Original Etsy Design: Didn’t Like it!

The Etsy thing was a flop. Then, I asked Emily to help me out! She did our wedding invitation, so I figured we could do this project together, too!

Original Design: Empact, Lovin’ it! We decided to go with this – with few rounds of edits!

Second Design: Removed patterned quilt background from first design for a solid.

I really liked this second design, but we wanted to give some indication of the quilting on the blog and pictures of my own quilts weren’t working out. So I found this graphic design quilt block on the back of the pattern and then Emily created a whole bunch! The result was our third design.

Third Design: No Tag Line Yet, Awesome quilt blocks strip

I’ve been avoiding coming up with a tag line for the blog for several months now. Tag lines make me nervous! It’s so much pressure. I also wanted to wait and let the blog and content develop a little to make sure I actually knew my topics, subject matter and such! I have to give the credit to my Dad & my friend Lucy for the final result of the tag line. It was a group effort! I love collaboration.

My Dad suggested adding the “Laura Ingalls Wilder” concept to a introduction I had to write for the column in my hometown paper. He made a good point about her name. He said, “Using her name instantly gives people a visual image of a happy girl running across the open prairies.”

Lucy also encouraged me to “keep at it” until I found a tag line & topics that I really liked. Lucy works in Marketing and she does Market Research. She helped me get over my (unreasonable) fear of tag lines. Its a dorky fear, I know! Lucy doesn’t have a fear of tag lines, so she came up with about 10 one morning in about five minutes. I was amazed! It was a good lesson for me to just sit down and write a few out…instead of anxiously putting it off or waiting for a moment of inspiration.

Finally, I added the word modern because I am sort of “in love” with that word right now. Modern quilts. Modern farming. Modern farm wife. Modern day Laura Ingalls Wilder. Everything I do in my life is rooted in old traditions. Traditions are good & bad. Sometimes, I need to keep the traditions and old patterns of behavior. Other times, I need to let them go & embrace the new life and work waiting for me. This really applies to the way I try to think about farming, quilting and becoming a farm wife.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”       2 Corinthians 5:17 

Even though we are going to live in this sweet, old house – our farming practices, my quilts and my role as a farm wife will be MUCH different than they were here in this house 20, 50 or 100 years ago. Times have changed folks, I gotta roll with it!

After much deliberation…I asked Emily to add the tag line!

Fourth Design: Adding a Tag Line

Fifth Design: Adding a Tag Line & Topics

Sixth Design: Tag Line & Topics Bolded! Whew! Finally Done!

Picking the font for my name was SUPER FUN & SUPER HARD! Emily gave me lots of choices! In the end, I picked 22. My friend Lucy, sisters, Mom AND Dad all voted via text and email for their favorite fonts. I’ve got a heck of a focus group, eh? I think they are the cream of the crop!

I really enjoy the design process, so I wanted to share it on the blog! It is very rewarding to visualize something – and then – make it happen! Mostly, I have Emily to thank for that, she is great to work with! In another life, I’d like to be a graphic designer. For now, I am just thankful for Emily @ The Empact Design.

Thanks for reading,