Quilt Pattern Writing 101: Hints from a Semi-Pro With Knowledgeable Friends + Giveaway Today!

Scroll to the bottom for the giveaway details featuring designers Carolyn Friedlander (Tangelo photographed above); Allison Harris of Cluck Cluck Sew (Chain Reaction photographed above as well); my blogging sister Laura (check her Etsy site) ; and our blogger emeritus Christie Batterman at Artichoke Collection!  

UPDATE:  Swirly Girls are adding 3 patterns to the giveaway opportunity so there will be 9 winners!!!!!

Test and Retest

Before you set to writing, you’ve got to test and retest the quilt project you’re patterning. It took me weeks to complete the first prototype of my Christmas tree skirt (detailed in my recent SHWS post), but it only took me a week to start and finish tree skirt 2.0! Definitely an improvement, but it took a major act of will to commence the new prototype after the first beat me up so soundly. Thank goodness I did it because the math worked (yes!) and I can now write the pattern confident that the measurements will yield a good result. Of course, whether I can guide a quilt-pat