Have you heard of Periscope? It’s an app for smart phones that allows you to live-stream videos straight from wherever you are. The idea is that you can discover the world through someone else’s eyes. This past week, a few quilt-blogger friends and I used it to lead tours of our honest craft spaces, and I got to peek into the homes of some of my quilty friends for the first time (and finally shared a peek at my honest–read: messy–craft loft). In the span of just over an hour, I was able to have a guided tour of seven diverse craft spaces across the country.
This started as just another crazy idea I was tossing around with my friends Stephanie from Late Night Quilter, Terri Ann from Childlike Fascination, and Daisy from Ants to Sugar. We decided to publicly (on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter) post an invitation to join us on an Honest Craft Room Tour in Periscope, and then just jumped in and gave mini, 10 minute tours of our craft spaces, mentioning the next person in the tour at the end of our scopes so that viewers could “hop” to the next video. Early in the tour, Mandy from Mandalei Quilts joined the line-up, and then through the course of the night, Silvia from A Stranger View and Kelley decided to spontaneously join us. It was so much fun to take a peek into the spaces in which these quilter friends create. Our spaces varied from small to large, slanty-roofed loft to basement, messy to neat, yet they all housed so much creativity. It was a night of inspiration and strengthening connections. And it was loads of fun.
While a firm plan is not yet in place, we plan to do these Periscope tours weekly, most likely on Tuesday nights beginning at around 9pm eastern time. Each week will have a focus; maybe one week we will share our top five favorite quilting tools, another week share our latest works in progress, yet another week talk about how we go about choosing fabrics for a project. The sky’s the limit! What kind of videos would you like to see?
Followers of your periscope account get a notification when you are streaming live and can join in, watching and listening, and communicating by typing messages and tapping the screen to create a cloud of rising hearts to show the “scoper” that you like what he/she is saying. If you’re interested in giving it a try, here’s a helpful post with technical tips for getting started with Periscope. Be sure to follow me @nightquilter so that we can communicate in yet another way! Perhaps I’ll see you (literally) through the Periscope!
Night Quilter 
Ah, an app for smartphones! That explains it. There are a couple of quilt bloggers that have posted on Periscope in the past couple of weeks and I haven’t been able to figure out how to view them. Guess at some point I will have to upgrade to the 21st century! Drat! Just when I thought I might see a sewing room that’s in worse shape then mine!–didn’t mean yours, Kitty 🙂
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How fun is this.
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Leslie, SO fun! Will you join in?? 🙂
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Such a fun idea! Wish I had a smart phone to join in the fun, but until then I’ll just cheer from the sidelines. Lol. I love the idea of short little videos to discuss different things and show honest tours of creative spaces.
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It was a great time, Kitty. I’m looking forward to next week!!!
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Hmmm… a cool app with lots of potential for quilty shenanigans. Thanks for sharing!
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Do you have details on your lighting? (Stands and bulbs?) That looked awesome.
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Hi Gretchen!
Yes! I’ve been meaning to write a blog post on it, but with deadlines, family, and unexpected stuff, I’ve been a bit quiet on the blog lately 🙂 Here are the lighting tools I have, and they are SO worth the money (and really quite inexpensive). I’m including Amazon affiliate links in case you want to update your lighting AND help support my sewing/blogging simultaneously 😉
I have two of these light bulbs, and I initially bought them exclusively for fabric/quilt photo shoots to go with the stands and reflectors, but now I have them in my craft space and use them all the time. I’m thinking I will get three more for my overhead light, too, since their light is fantastic and results in very accurate color in photographs (even at night):
CowboyStudio 45W Compact Fluorescent CFL Daylight Balanced Bulb with 5500K Color Temperature for Photography and Video Studio Lighting: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004LONG0W/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B004LONG0W&linkCode=as2&tag=nightquilter-20&linkId=OTBLGJJQSBQOZYAV
I have two of these stands (they come in a two pack), which I use for holding the clamp-on lights, but also occasionally to hold my clamp-on tripod (with little space, I use a lot of the easily portable, repositionable versions of tools).
Neewer® Two Aluminum Photo/Video Tripod Light Stands For Studio Kits, Lights, Soft Boxes – 6.23 Feet: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003I6ENXS/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003I6ENXS&linkCode=as2&tag=nightquilter-20&linkId=74SWJ7WH7DJCX32G
Clamp on light reflectors (to be used with the daylight bulbs above): Woods 0169 18/2-Gauge SPT-2 Clamp Light with 8.5-Inch Reflector, 150-Watt, 6-Foot Cord: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009ONXWC2/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B009ONXWC2&linkCode=as2&tag=nightquilter-20&linkId=YRQXKGIASTMS2M7H
The wire clamps on those clamp lights are a bit finicky, and are tough to position securely, so something like this might be a bit better: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007RKKEHU/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B007RKKEHU&linkCode=as2&tag=nightquilter-20&linkId=KCGESO3KK7F6WBMB I haven’t tried it, so can’t vouch for it, but I’ll let you know when/if I do. The reflector dome is a bit smaller, but the clamp might be secure. The ones I have work fine, but if you want your light in a very particular spot, it’s tricky to get it stay there sometimes.
This is the tripod I have, too, and I love it. I can clamp it on one of the stands, on the back of a chair, on a skinny railing, etc. It’s pretty handy and great for taking photos in a small, cramped space 🙂 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ABB4HC/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000ABB4HC&linkCode=as2&tag=nightquilter-20&linkId=LO3UEUCE6ARD5JHC
I hope this helps and let me know if you have any other questions!!! The light bulbs are definitely amazing, and I’ve found the tripod/clamp on light option to be a really great, affordable, reposition-able, portable option for lighting different areas of my space. Of course I can dream about the day I will have a well-lit with natural light, inset lighting in all the right places, tons of space sewing studio, but for now, these little tools help me light up my little loft pretty darn well.
Hope you’re well 🙂
Best,
Kitty
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Just seeing this, thank you!!
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also, yes, I hear you! I have a corner of the dining room, so I would love to just have a SPACE. And my machine has excellent lighting, but room lighting ends up getting blocked by my body because it’s an overhead dining room light. The stands looked awesome for my needs.
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How fun! I just joined Periscope (after reading your post!) and I love it. It’s such a fun platform for connecting in an even better way. I’d love to join you on your next hop!
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