Quilt Along Feedback: A Summary
- vafibrearts
- Apr 15
- 6 min read
Hello Friends and Welcome Back!
Since February, I've been collecting feedback on my past and ongoing quilt along patterns to prepare for next year!
The feedback I request typically covers a few important things; quilter level, quality of pattern instructions, and pattern design. Some of these details are more subjective than others, especially related to design, so it's very interesting to hear everyone's unique opinions!
And though next year's quilt along is still several months from release, I'm excited to share what I've learned so far!
A Little Background
Before getting into the feedback, I wanted to share a bit of background information on my quilt alongs.
I started sharing quilt along patterns in the Autumn of 2022 when I took the position of block of the month convener with my quilt guild. In that position, I am responsible for sharing a free design with my fellow guild members each year, with a part of the pattern's instructions being released each month.
In the past, conveners typically found free patterns online and reached out to the designers for permission to use them. I've operated a little differently, choosing instead to share my own original designs with guild members!
In addition to sharing my patterns with the membership, I've also made them available here on the Fibre Arts blog for the larger quilting community to participate in. I've enjoyed this so much that I plan to continue designing and sharing quilt along patterns even after my term as BoM convener comes to an end!
Response Rate
Since my patterns so far have all been shared with my quilt guild, the majority of responses to my request for feedback have come from guild members. I'm also just a beginner in terms of pattern design, so I'm not well known and typically don't receive many responses.
That being said, I got 12 responses this year, thank you all so much!
Each of these 12 people shared whatever information they were comfortable sending me, so may not have responded to every individual prompt, and not all of them are currently participating in the Blackwork Roads quilt along, so some of the feedback is based on past patterns or their desire to participate next year.
Let's take a look at what they said!
Quilter Level
The first prompt asked quilters to identify their experience level.
Everyone will have a different way of gauging this, and depending on their confidence, they may consider themselves more or less experienced than their stitching suggests. Personally, I think of myself as a fairly skilled piecer, but a beginner quilter.
The responses were as follows:
beginner - 2
intermediate - 5
skilled - 1
unspecified - 4
Both of the beginners identified themselves as people who are interested in learning new skills and growing as quilt makers, and several of the intermediates expressed interest in a more beginner-friendly pattern.
Quality of Instructions
The next prompt focused on the quality of the pattern instructions.
It's difficult to make a quilt if instructions are too confusing or don't include enough detail, so I'd like to be sure the instructions I provide are helpful to those who want to make the quilt.
The responses were as follows:
good and clear instructions - 4
confusing and unclear instructions - 0
unspecified - 8
Most of the respondents didn't touch on this point, but all of those who did agreed that the detail in the written instructions, accompanied by the diagrams, made the pattern clear and easy to follow even when they found the assembly a little challenging.
This was really nice to hear since it shows me that I've done a good job writing the pattern!
Pattern Design
The final element I asked for feedback on was the design of the quilt. Since this such a subjective area of quilt making, I broken it down into several different prompts that might be easier for folks to respond to.
First, I asked for opinions on this year's project; Blackwork Roads.
The responses were as follows:
liked the design - 3
design is challenging but enjoyable - 2
disliked the design - 0
unspecified - 7
I'm glad to hear no one disliked the pattern I've shared, however I also expect that most people would be too polite to say it to my face. This is an important thing to know when designing a pattern for a specific group, like my quilt guild, since I want members to enjoy the quilt making process.
In the future, when I'm designing quilts for the community at large it's less important to cater to the tastes of others since there is, undoubtedly, another designer out there sharing patterns that will appeal to them. The folks who do enjoy my designs will find me in time!
The next design prompt asked what style of quilt folks would be interested in making next year.
For this prompt, I anticipated getting multiple answers per person, for example perhaps someone wanted to make a medallion quilt in a modern style, but this didn't happen. The folks who responded mostly suggested a single style they were interested in making.
The responses were as follows:
modern style quilt - 2
traditional style quilt - 2
mystery quilt - 1
row by row quilt - 1
unspecified - 6
Overall, the responses were pretty mixed. This is one unfortunate downside to having such a small pool of responses to draw from, as a larger number of replies would likely have shown a stronger preference towards a particular style.
Following this, I looked for any styles of quilt that folks did not want to make.
The responses were as follows:
mystery quilt - 1
unspecified - 11
It seems most people were better at identifying what they do want to make rather than what they don't want to make. The vote against mystery quilts is one I can understand though; fabric can be expensive and people don't want to invest time and money in a quilt they won't end up liking.
Moving away from style, my final design category was based on technique.
I typically assume that most people would prefer to piece their quilts on a sewing machine, but I've gotten really into hand piecing over the past few years and maybe others have too? It's good to check in rather than making assumptions.
The responses were as follows:
machine piecing - 2
hand piecing - 1
paper piecing - 1
straight line quilt blocks - 3
unspecified - 7
This prompt was the first that received multiple responses from single individuals, so there's 14 votes counted from 12 respondents.
As expected, there were more votes for machine piecing than hand piecing.
Once again, I reversed this prompt to ask what techniques folks did not want to use in next year's pattern.
The responses were as follows:
hand piecing - 1
curved piecing 3
unspecified - 8
This one also turned out as expected, with one person voting against hand piecing and several indicating their dislike of curved piecing, which was featured in last year's quilt along pattern, Stars of the City.
In Summary
All together, the information I got from those 12 responses tells me a lot!
My patterns are most accessible to intermediate level quilters, but I'm interested in engaging beginners as well. Also, just because someone is skilled at something doesn't mean they won't enjoy making a pattern that is below their skill level, not everything in life is meant to be a challenge!
The vote for quilt style came out pretty mixed, so I think I'll aim to make another traditional with a twist style pattern. These patterns typically include elements of both traditional and modern quilts, so hopefully will appeal to a wide range of stylistic preferences.
Finally, we won't be seeing any curved piecing in next year's pattern. I think I've traumatized many quilt makers with all the Drunkard's Path units used in Stars of the City.
All this information gives me a lot to think about!
After looking reviewing your responses, I'm thinking about trying to incorporate more negative space, some larger quilt blocks, and possibly some narrow accent sashing into next year's pattern. Hopefully I'll figure out how to make those elements work together!
Of course, I'm still in the process of drawing up a few possible designs, so if you have more feedback to share, I'm happy to hear it! Or, maybe you want to participate in next year's quilt along but feel that your opinion wasn't reflected in the data I've shared.
Either way, I'm still accepting responses and would love to hear from you! Feel free to leave a comment below, or respond privately by sending me an email or messaging me on Instagram.
I can't wait to see what kind of pattern we'll make together next year!
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