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I started the Quilter's Cache in 1997 as
a one page tribute to my favorite pastime of quilting. I envisioned
it and sketched as an ALL ORANGE page, using MS Paint...sent it on
to my then beau, now hubby, Joe, who made it into a web page. At
that time, I couldn't find many patterns online, and thought it
would be SO COOL to draw a pattern every month...and from that
humble beginning sprang this monstrosity we now know as the
Quilter's Cache...which now has all sorts of Instructional Pages,
and hundreds of free patterns, all of which are hand drawn, well
mouse drawn, without the use of any quilt programs :o)
At that time, the Cache was a part of my group of five
personal web pages, which are housed on Geocities.com . My personal
pages are still there( well they WERE in 2001, when this was
written)...BUT....The Cache was growing!...and
Geocities only offered 10 meg of space...so, in 1998 we moved to xoom.com, which was then taken over by NBCi.com. Xoom offered
"Unlimited Space"....doesn't that sound great???!!.and the
Cache was growing....{ picture looking through a microscope at cells
replicating...you get the picture?} We had outgrown Geocities, and
then, amazingly...we outgrew NBCi as well! By this time, I was
adding a pattern nearly every day, and each pattern being very
graphics intensive, this all took bandwidth to download and view.
...so...in 2000 we went to our first paying server, a virtual host.
That means, my site and several others were housed on one server.
..and the Cache was still growing! In March of 2001 we were
mentioned in Country Living Magazine, and got such a response to
this that our bandwidth requirements exceeded what the virtual
server could support...in other words...we blew them off the web,
literally!...time to shell out some cash for the Cache, Marcia!...so
we moved the entire site, then including over 10,000 graphics and
250 patterns and pages to a dedicated server, one that houses only
the Cache!.. .and we are STILL GROWING!
At some point, this became more than just a quilting web
page, an entity in its own right! We have viewers and followers all
over the world! There's a sense of family amongst us, and it's more
than I ever could have dreamed! :o) Through my Letters from Mamabear
column, you have been there with me as all of this has
unfolded...you knew when the skunk came in my kitchen, and I knew
when your first grandchild was being born, and what quilt they would
receive. You were with me when I got married, and when my daughter
graduated from high school, and I helped you learn to quilt when you
retired. I gave you that quilt pattern that wrapped your sister when
she had breast cancer, and you held me up when I first had my
patterns "stolen". Maybe quilters have ALWAYS been
family...we surely are here on the Cache!
Now all of this is going to go even a step further, as I
embark on my biggest dream, seeing the Quilter's Cache patterns
published in book form! The proceeds of this book, and the
volumes that will follow, will pay for the dedicated server the site
is now on, and allow me to continue making new free patterns! This
is all such a JOY for me! Wish me luck with this one!!( Sadly...no
book still...but what the hey...the Adventure has been worth many!)
In 2001, I gave up my "real Job" to work
on THIS real job! The job of making Free patterns! Many folks
don't understand this move...to me, it makes perfect sense...I feel
as though this IS my Niche!
2002...what an exciting year!!...I was contacted by
Jean Ann Wright for Quilt magazine, about having some quilts in the
magazine, and shortly thereafter about having patterns in EVERY
Issue! At the SAME time, Marcus Brother Fabrics asked if I
would make a quilt for them showcasing the America Hurrah
fabric Line! This quilt went on tour, and also appeared on their
website. I was flying high about all of this, I'll tell you! I also
wrote another pattern for them, for a Katie Pasquini quilt
pattern, and made another traditional quilt that appeared on their
site :o)
Now in 2003 I've
added several features to the site, among them a Donations button,
so folks can contribute to the server expenses if they would like,
and the Quilter's Cache Tiny Store which is rolling out with QC
items for sale, but will later also include a wide variety of items,
including whole Quilt Patterns! The store is not open, currently.
...whole quilt patterns for sale started in December of 2003! This is exciting!! So
many folks have written asking for whole quilt yardages, so I hope
this will fill that need :o)
This story will be ongoing...and I thank-you ALL for being
as part of it!!
Marcia
:o) ...
and OF COURSE...It's an MH PAPER! :o) |