Introducing a Pattern

Well—I have taken the plunge!  After getting asked for a pattern on the last few quilts I posted on Instagram, I have created my first quilt pattern!

You can purchase my new pattern HERE !!!

I had been thinking about it for awhile, and had actually started on one.  But then a lovely woman came out of nowhere wanting to purchase the pattern for my Geometric Patchwork quilt.  Yes, you read that right, she wanted to PURCHASE it!

As I had previously shared, I design some of my quilts in Excel.  Since the quilt pattern she asked for has an angle in it, using excel to diagram it in a quilt pattern would simply not work.

So I have spent the last 2+ weeks learning Adobe InDesign and Adoble Illustrator!

It was an interesting process and I owe a great deal to all the people out there who make amazing YouTube instructional videos.

I did it!  I learned two new tools (OK—I barely scratched the surface).  And I created a new pattern for my quilt to sell in my Etsy shop.

Learnings:

• Time:  I thought it would take a week (it took two)
• Process:  Remaking the quilt as I made the pattern was imperative.  I had just made the quilt a couple of weeks ago, but making another one as you lay out instructions for it was critical, no matter how easy it seemed.  I am super happy that I invested in the Adobe Creative Cloud suite, it was tough to learn, but really helped me pull together a polished, professional pattern.
• Audience:  I had a client who really wanted it, when I knew I was going to be late, I let her know & told her I would send it for FREE.  She said she would wait and still wanted to pay for it!  AND I learned how to use ETSY coupons as I offered her $5 off the price of the pattern for her patience.  Ultimately, I will be targeting my patterns to relatively new quilters and providing tips and tricks to help them make the quilt.  I am a self taught quilter (started in 2009) and truly valued a lot of the tips I learned from blogs back then.
• Pricing:  I spent time looking at other patterns to evaluate how mine should be priced.  There are people selling them for very low prices on ETSY—I am unclear as to whether that speaks to the quality or presentation of the pattern—but I decided to price this one at the low end of the price point that recognized quilters are selling them for.  The reason for this is that I only have instructions for a throw size quilt in my pattern.  Typically, people will provide alternate size information so that they user doesn't have to do the math.  I will in the future, but with a waiting customer, I didn't want to delay my introduction.
• Promotion:  I have done no promotion of the pattern and that's exactly how it's selling ... as if I have done no promotion ;-).  I want to finish the quilt that I was making as I designed the pattern and then use that to start promoting it.  

A process photo from the creation of the pattern

I don't know if I will ever be able to "compete" with the larger, quilter-branded patterns out there, but I enjoyed the process, want to expand my Adobe learnings, found the process really expanded my creative thinking and will be getting started on bringing another one of my quilt patterns to life tomorrow.

And a nod to the people in California.  In the mid-1990's, I sold sprinklers into agriculture in the central valley of California and spent a great deal of time up in the Chico / Paradise area working with farmers with new technology that would allow them to save water while they expanded their tree operations.  It is a beautiful area and the people were wonderful ... it is just heartbreaking to see the devastation and loss that they are enduring right now.  Our hearts and wallets are open to them all right now.  If you want to help, a local charity that has committed to giving 99% of the funds to the people and community that has suffered—and has been endorsed by the mayor of Chico—look no further than North Valley Community Foundation.  They have a donate button on their home page.

All the best,

Lisa