How Lexical turned me into a pattern designer

I was going to analyse Lexical, the quilt that launched me as a pattern designer, but I ended up writing a post that isn’t really about the quilt itself. Instead, I found myself reflecting on my own journey. After all, only I can tell that story – anyone can analyse a quilt if they want to.

Here’s my journey which led to publishing Lexical, my first commercial quilt pattern – and the journey did NOT begin with a thought “I’m going to become a quilt pattern designer”.

Before Lexical, I already loved writing instructions

I’d already published numerous quilt block tutorials on my blog and written tutorials and how-to articles for the Finnish quilting magazine. I had dreamed of putting together a book that would combine my quilt patterns with the stories behind the quilts.

(Some ten years ago, I even had a professional designer create a couple of sample page layouts for me so that I could see how my book might look.)

Back then, though, publishing something commercially was difficult. I would have had to find a publisher for my book – or publish it myself. Neither option appealed to me very much, because making quilts was much more fun.

Suddenly, I also had the tools

I put my publishing ideas on the back burner and concentrated on other things. And while I was busy doing those other things, solutions that would make it so much easier for me to publish a pattern were quietly becoming available. By 2021, I had all that it would take:

Of course, I already had a word processor on my computer that would do perfectly well for writing the instructions.

The phone cameras had finally become good enough to take pictures I could use – and the photos were sharp, unlike so many of the pictures I’d taken before with my digital camera.

I could use presentation software to draw the line diagrams I needed for the pattern.

And the free version of Canva gave me everything I needed to design the pattern layout.

The world had become ready to offer me an opportunity.

Designing the Lexical block

The Lexical block came about in much the same way as many of my other quilt blocks and quilts. I’d seen a photograph of a quilt or a block somewhere, and it sparked an idea for a block of my own.

I made one test block first and it turned out way, way too big.

I made that block during a sewing day with some quilting friends, and one of them suggested an alternative measurement for the centre square. Back at home, I tried again and the block turned out perfect. So perfect that I made two blocks right away:

The Lexical block was born.

I’d recently learned and come to appreciate how important value contrast is. So instead of specifying colours for the block, I defined the different parts of the block by their value. I trusted that the actual colours wouldn’t matter much as long as the value relationships stayed the same.

As it happened, I’d taken quite a few photographs while making the first blocks. One even shows my "professional space" (back then I still used to do all my cutting on the floor):

I suppose I subconsciously thought that if ever there was a time to write a pattern for a block I’d designed myself, this was it. I also remember asking my quilting friends whether a pattern like this could actually be something people would pay for.

“Of course,” they replied. One of them also pointed out that I could set a higher price for a quilt pattern than for a block pattern, so that is what I decided to create. And even then, I still wasn’t aware that I was becoming a quilt pattern designer.

Writing my first quilt pattern

I don’t remember how exactly I got going; I must have just started writing.

Deep down, I’m a copy editor rather than a writer. I’d much rather improve and polish an existing text than create one from scratch. So even for myself, I first have to produce some sort of draft, which sometimes requires determination. Then my inner copy editor will happily take over, thanks me kindly, and gets on with her favourite job.

Years ago, I did a lot of copy editing for colleagues. They appreciated that their texts sounded more professional afterwards, but they were always shocked when getting their printouts back full of red-pen corrections.

The time of red pens is gone, and I wouldn’t have needed it much for the Lexical pattern. It was rather straightforward to write because the block itself is simple to construct, and arranging the blocks into a quilt top isn’t particularly complicated either. Also, the process itself did not intimidate me because I’d spent years writing technical documentation professionally in English. Creating clear instructions felt like something I could do.

The scary part: Lexical pattern testing

When I’d written and designed the pattern, it was time for the more uncertain (or even scary) part. I’d followed the quilting scene long enough to know that pattern designers use testers before they publish. In fact, one of my quilting friends had volunteered almost immediately after seeing my first trial block.

Still, I felt so nervous, publishing an Instagram post which asked for volunteers! Note that I still referred to the pattern as "a block pattern":

I thought that given time, I might be able to tempt three people to join the testers’ group, but I wasn’t sure. I had nothing to offer apart from a free copy of the pattern and maybe have their quilt photo included in the pattern.

What a surprise: seven people volunteered in just a few days. And they turned out to be so supportive and encouraging throughout the process! I got so much more from them than corrections and improvements to the pattern.

Though I only asked the volunteers to make a few blocks, two of them made a complete quilt incredibly fast. It was amazing enough that @a.sewcrazy made a baby quilt:

And @schohon103 made a throw-sized quilt! In such a short time:

And just last autumn, I saw that another original tester had finished a full-size Lexical quilt.

I’ve been so fortunate. It has been incredibly motivating and heart-warming to see beautiful quilts made from my pattern. Quilters really are wonderful!

About the Lexical pattern

Lexical includes instructions for both the quilt block and the quilt shown in this post. The scrap-friendly Lexical pattern is available in English as an instant PDF download from the Tilkkunen webshop.

The PDF pattern includes cutting instructions and sewing diagrams for the block, pressing tips, and instructions for quilt assembly.

Then I was in business

I couldn’t have published the pattern commercially without another wonderful quilting friend who runs a quilt shop with an online store. She added my pattern to her webshop, solving my last challenge.

I was in business. It’s difficult to describe how I felt, not “just” a quilting hobbyist any longer, but someone who sold something – which is the opposite of just spending money on fabric, thread, longarm quilting services, notions, gadgets,...

Of course I don’t design quilt patterns just to have something to sell. I have found my pattern designer self because sometimes an idea of mine feels like something that other quilters would enjoy making too.

I remember how much mental energy it required to identify myself as a quilt pattern designer. But when twenty-five wonderful people had bought the pattern in just one month, I understood that my quilting wasn’t something I did only for myself anymore. And I had three more pattern ideas already cooking!

Sewing my own Lexical quilt

You may know that I like to design and focus on one block at a time, make enough of them and then organise them into a surface, and Lexical was no exception.

For example, I challenged myself to see how many striped fabrics I could combine successfully – and how many blocks I could make that included at least one striped print.

Here are the first four that I made to meet my own challenge:

They looked so nice and were such fun to plan and make that I made more:

I shared many of my process photos in social media and got excellent recommendations. People agreed with me when I tested a layout with sashing and saw that it wasn’t a good idea.

And my bestie pointed out the white space between the blocks and suggested I add something there – and I did, to the benefit of my own Lexical quilt at least. The pattern mentions this as an option.

Looking back today

Since publishing the Lexical pattern, I’ve designed and published nine more quilt patterns so far. Some have become more popular, while others have sold more modestly. I still can’t quit my day job (and wouldn’t want to)!

I’m glad that Lexical was my first pattern: I’m still so fond of the Lexical block that I could easily imagine making another quilt with the same design, perhaps in a completely different colour palette. Or perhaps not – the version I have made looks so comfortably like Tilkunviilaaja design:

If you’d like to make your own version, you can purchase the PDF pattern for the Lexical quilt here.

Have you sewn Lexical blocks or an entire quilt? I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments!