My Perspective and Evolvement as a Pattern Writer

I made my very first quilt in late 2012. It was for my daughter and we worked on the design together. She loves books and she loves cats. The Krazy Katz quilt contained a pieced background that consists of a bookshelf. And three appliqued cats arranged around that bookshelf.

That was it. I was hooked!

It was soon after making that first quilt that I decided to begin this blog. And quickly realized that followers were mostly fellow quilters. It became obvious that blogging would not help me to promote the sales of any of the quilts I was making.

What can I do to earn money for more fabric?

I began to design patterns to sell to fellow quilters. And offered that first quilt design as a pattern.

Figuring out how to write a pattern was difficult. There are not many blog posts or tutorials out there on the subject. That's why I am so glad that Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs has tackled this subject and is now running a Pattern Writing Series on her blog. You can find the Pattern Writing Series page at the top of her blog, just below the blog header. This is an in depth series that will take you every step of the way through the process of writing a quilt pattern, complete with an example that will be offered as a free pattern at the end of the series. Check it out!

What do you include in a pattern? I began by putting myself in the shoes of the prospective pattern purchaser. Do I include instructions for pressing seams in this direction or pressing seams open? Do I show a diagram of how I cut the pieces from each strip of fabric or just simply give the instructions for how many pieces you should be able to get from each strip? Do I assume that the fabric width is 40 inches or 42 inches? Do I provide the fabric requirements with a little extra fabric in case of miscuts or leave it up to the buyer to figure in a little cushion room?

So many questions. And so many options!

As I began to develop my skills as a quilter, my patterns reflected those changes and I started designing quilts that were mostly pieced and not so much applique designs. Those patterns were geared toward prospective buyers and I began to design simple patterns for new quilters. A line of KYSS quilts were developed. KYSS stood for Keep Your Sewing Simple.

Later I began to design patterns that were geared more in line with what I wanted to make and less toward beginner quilters. And from there I developed my own design style and found my niche. I had gained a lot of experience in so many different methods. I tried it all! And I found that I was really fond of the Stitch and Flip piecing method and wrote about my discovery in this post.

As my style changed so did my method of writing patterns.

Here is link to show how I wrote the instructions for making an elephant block in the Elephant Parade pattern. In this example, the written instructions describe the size and colour of each piece used in each step of the construction of the block. Quite wordy and perhaps a little difficult to follow.

For one large elephant block, as pictured below, you will need: 

Snow 9000-10 (off white)
1 @ 2.5" x 6.5" rectangle, 1 @ 2.5" x 4.5" rectangle, 1 @ 2.5" x 3.5" rectangle, 2 @ 2.5" squares, 4 @ 1.5" squares.

Slate 9000-93 (dark grey)
1 @ 4.5" x 5.5" rectangle, 1 @ 3.5" x 4.5" rectangle, 1 @ 2.5" x 4.5" rectangle, 1 @ 1.5" x 4.5" rectangle, 1 @ 2.5 x 3.5" rectangle, 1 @ 1.5" x 2.5" rectangle, 4 @ 1.5" squares.

Glacier 9000-910 (light grey)
1 @ 2.5" x 4.5" rectangle.

If you are making the complete quilt, you will need 5 of these blocks - 3 facing left and 2 facing right.


Press all seams open and press seams as you go.

Step 1:  Take the 1.5" x 2.5" dark grey rectangle and 2 of the 1.5" white squares.  Draw a diagonal line across the 1.5" white squares.  Place one of the white squares on the top of the dark grey rectangle and sew along the diagonal line, as shown in red.  Trim a 1/4" seam.  Press the seam open.  Place another one of the white squares on the bottom of the dark grey rectangle and sew along the diagonal line, as shown in red.  Trim a 1/4" seam.  Press the seam open.

Sew the 1.5" white square on top of the 1.5" dark grey square.  Sew this unit onto the right side of the first unit.  Sew the 2.5" x 6.5" white rectangle to the top of this unit. 

Currently, when designing a pattern, I use a diagram to label the pieces in the block using the alphabet, identifying each piece with a letter. And then add a chart to list the size and colour of each piece. This enables the written instructions to be less wordy and easier to follow. Here is and example of how I wrote the instructions for the Elephant blocks used in the Jungle Friends pattern.

Background	A	10 @ 2.5” squares
	D	5 @ 2.5” x 4.5”
	N	5 @ 3.5” x 5.5”
	P	20@ 1.5” squares
	Q	5 @ 2.5” x 8.5”
Dark Grey	B	5 @ 4.5” x 6.5”
	C	10 @ 2.5” x 4.5”
	E	20 @ 1.5” squares
	G	10 @ 1.5” x 2.5”
	H	1 @ 1.5” x 6”
	K	1 @ 3” x 6”
	L	5 @ 1.5” x 4.5”
	M	5 @ 4” x 4.5”
	O	5 @ 1.5” x 5.5”
Black	F	5 @ 2.5” x 5.5”
	J	1 @ 1” x 6”

Step 1:  Draw a diagonal line across the wrong side of the (A) square. Place the (A) square on the corner of the (B) rectangle and sew along the diagonal line, as shown in red.  Trim a 1/4" seam and press.

This pattern writing journey has been such an wonderful adventure.... So far! I am looking forward to seeing how things develop and where they lead me from here.

What about you?

Do you ever think about developing a pattern for sale?
Have you ever wondered how to get started?

Keep On Quilting On!

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