What you see in this photo is the first step in transforming the dozens of pattern instruction sheets I developed over the past decade into a more modern, user-friendly format that can be easily distributed as a downloadable pdf.

Right now, I’m using templates purchased from Quilter’s Candy in Canva for the layout & design and Adobe Illustrator to create my diagrams. The plan is to eventually move from Canva to InDesign to create the actual patterns. Again, I’m likely to purchase a template from a design group to use as a starting point. It’s just easier.

The learning curve on Adobe products is steep. It’s not intuitive and can be very frustrating. I’m thankful to all the YouTubers out there who share InDesign and Illustrator tutorials from a quilting/sewing perspective. Right now, I cannot justify $1500 for a self-paced course to teach me how to use InDesign and Illustrator to write my patterns. I learn best by figuring it out on my own. It may take longer, but I’ll retain the information a whole lot better.

I’m going to start with the 3 projects that I plan to use in my Beginning Sewing class – placemats, tote bag and zipper pouch – and then redo the first pattern I ever sold to a local quilt shop. Who knows, all of these basic, beginner friendly projects might all end up in a book one day!