We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Cole Whitaker. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Cole below.

Cole, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the story of how you went from this being just an idea to making it into something real.

I learned how to quilt from my grandmother at five years old. Although I did some sewing on and off throughout my life, I only got back into quilting a few years ago. It started because I wanted a Super Mario Brothers comforter for my guest room. I couldn’t find one I liked so I decided to make one. My husband told me to post pictures online. I was resistant at first but once I posted pictures I got so much positive feedback. This caused a friend to ask me to make them a quilt. Then another friend…and so I came up with a price list and started taking commissions. I became obsessed with quilting and started teaching classes and took up longarming. My quilt that has gotten the most attention was designed to be entered into QuiltCon. I had just heard about QuiltCon and thought it would be a fun challenge to enter a quilt. I looked into what they look for. I knew that they liked original quilts. I had been thinking that it would be fun to design a quilt based off of a photo. I had many photos saved from when I was into photography. I chose ten and had people on Reddit vote on which photo they thought I should use. They chose a photo of a friend that had modeled for me. It was a great photo because the expression of joy on her face was contagious. I used the photo to create a graphic drawing in Inkscape (open source graphic design softeware). I used that drawing to draw out individual quilt blocks. To make it even more unique I designed a few fabric patterns and had them printed on fabric through spoonflower. I pieced it and longarmed it myself.
This was all done with the plan to enter QuiltCon but I completed it six months before the entry date. So I decided to enter it in the International Quilt Festival Long Beach. To my surprise it won Best of Show! Later that year I entered it in QuiltCon and it got 2nd place in the piecing category.
Going to QuiltCon was an amazing experience and I got to meet so many great people. So many people have asked how I created the quilt that I have started teaching classes and created instructional videos on how to draw quilt patterns from a photo.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

The services I offer include custom quilt commissions, custom longarm services, custom quilt patterns, classes and instructional videos and I sell quilt patterns. I got into pattern sales because people would always ask if I had the pattern for my quilts but I had never used a pattern. I always made original work. So I started selling the patterns I was using. I also had many people ask me how I created the patterns so I started teaching pattern writing classes. Some people have tried to draw their own patterns and decided it was not for them and they asked me to create custom patterns for them. I love everything I do and I do it to support other quilters. I want quilters to know that they can create whatever they want whether that means learning to create their own patterns or having me create a pattern for them. I also love doing custom longarming because there are not many people who perform this service anymore and I think that quilting should work with the quilt instead of just one pattern being placed on the quilt.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

When I got back into quilting I had been experiencing symptoms of what I did not know at the time was a chronic illness. The symptoms got so bad that I had to quit my full time job. Quilting was something that I was able to do at my own pace, even with my sickness. As my business picked up it not only helped my mental health but it supplemented the fact that I was not well enough to work full time. My goal is for this to be my full time job. I have not yet arrived at this goal but I am headed in a good direction. What I do brings me so much joy and fulfillment.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I knew how important technical editor were when I started writing patterns, One of my patterns was very popular but as people started using it I was getting many messages about typos and area that were mislabeled. I was so embarrassed. I do everything myself so looking over your own work, you often miss things. Having a technical editor look over my patterns has given me great peace of mind because I know that I would have to keep updating a pattern because of missed mistakes.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.colesquilts.com
• Instagram: colesquilts
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093961684137
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colewhitaker/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1Or2RUZokK8GPQZ8U-clpA
• Other: Reddit https://www.reddit.com/user/colerw81/