Using Facebook for Sharing Fabric Collage

Facebook is a great tool for me to share my love of fabric collage. It’s an excellent platform for displaying images, telling a story about the image, allowing readers to make comments, and responding to those comments.

For my business use, I maintain one Facebook page and host two Facebook groups (with Tom’s help). Each has its own purpose and serves a different audience.

I understand why some choose not to use Facebook. The company doesn’t have the greatest track record with respecting peoples’ information. There are tools to control Facebook’s access to personal data, but I don’t claim to understand those tools fully. My strategy, for better or worse, is simply to use Facebook for what I need it for, and to ignore everything else.

I have three “places” on Facebook, but only one, my Susan Carlson Artist page, is accessible to the general public. This is where my blog post is posted each week. However, many more people also read the blog by subscribing to it (it’s free!) and receiving it in their email. This is the best way to get the blog if you don’t want to miss one. Here’s the link to subscribe.

If you prefer to use Facebook but want to be sure that it shows up in your news feed, be sure to “Like” my page. This way each week the blog post will appear in your feed. If you see my post in other Facebook groups besides my artist’s page, it’s because it’s been shared and posted to those groups either by myself or others. In this case, you won’t see all my posts. Some groups have guidelines for posting that exclude posts that sell something—such as my retreat signups—and that’s okay. I feel that if someone is interested in attending a class they’ll subscribe to my blog anyway. However, I also don’t post my travel/teaching “On the Road” posts to the various groups, much for the same reason.

The two Facebook groups that I myself host are private, allowing access only to those who are made members either based on their purchase of the Fabric Collage Online Master Class Manual or because they are Patreon supporters. Unfortunately, each week I have to decline the membership requests of people who don’t read the group descriptions. I hope they understand.

Here’s how I use each of my three Facebook pages.

Susan Carlson Artist Facebook Page

This is mainly used for posting my weekly blog entries and is open to the public. Many people access my blog posts through Facebook. While I encourage folks to sign up to receive my posts directly through email, not all are ready to do that. Plus Facebook has the potential to reach new readers each week. Currently my blog posts reach about 20,000 Facebook newsfeeds each week.

One thing I would like to see is more people posting images of their work on this page. If you have a fabric collage quilt to show off, please feel free to post it directly onto my Susan Carlson Artist page. Tom and I monitor this page and respond when we have time. If you really want a response be sure to “tag” me in the message. This gives me an added reminder.

Here’s an example of how the blog post appears in Facebook. Notice that in order to read the whole post you have to click on the link (or image works too).

Susan Carlson Fabric Collage Master Class Independent Facebook Group

This private group is an included option for those who have purchased the Fabric Collage Online Master Class Manual. I don’t promise to respond to every post, but there is a large and growing community of fabric collage enthusiasts who will comment and give feedback upon request. Currently there are 175 members in this group. The comments and responses here sometimes inspire blog posts, the most recent example being one based on a conversation about pinning boards, which I entitled “Work On It: Pinning Boards for Fabric Collage.”

I also plan to find quilts in this group to be featured in my “Finish Line” series of blog posts. If that’s the case, I’ll ask for a high-resolution image and for any other details that might be interesting, such as information about the original image it was based on.

I’ve been impressed by the feedback that other users give. Almost always they say something similar to what I would say. And they often refer the person requesting feedback to a blog post or a part of the Master Class Manual itself.

Here’s an example of a typical post with responses. Nancy McKay did a vibrant, tie-dye inspired sea turtle based on my pattern.

Susan Carlson Patreon Forum

One of the inducements for becoming a Patreon contributor at the $20 per month level is getting monthly individualized feedback from me. This Facebook page is where I provide that feedback. My comments are also seen by others in this particular group, which may help them with their own projects.

To get feedback, users post pictures of the fabric collage quilts they are working on, asking questions about issues that concern them, and I then get back to them. As in the Master Class Independent Facebook Group, when other users’ respond as well, their comments are typically warm and supportive and helpful. Quite a few members of this Patreon group are past students of mine and “hard-core” supporters of fabric collage. This group as a whole has more fabric collage experience and members tend to post the sort of comments to each other that make a teacher proud.

This group is smaller than the Fabric Collage Master Class Independent Facebook Group, with about 60 members.

Below is an example of the kind of post users make. Mary Mckay was asking for feedback on her moose. I and a couple others responded.

 

Like most anything, Facebook is what you make of it. It has many strengths to go along with its weaknesses. I find it helpful to use its strengths for the benefit of those who are interested in using this particular forum to further their experience with fabric collage.