Well I have chosen my community and sent off an email to check that the administrator of the website would not mind be included in my research. I thought about taking what was traditionally a small rural/community activity and seeing how it translated into the digital age.
The virtual community I have chosen is Quilting and the part of that community I have initially chosen to focus on is Quilting Gallery. This site has a blog, a chat area and guest speakers. I also plan to bring in some of the blogs that exist around this website to give a full picture of this traditional craft has grown.
“Craft seems to have grown as crafters have gained a voice online and gone from being eccentric individuals to a supportive and economically strong community so I think it could be really interesting to see how one specific traditional craft exists online.” Nicola Osbourne – MSc discussion forum 26th October
Quilting began as a utilitarian exercise to use old fabric scraps to keep people warm in winter and dates back to Egyptian time, but grew into a community pastime that encouraged groups of women to get together and share their stories as well as their skills. Useful items became things of beauty and enabled women of all ages to support each other through difficult times.
As a recent convert to quilting I have only just discovered that this small rural and often home based activity has become an international community. I think this could be interesting…
Tags: community, ethnography, quilting