6 Facebook Tips for Quilters And How You Can Optimize Your Quilting Experience

Did you know that Facebook has 1.32 billion daily active users and is the most popular social media platform?

As a quilter, why would you want to be a part of it? I love it for many reasons. One is to keep up on the news in the industry. I knew immediately when Free Spirits fabric got bought out as an example.

I also adore it because I get to be connected with quilters across the world!  Some I have met first on facebook then eventually in real life!  Some I may never meet but interact daily with them, sharing the same passion - quilting!

Facebook gives you the opportunity to be a part of quilting groups, clubs, find quilting friends and follow leaders in the industry. It also allows you to share your quilts and your quilting journey with more than your local friends and guild.

Whether you are thinking about joining facebook, use it a bit, or a lot in your quilting life, read on to grab some fun tips to get the most out of facebook and quilting.

What is Involved

Have you never joined facebook but want to become involved, meet friends, see what the hype is all about? It is quite simple to do.
You start by creating a profile/account for yourself. It will walk you through all the steps.

You can give more or less information, so do keep that in mind. Go here to find out the steps to create an account.

Let's just get right to the privacy issues. As a quilter, unless you have a facebook page that is public, I do recommend that you put some privacy settings on your profile. As an example set it up that when you post, only friends see it, so the whole world of facebook doesn't see what you are up to. You can always change these settings later, or for individual posts.
Once you have created your profile, you are officially on facebook!

How to Find Friends

Go to the white bar at the right top of the page and search for friends names.
As an example, I typed in my husband's name... I had to go and 'unfriend' him to demonstrate this. heehee
After I typed the name in the search bar, a bunch of names would come up and I would click on the blue lettered name to see if that is in fact my friend, if the profile picture was not of them. Sometimes quilters put pictures of quilts instead of themselves, and once I went to his profile and recognized some of his posts or some of his friends I could hit 'Add Friend' from his profile page or right here as I know it is him.

Continue adding friends to your profile!

Messaging

If you are on a person's profile page or on a business page, this is also where you can message people by hitting the 'message' button. I use this feature alot, as you don't have to be friends with them to send a message.

You can also see if you have messages or send messages by the button on the top right of the blue bar at the top of your screen.
Do you see the little blue bubble with the lightning bolt in the middle? If I had a message this would have a red number 1 beside it. If I want to send a message I can hit that button and look up people as well to send a message too. All your messages are kept and you can find them in 'Messenger' a tab on the left side.

See the world circle with the number 1 in the pic above,  this is my notifications and shows me that since I was last on facebook,  one thing has happened such as someone liked my post, or commented, etc.

Beside the 'Home' tab with the 2 people is the 'Friends Request' tab, so if someone has asked to be your friend, a little number will show up. You can also find friends here too. Facebook looks at your current friends and makes recommendations to you off of their friend lists.

The question mark circle is your help button, I use this frequently. Lastly the little flower type dial is your settings. This is a good place to explore. You will find much information here to help you make facebook work for you.

What is News Feed and Timeline?

On the blue header or bar at the top right you will see your name and the Home button. The Home is where your 'feed' is and shows you all the posts your friends have made or pages you have decided to follow or any posts from groups you joined. It will be a constant changing feed.
Your name is  your 'timeline'.  If you click on that it will show you all the posts you have created, and any posts you are tagged in.

How to Post on Facebook

You can create your own post easy and show what you are working on by uploading a picture or simply ask a question or make a statement. Do remember you can upload videos and many pictures.
You can do this by writing in the post box in the middle top of your facebook page.

You can upload a photo where it says 'Photo/Video' and see on the bottom right beside post, I have it set to 'friends'. Once you have typed in the white box and uploaded a pic or not, hit 'Post' and voila, you have created a post to share with your friends.

How Do I Follow Businesses I Like

Businesses have pages. In the quilt industry there are many, many pages and you can follow all your favourites. You will see new trends, tutorials, videos etc from them. It is a fantastic way to see what your favourite quilting brands are up to.
For example, Aurifil threads is a leader in the quilt industry on facebook. Do you have a favourite fabric company or designer? Go check them out, if you like the page, hit the 'Like' or 'Follow' button underneath the cover photo. This is my page, in case you were wondering=)

As an example here is a very talented friend of mine,  Amanda Herring, a designer for Riley Blake Designs. Tula Pink is another hot designer right now.

What are Groups and How Do I Join?

Groups are just that, like minded people coming together on facebook to share in a common interest. Some groups are closed, meaning you have to belong in order to see the posts and contribute your own posts. Some are open in that you can see everything without having to hit the 'Join' button. 

The difference between pages and posts is that you can post your own content in a group. It is great to ask questions or show your work and see others quilts.

Many guilds have closed groups where they can share  pics of their Show and Share or send out a quick message that reminds members to bring something to guild night. Quilt alongs  are another popular grouping on facebook. You can all share your progress as you all continue to work towards the common goal of finishing your quilt.

 I created a group called 'Modern Quilters of Canada' and would love it if this is something you would be interested in joining! You don't have to be a modern quilter but just have an interest in it, want to learn more etc. We are having giveaways, upcoming tips and tricks on youtube and you get to see and share your modern quilts. 

You can search using key words as well to find groups. I just found a group called 'Quilting with Pre-Cuts' and after answering an easy question, have joined. There are 38,000 people in the group! 

As a quilter, you will find a group you love, and be sure to ask your friends what groups they are a part of too!

I have only skimmed the surface of facebook but encourage you to consider joining quilt groups or pages.   

Do you have a favorite page or person you follow?  Leave a comment!

Next up is Instagram, so stay tuned!