We all get asked a lot- “What do you do?” – meaning- “What is your job?”
Until I moved here almost 3 years ago, the answer was easy. I would say, I am a nurse. I am also a wife, a mother, a friend, a sister… but no one is asking about that. We often define people by their occupation.
Last month when I did the trunk show in Colorado Springs for the guild there, I talked about my journey as a quilt designer and a pattern designer.
What do those terms mean? I think they mean different things to different people.
So who is a quilt designer? In my mind, it is anyone who picks up a pattern and then wanders to find just the right fabrics to make that quilt.
It is also the person who creates blocks, puts combinations together and creates a new quilt design. It is a broad and encompassing term. It is many of us.
I am also a pattern designer which means to me that I take that quilt that I designed and create the pattern- the words and images that make it possible for others to create their quilt from it.
So, what do I say now when people ask what I do? Well, I have struggled with it- when I say I am a quilt pattern designer, I get funny looks. It often takes them a minute to process. Then they usually say, “Oh, you make quilts? My grandma did that.”
Yes, I do. I make quilts. I am a quilt designer. I am a quilt pattern designer.
I am a quilter.
happy quilting,
Kate
p.s. I am working on a new pattern today- MUST play with fabric! But, Stella, our other new pattern will be ready on March 16th!!
Woo hoo! She is so pretty…