To blog, or not to blog?

I was thinking recently about how I've drifted away from blogging, and whether that meant it was time to just stop.  And once that thought entered my mind, I immediately thought, "NO!"

So I have been thinking about what blogging has meant to me since I started way back in November, 2004.  Wow, it's almost my 13th Bloggiversary!

Back when I started, there weren't many people blogging. I was eager to find other art quilters -- and started blogging to try to connect. The Artful Quilters Blog Ring followed, which led to wonderful artists and inspiration and friendships ... which led to the Twelve by Twelve collaborative project.  And that wonderful experiment led to 5 years' worth of artistic exploration, great friendships, various magazine articles, two books, and quilt exhibits that traveled around the world. It still amazes me when I think about it.

And art quilting wasn't the only thing that got a boost from blogging. I made friends in all sorts of arenas -- sketching and painting, reading, homeschooling, photography, cooking. My must-read list of bloggers got longer and longer. Commenting often led to email conversations and new friendships. And now I feel like I have a large, wide-spread circle of friends with whom I share so many wonderful things and a not-insignificant history.

So, I'm going to try to re-start my blogging habit. I'm not making art quilts at the moment, and keep pondering why that is. But this feels like too important a lifeline to just drop -- even though Instagram and Facebook and lord knows what other social media sites I'm not even aware of may be more trendy. I'm evolving. We all are. But I think I want to keep talking in this space. We'll see what happens!