Patterns and timelines

There are six new patterns in my Etsy shop!  

I'll share about each quilt individually in the coming weeks, but today I thought I'd share a little bit of behind the scenes info about timing.  Some of these quilts have clearly been finished for a while, as evidenced by the green backdrop in the photos.  It's not green here at the moment!  So, why wait to share?  And why release the patterns all at once? It has to do with timing pattern releases to coincide with catalog releases from fabric companies.

First, a little bit about fabric catalogs:  these are catalogs that shops can view online and that fabric sales reps show to shop owners to showcase the new fabric collections available to shops to pre-order for delivery 6 to 8 months later.  These catalogs usually include examples of quilts that showcase the new prints. 

All four batik quilts (Shuffled Stars, Shining Lace, Hidden Dimensions and Jump Space) were designed in February, after Island Batik put out a call for design submissions to showcase the fabrics in their Fall and Winter 2025 catalogs.  

3 Winter 2025 collections from Island Batik for Lumin fabrics  
These will arrive in shops in spring 2026

They shared digital fabric swatches that I could import as a "fabric" in EQ8 to color designs. There were 20 collections to work with.  I played with several and submitted designs for 6 collections. Some designs were repeated in more than one collection, and I was asked to recolor a few in a couple of other collections. 

By the end of March, Island Batik had made their selections and by the middle of May I received advance fabric sampling to make four sample quilts for the catalog.  These quilts are also required to be the pattern cover quilts.  

Rosy Bloom fabrics for Shining Lace quilt

While I waited I for the fabric, I started working on the patterns so I could do a first test of the pattern when I made the samples.  Making the sample from a pattern draft is a great way to discover where I forgot to indicate pressing directions, or where I could explain things more clearly.

Knotted is not one the patterns in the current batch,
but the process looked similar!

I was ready to start making the quilts by early June.  For a couple of weeks all I did was sew (such a hardship!), finishing up the fourth quilt top on June 18th. Thank you, thank you, thank you to Stephanie from A Quilted Memory in Nevada, Iowa for getting these quilted quickly for me so I could bind and take photos before shipping the quilts to California to arrive by the mid-July due date.

Island Batik does their own photography for their catalog, but I always have my own photoshoot before I ship quilts.  I haven't had a quilt be lost yet, but I take photos before I ship just in case I never see the quilt again.  I have a handy dandy Quilt Husband to assist with those shoots.  He's very accommodating and I appreciate him!

Quilt Husband in action

This shoot was in the summer, a little buggy but mostly pleasant.  The previous shoot was in January during a severe cold snap.  He still humored me and we got lovely incongruous photos of a flower quilt, Fabulous Phlox, in the snow...which I now realize I never shared on the blog.  I'll add that to my list of things to blog about.  But I digress.

Back to the new Island Batik quilts.  They were made and photographed but I couldn't share them until Island Batik unveiled the fabric collections used in them.  One of the collections got an unexpected early share at Quilt Market in the fall, which is why my Shuffled Stars pattern got an early sneak peek release on social media and my newsletter in November.  The rest had to wait until the Winter 2025 catalog was released this week.  

How about Rib Stitch and Surface Curves?  Why am I releasing them at the same time as those Island Batik ones?  Wouldn't it make sense to space them out?  Well, yes, that would make sense, but they are also tied to a fabric catalog that was releasesd on December 15th.  

White Owl Textiles sent out a call for submissions in October for their December catalog. Because they do not provide early fabric sampling, do not require an actual quilt sample in their fabrics, and do not require designs to be brand new they have a much shorter timeline from selection to catalog.

Botanical Sketchbook from White Owl Textiles for Lumin Fabrics
Shipping to store Fall 2026

I was feeling optimistic about my time management skills (Ha!) and submitted two new designs to White Owl Textiles to showcase their Botanical Sketchbook collection. They selected some of my existing patterns, but also those two new designs, Rib Stitch and Surface Curves.  Yay!  Also oops!  If a pattern appears in a fabric catalog sent to quilt shops, the pattern needs to be available for them to buy when they see it, so I had to write the patterns and make test quilts and get photos and pattern covers sorted out by December 15th when the catalog the catalog went live online.  Made it!

There you go.  That was information you didn't ask for, but I thought some of you might like a small glimpse at the back end of the business.  Stay tuned for the eye-candy part of the business over the next few weeks as I share details about each quilt and pattern.

Happy quilting,

Joanne

PS:  Any last minute Christmas-themed sewing in your sewing room? My Christmas version of Boxed Kisses, which I worked on after the Island Batik quilts, is still not quilted.  There are still a few days before Christmas but maybe this will end up being a Christmas 2026 quilt.