Youtube: Channel, Videos and Playlists, oh my!

Do you watch the videos on my Youtube channel or do you watch them through my blog posts? If you're a subscriber to my Youtube channel, you automatically receive new content each week – you don't even have to go looking for them, any time a new video is released, you'll receive an email to let you know there is a new one to watch. If you don't watch my videos on Youtube, you may not be aware of how the content is organized.

You may think that I post videos on my Youtube channel willy-nilly and there isn't any easy way to find a video on a specific topic, other than scrolling down through a large list of videos. This just isn't the case!  I have developed playlists to categorize my videos and make it easy for my subscribers to quickly find videos on specific subjects. I often post a series of videos and it's so much easier to find all of them in one playlist.

Let me explain how this works. I'll walk you through how to find and use playlists and I'm assuming that you're going to Youtube on a laptop or computer, rather than a mobile device, as it looks a bit different if you're looking for the playlists on those devices. When you go to my Youtube channel – you're going there now, right? -  you'll see several choices along the top menu, such as Home (where you currently are, but perhaps not where you're reading this blog post!), Videos, Playlists, Channels, etc.

This is a portion of what you'll see on the home screen of my Youtube channel

The one you're interested in is "Playlists", so just click on it now. This will take you to the Playlists page, where you can see the different playlists, or categories, of videos. If you click on the "All Playlists" on the left side of the screen under the main menu, you will see a list of the playlists that are available and can access any of the playlists from here.

Now you're on the Playlists area of my Youtube channel

If you don't click on the "All playlists" dropdown menu, you will notice that there are thumbnails and playlists under "Playlists by Chatterboxquilts". Click on the "Hand Embroidery and Stitchery" playlist to be taken to 15 videos about this subject (each playlist has a different number of videos depending on how many there are for that particular category).

You'll see a list of all the videos in this playlist on the right side of your screen. You can either let the videos play automatically or select the video you'd like to view. 

The videos in the playlist will play automatically or you can select a specific video from the right sidebar.

New videos are added to the appropriate playlist and I will create new playlists if I'm starting a new series of videos on one specific subject.

I hope that this helps to explain the categorization of the videos on my Youtube channel and makes it easier for you to find the one, or two, or three in which you are interested. 

Creatively,

Telecast Thursday - Quilting When You're Ready

Welcome to another episode of Telecast Thursday! Today's video is for those of you who, like me, have a few WIP's in the house. You know, those quilt tops that you were so excited to create, but then got distracted by another project before you could quilt them. Okay, maybe I'm the only one who has more than 10 quilt tops waiting in the queue to be quilted (although I doubt it!).

A few Easter quilts waiting for quilting - still.

Pumpkin table runner needs a bit of quilting.

Hearts Abloom still not quilted, but will be soon!

While I used to feel guilty about all these not-quite-quilts-yet that are stacked up in my studio, I realized that there is a good reason why these haven't yet been quilted. Watch the video to find out what this reason is.

You can watch the video below or on my Youtube channel.

I hope this video has made you feel better about the UFO's in your studio! Drop me a note to let me know how many you currently have.

Subscribe to my Youtube channel to receive automatic notifications when new videos are posted. You can also click on the Chatterbox Quilts logo in the lower right corner on the video itself to subscribe. If you like what you see, please share my videos with your fellow creatives.

Creatively, 

Quilt Show Season 2015

Recently I've been attending quilt shows - it is that time of year, isn't it? 

In case you couldn't tell there was a quilt show on that day

Every year I look forward to going to Heritage Park Festival of Quilts held at Heritage Park here in Calgary. The best part is that it is so close to home, that it allows me more time for viewing the marvellous quilts there - and to pick up some items from the many vendors!

Quilt at the gates of Heritage Park welcomed you to the show.

As this venue is outdoors, the weather can make or break the show. This year the weather was stellar - blue skies and warm temperatures - a perfect quilt show day!

I attended the show with my daughter and we both enjoyed the day (Sarah even fitting in some of the rides while we were there, and the bakery, of course!).

The Merchants' Mall - always my first stop at this show!

Some of the quilts are displayed outside under cover of tents (please excuse the colour quality of these photos), while others are arranged inside the historic homes. 

I hope you enjoy viewing some of the many quilts that were on display that day. 

If you see one of your quilts on display, please let me know and thank you for contributing to a wonderful day at the Heritage Park Festival of Quilts.

Creatively,

Changes to the Chatterbox Quilts' Blog

I've recently made a few additions to my blog and website of which I wanted you to be aware. No major changes, just a few additions that I hope will be helpful for my readers.

I'm still getting used to blogging on Squarespace and realized that there isn't an easy way to find blog posts on a certain subject, for example, quilting. I've added a block to the blog sidebar where you can now find all of the blog posts on a specific subject. You'll now see "Click to Display Blog Categories" at the top of the right sidebar.

This is what you'll now see at the top of the blog sidebar on the right side.

You can now click this and a dropdown menu will appear with various subjects in it. You'll also find the number of blog posts on each subject in brackets next to the category. You can click on the desired category and all of the posts on that subject will appear. Just like magic!

When you click on the down arrow, you'll see the various subject categories as well as the number of blogposts about those subjects.

There is another way to find blog posts in a specific category if you are reading a blog post. You'll note that there is a date and a category under each blog post title, such as "July 1, 2015 in Quilting". If you click on the category (Quilting, in this case), it will bring up all of the blog posts on quilting.

You'll see the category next to the date that the blogpost was published. Go ahead and click on it to bring up all the blogposts in this category.

You'll see "Articles in Quilting" at the top of the list of blog posts, so you'll know which category in which these blog posts appear.

You'll see "Articles in ..." whatever subject you've clicked on.

I hope that you'll find this feature helpful and that it makes it easier to search for blog posts on a specific subject.

I've also made a few changes in the "Free Stuff" area of the website (if you can come up with a better name for this page, please let me know). I now have Embroidery Tutorials and Fabric-y Tutorials (which is anything other than embroidery tutorials) in this section of the website. I've added videos to the content on these pages and will continue to update them with the most recent videos in these areas.

Check out the Store page while you're looking through the website as I've recently added a few more new patterns to it.

If you have any suggestions for my website, please let me know. 

Creatively,

Telecast Thursday - Crazy Strips Quilt

It's Telecast Thursday! Join me this week for some modern, wonky quilting. 

I was recently going through the modern quilting books in my library and found a pattern in Quilting Happiness by Diane Gilliland and Christina Lane, that I wanted to make. 

I never completely follow the instructions on any pattern, and this one was no exception. Rather than making the quilt in two fabrics as it is in the book, I decided to use two background fabrics and then throw in some fat quarters that I had recently purchased. 

Two fabrics - a light and dark - for the background fabrics

Here are the fat quarters that I used - fun and happy prints!

I used fabrics that I already had in my stash for the entire quilt top - and gave myself a pat on the back! Find out how my version will look and some tips about the construction process in the video.

You can watch it below or on my Youtube channel.

Subscribe to my Youtube channel to receive automatic notifications when new videos are posted. You can also click on the Chatterbox Quilts logo in the lower right corner on the video itself to subscribe. I hope you enjoy my videos and will share them with your fellow creatives.

Creatively,