideration!
True Up on Twitter
I’ve started a Twitter account for True Up to give me a place for quickie posts, sale alerts that can’t wait till Sundays, and not-strictly-fabric-for-fabric’s-sake topics. Follow me if you’re a Twitterer too.
I’m using the Wordpress plugin Twitter Tools to create a daily weekly digest post of my tweets (Twitter posts) here on the blog. Hopefully it works! (Edited to add: It hasn’t very well, but hopefully that’s fixed now.) So if you want to read these tweets and you’re already a regular visitor or RSS subscriber, you don’t have to do anything. I won’t even be hurt if you don’t follow me on Twitter — that way you won’t have to read everything twice!
Vay-cay
I’m currently on vacation in San Francisco, CA and looking forward to visiting all the textile points-of-interest (any recommendations?). So no posts until late this week. See you then!
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