The quilting world has seen an exciting transformation in recent years with the increasing popularity of computer-aided quilting. Robotic quilting systems like Pro-Stitcher have made it easy to finish your quilts with master-quality quilting. If you are a designer, this new era presents a unique opportunity to create digital quilting designs for use with these machines, and it can be profitable, fun and fulfilling to sell designs.  If you’re passionate about quilting and design, here is how you can become a Pro-Stitcher Featured Designer and sell your digital quilting patterns on the Pro-Stitcher website.

Why I’m Qualified

Hi, I’m Mary Beth Krapil, Handi Quilter National Educator. I’ve been traveling world-wide teaching classes at major quilt shows and Handi Quilter retailer’s shops for 16 years. I love to share longarm techniques and the best of Handi Quilter products, as well as the joys of Pro-Stitcher. I’m also a Pro-Stitcher Patterns Featured Designer. I love creating digital quilting designs using Pro-Stitcher Designer software. Creating unique designs for my customers’ quilts and for my own quilts is fun. And then I get to share them with the world on the Pro-Stitcher website. Some of my designs are included on the Pro-Stitcher built-in library as well.

How to become a Featured Designer on Pro-Stitcher.com

Step 1 – Hone your design and digitizing skills

If you love to quilt, have lots of ides for quilting designs, and want to make some money, you’re off to a great start! Now you need to become proficient with a vector-based editing and digitizing software that can produce digital patterns in file formats that robotic quilting systems can read. A couple of examples would be Pro-Stitcher Designer

and Art and Stitch.

You want to get familiar with all the tools available in your software program that can help you create precise, high-quality digital patterns. Pro-Stitcher Designer has a free educational video library that can help you learn the software. Also, free downloadable PDF tutorials are available if you scroll down to the bottom of the page. Practice daily to get good at creating designs that will stitch smoothly and cleanly.

Here are some design techniques and tips to consider:

• Simplicity and Clean Lines: Robotic longarm machines work best with designs that are relatively simple and have clean lines. Complex, highly detailed designs may be difficult to stitch accurately and may not look great quilted on a quilt top.
• Scalability: Your designs need to be scalable to fit quilts of all sizes. Ensure that your patterns can easily be resized without losing quality or clarity. This is why you want to use vector-based software. Vector designs are easily scalable.
• Patterns: Longarm quilters often prefer designs that can be easily repeated across the entire quilt top. Edge-to-edge or all-over quilting designs are the most popular ones on prostitcher.com. Designs that can be repeated across a border are also good sellers. Custom quilters appreciate block designs and designs meant to fit into other shapes often found on quilts like triangles, diamonds, and hexagons.

Step 2 – Build a small portfolio

Once you get good at using your digitizing software, it’s time to start creating a portfolio of quilting designs. Pro-Stitcher will want to see ten of your best designs to evaluate their quality. Aim to create a variety of designs that appeal to different tastes and needs in the quilting world. Floral, geometric, masculine, feminine, juvenile, traditional, modern, you get the idea.

As you develop your portfolio, consider showcasing your designs on your social media pages. It will help to get feedback from your followers and learn just what is popular with today’s quilters. No online presence is required to become a featured designer with Pro-Stitcher Patterns, however it will help to advertise your designs and get more attention and more sales.

Step 3 – Create quilted samples

It is always a good idea to stitch your designs as a test to see if they stitch smoothly and work the way you expected them to. You might find small bits you can improve for a better stitch-out.

Quilted samples also help to advertise and sell more designs. Photos of quilts with your patterns stitched on them will demonstrate how they look on actual quilts and help to entice buyers. Seeing a design on an actual quilt is helpful to some quilters who have a hard time visualizing what the image will look like in actual stitches on an actual quilt.

Step 4 – Check out Pro-Stitcher.com

• Meet the featured designers

There is a page introducing the featured designers already on board with Pro-Stitcher. You may already know some of these talented folks.

• Browse the designs

Be sure to check out the designs, both from the talented and diverse in-house team of designers and the amazing featured designers. You will notice there is a Pro-Stitcher patterns membership. Members pay a monthly fee and receive 2 downloads per month. Those membership downloads are only from the in-house designers collection. Members also receive a discount if they wish to purchase designs from the featured designer collections. There are other perks throughout the year for members as well.

Step 5 – Send an email

When you feel confident, send an email to info@prostitcher.com. Here is what to include:

• your name and contact information
• your social media links (optional)
• links to your web pages (optional)
• 10 of your best designs
• photos of stitched samples
• a little about yourself and why you would make a great featured designer

Becoming a designer who sells designs for robotic longarm machines is an exciting venture that allows you to combine your love for quilting with your creative talents. The quilting community is passionate, welcoming, and growing every day—there’s always room for new designs and fresh perspectives. Perhaps YOU will join the other featured designers and supply quilters around the world with new and exciting designs to help them finish more quilts.

What to read next

What’s the Difference Between Pro-Stitcher Premium and Pro-Stitcher Lite?

Tip of the Week: A Border Design Hiding in Plain Sight

Quilting a Vintage Quilt Top

Remember to Quilt Every Day!

by Mary Beth Krapil