There is a lot of information right now. A lot of predictions. A lot of noise about how you should be showing up everywhere, doing everything, adapting instantly, and keeping up at all costs. And I want to start by saying this clearly: You do not need to do all the things and definitely not all the things at once. Online marketing is shifting. Trends are shifting. Search is shifting.

If you’re a quilt business owner running things mostly on your own - a pattern designer, teacher, or service provider - YouTube can feel like the most sustainable place to show up. And it is! The Quilters Survey, presented every year at h+h Americas, showed that YouTube was the number 1 platform quilters turn to when looking up information about quilting in 2024. You can teach, explain, model, inspire, connect, and you can build trust without dancing for an algorithm.

If you’ve ever poured your heart into writing a blog post and then thought, “Okay… now what?” You’re not alone. Many creative business owners write a blog, hit publish, and let it sit there like a beautiful quilt folded up in a closet. It exists, but it’s not doing any of the work it could be doing for your marketing.

Building a website can feel like a mountain you’ll never climb. There’s design, copywriting, branding, and tech setup - it’s enough to keep most quilting and crafting business owners stuck in “someday mode.” But here’s the good news: you don’t need to be tech-savvy to have an effective landing page. Your message matters more than how fancy your website looks.

When I first started teaching quilting workshops and designing patterns, every day felt like drowning. I’d wake up, care for my then 1-year-old, and the moment nap time began, I’d sit at my desk and…freeze. I didn’t know where to start. I didn’t have a plan. I was piecing my business together sporadically - like an improv quilt, but without the fun.

If keeping up with social media changes feels like trying to piece a king-size quilt from a scrap bin… you’re not alone. Each month I pull together the biggest platform updates through a quilting business lens  so you can spend less time doom-scrolling and more time quilting, teaching, or longarming. You’ll find: 5 quick platform updates (Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, TikTok, YouTube) A Trend Watch  section A summary table A short monthly action plan 1. Instagram: Recaps, R

Tori McElwain Disclaimer: This is a long blog post - but an important one. When many of our fellow quilters and craft-business owners launched their ventures in 2019-2020 (I was one in 2018, I was making quilts to sell - in 2019, I shifted to quilt pattern design and workshops!), something unusual was happening. Life slowed down. Travel stopped. Many of us had more time at home, more space for hobbies, and in some cases more “disposable” income because we weren’t going out,

Tori McElwain This update covers the platform changes we saw in October,  so you can use them as guideposts while planning your content and promotions for November and beyond . It’s written especially for quilting business owners - pattern designers, teachers, and longarm service providers - to help you make sense of the noise and pick one or two things to try next month. A lot is going on, so let’s dive in! Whether you’re sharing a new quilt pattern, teaching a live workshop

If your entire business relies on social media, you’re building your house on rented land. We’ve got to be looking beyond social media. This is where classes come into play. Here are the class topics that stood out from my research - sessions that would make the biggest difference for makers trying to grow their businesses online.