On Monday, something unique and (hopefully) extremely awesome is happening from 1-2pm, EST: the first live, online webinar in the Color Me Quilter series is taking place. Let me tell you what this is.
I understand that you may be slightly skeeved or grumpy about the word “webinar.” I was both skeeved and grumpy when I first came into contact with it because it seemed trendy — goofy, even. But I was wrong to sniff at the webinar because as it turns out, webinars are great. I’ve taken a bunch of them and I love them.
A webinar is a seminar on the web. (You probably figured that out.) But what you may not know is that the seminars of days past, the ones you saw in college or at “a function,” they were rather dry and you had to sit in a darkened classroom or lecture hall try to not fall asleep. The Internet has changed all that. Now, seminars — webinars! — can be viewed by you in your fuzzy slippers at home, the best of them are bright and fast-moving, full of juicy content, and they are interactive. That’s right: you can ask the person leading the seminar (in this case, me) questions and stuff, while it’s all happening.
Quilters ask me again and again, “How do I choose fabric?” and that question is first answered in regard to color. The color value and its level of contrast in regard to other fabrics, the scale of the print — this is fundamental stuff when you’re making a quilt and you know what? I can help you. I know this stuff.
One Color Me Quilter webinar is one hour. There will be one each month for the next year. (You don’t have to buy them all or anything, don’t worry.) Each month, I focus on a different color — I thought it would be fun to set it up like that and so far, it’s so engaging and interesting, other work has taken a backseat to my work on the show — do not tell my publisher this. The color that will kick off the whole series on Monday and part of the reason I’m geeking out? It’s my favorite color: red. I go through the dyeing process, red’s placement on the color wheel, how to “audition” different reds. You get quilt history. There are patterns to download. There are pitfalls examined and advice is given on how to avoid such things. Visually, it’s a feast. Informationally, it’s Thanksgiving dinner. Let me feed you red.
Do you want to join me? I hope so. It’s $19.99. NOTE: For me to earn my living, it is extremely important that you go to this link first to buy the webinar! You’ll see the list of “Mary Fons Presents” links there, which will take you to the purchase page at Fons & Porter. Being self-employed means any traffic I drive through my own website returns me more pennies on the dollar. Is it sexy to mention it? No. Is it me, lookin’ out for my pennies? Yes! (Remember, I have to buy groceries in Manhattan now. Do you have any idea how much butter costs in the East Village?? It’s not pretty.)
Thank you all. Hey, here’s that link again — you’ll want the first webinar listed, on “Red.” I do hope to see you on Monday, friends. You will like it.
Jan
Is there a way to purchase your webinar on a disk? Those of us in the rurals do not get high speed, so there is that whole buffering thing going on, and after a while, the dropping the link thing. So, there is no way I can purchase your class over the ‘net live. It would be throwing money down a gopher hole, and, it’s me watching my pennies! Thanks, Jan
Mary Fons
Hi, Jan!
After the webinar is live, it’s available as a download — so it’s like a video! You download it and then it’s just there on your computer to watch whenever you please. An excellent question. Thank you! 🙂 Mary
Jane B
It would be the same issue, with the webinar or as a download. Service takes too long and just stops. That’s why she is asking for a disk. It’s the internet connect that is the troublemaker.
Taylor
One of my first realizations about how quilting might actually be cool was a segment on Martha Stewart’s show a few years ago— she was doing a segment on an exhibition of solely red and white antique quilts. The post is still on her blog and contains 37 pictures of red and white glory…. A little treat to get you excited about red. 🙂
http://www.themarthablog.com/2011/03/infinite-variety-three-centuries-of-red-and-white-quilts.html
Mary Fons
NICE
Jo McCormick
Help! I know that your focus is on young modern quilters, but I’m a older seasoned quilter trying to survive 21st Century technology. I TRIED to watch your Webinar this afternoon, but I ran into a snag. I actually managed to get myself signed-up on line, and I anxiously awaited class time. The cat and I sat at the table staring at your title page for at least 15 minutes in anticipation. (I took a picture that I will e-mail to you.) The program came on and I was copiously taking notes and enjoying myself until you got to the part about red and white quilts, and then the PowerPoint Pictures just stopped progressing. I could still listen, but by the time you were explaining the color wheel and fabric choices, you had lost me. I thought I could just download it and watch it at a different time???? How do I do that? I really want to finish it!
Mary Fons
Hey, Jo! I’m going to get to the bottom of it — I’ll get your email along to the folks who will know, okay? Standby!
Mary Fons
Here you go, Jo — answers! From the producers…
“What a sweet lady, watching with her cat! You can let her know that she will be getting the recording in a couple of days and she can watch it again all the way through. If she has any technological problems at that time, she can contact customer service and they will help her through.”
Cool? Cool. Thank you so much for watching — I’m so glad you liked it! Even what you saw — wait till you see the whole thing, Jo! 🙂
Jo McCormick
Watch the entire Red Webinar! It was great! I’m all signed up for Pink now. A BIG Thank you to your staff who sucessfully solved my viewing problem, yeah!
Mary Fons
Hurray!! Jo, you da best. Enjoy the show tonight!
Mmmpink. | Mary Fons
[…] The webinar series I have begun is proving to be as educational and groovy as I thought it might be. The next installment is next week, Wednesday, June 24th. The time of the show right now is the afternoon, but do stay posted here and on Facebook: I think the time may change to accommodate those who wanted an evening time slot last time. Is that prime time?? I think it is! Very exciting. As always, you don’t have to watch the thing live; you can download it whenever you please and watch it whenever you please. […]