Pattern Tester Survey Responses
Ask the Pattern Testers: Results from the Pattern Tester Survey
Compiling 171 survey entries was not the easiest task. Especially when a lot of the questions are short/long answer! Learning point for next time! Here are the rules I have put in place to make sure everyone is treated fairly and anonymously. I paraphrased or combined answers/comments, you may be able to tell that it was your answer, but no one else will. All the contributors who answered Yes to “May I share your Instagram Handle?” are all listed at the bottom of this post. This community is simply amazing, please go follow and support them! Thank you to everyone who contributed! If you want to see my take on how a pattern test should be run, go to this post.
Format is as follows, if it was a select the answer there’s a graph breaking it down. If it was a fill in the blank/paragraph, I summarized everyone’s thoughts. There was anywhere between 8-25 pages of responses per question when I copied them into Word!
Finally, I did not receive any (Zero!) hurtful or rude comments. That, in my opinion, is extraordinary! The quilting community always amazes me! Thank you all for being kind and bringing your views to the table. Now here’s the data….
How do you decide who to pattern test for? Answers also relate to, how do you decide what to pattern test?
The Designer
o Honest Social Media > Staged
o If they seem nice / have a good personality
o Reach/Large Audience
o Loyalty to designers – already follow or tested before
Past patterns weren’t full of errors
Is a friend
Designer testing other designer’s pattern
Feel obligated to keep testing for past designers I’ve tested for.
o If the designer helps in fabric selection (but does not dictate)
o Based off of past patterns
Promoted their past testers well
Writing style
Hearing from others it’s a good designer
Appreciates testers
Purchased designer’s past pattern
o Responds to questions / good communication
o Clear Expectations/Requirements
o Clear and organized
o Is excited about their pattern
o From another country – expand your global reach!
o Building a relationship with the designer
o Helping a new designer
Design of the Pattern
o A pattern I would pay for if I wasn’t testing
o Modern Fresh
o Inspires
o Shown Upfront
o Quilting style – traditional vs FPP
o New techniques
o Difficulty of pattern – Doesn’t intimidate the tester
Fabric
o Having fabric in my stash
o No specific requirements – ie color choices or type
Requirements Stated Right Away
o Design
o Time frame – minimum 4 weeks, 6-8 weeks preferred
o Size
o Yardage
Totally random – especially new testers
Know I want to use the quilt as a gift
Not testing for the sake of testing, setting limits to how many tests to do each month
Test the patterns to be used for classes, then use as sample in a store.
Why do you pattern test? What’s in it for you?
Practice, new skills, new techniques, a challenge
Stash bust or using specific fabric
Enjoy the process
For fun! I love to Quilt!
Step towards designing my own patterns
Social Media
o Exposure to larger audience/followers. Building reach.
o Promotes my fabric shop
o Creates more content for my feed
Community
o New people
o New friends
o Involvement
o Tester Chats!
o Being a part of something
o Sharing a creative space with others
o Networking
o It’s like a quilt a long
o Watching new designers grow / Supporting other makers
o Coaching
o Seeing different variations
o Supporting a small business/designer someone’s dream
o Getting to work with designers
o Helping others. Joy of creating and giving back.
o Quid pro quo: I test for you, you test for me.
Use quilting as therapy
Deadlines – Getting projects done!
Get out of a creative funk
It’s a choice to test, no one is forcing you
Free Pattern! Access to patterns I probably wouldn’t buy
Keeping what I made, or using it as a gift
I like editing
Quilt Math (yes, some of us like quilt math!)
I love a puzzle
I have the financial resources to do so
Where I live there aren’t many modern quilters or patterns.
Being appreciated!
There’s nothing in it for me. (Kaitlin side note: There were a few responses like this. My question is, then why are you pattern testing?)
What makes a pattern test GREAT?
The Pattern
o A pattern that works!
o Goes together smoothly
o Minimal errors!
o Clear / Accurate Instructions
o Good overall design
o Math is accurate
o Tester version of the pattern is as close to a final draft as possible
o Minimal leftover fabric
o Interesting / beautiful pattern
o A pattern I’ll make again
o Accurate fabric requirements
Requirements
o Choose what size I want to test
o Clear communication
o Clear expectations, including deadlines
o Reasonable timeframe
- Minimum 4 weeks
- Best 6-8 weeks!
o No extra pressure. Most quilters have day job and/or kids
Designer
o Fun
o ask questions
o responding to emails/questions
o open to and uses feedback
o Help with fabric choices, that aren’t forced upon you, use your stash
o tested for them before
Community
o Chat
o Safe place to ask questions
o Conversations with testers and designer
o Good group of testers
o Staying friends with group after the test
o New followers
Social Media
o Lots of Social Media Interactions
o Designer reshares your posts
o Likes, comments, saves
o Tester Parade – individual post are the best
- Don’t forget anyone!
o Designer Hypes up and promotes testers
o Don’t require posts on a specific timeline
Gestures of appreciation by designer
o Thank you note
o Personal email
o Freebie pattern/additional pattern
o Adding testers to the actual pattern
o Valued and appreciated
Being able to make the pattern my own
Not having to decide what pattern to make next
A quilt! To use, gift, or sell.
What makes a pattern test a chore?
Pattern
o When everything is wrong. So many errors
When things don’t match up
Isn’t ready for testers. Needs to be at least 90-95% done.
Bad math
Wrong cutting instructions
Incorrect measurements
o Not enough diagrams
o Poor or overcomplicated instructions
o Big sizes
o Repetitive blocks
o Not shown at sign up
Don’t like it after sign up
o Tons of fabric waste
o Formatting issues
Hard to read
Headings missing or not visible
Use way too many font styles
Color selection is distracting
Things are either too spaced out or too squished
o A million pieces
o Lots of different fabrics
o When major errors are found and the pattern isn’t updated for tests to work from
When it leads you to drink
Requirements
o Timeline is too long, too short, and/or too strict
Buying fabric isn’t always quick
o Strict social media postings
What to post
When to post
Hashtags – more than just the pattern’s hashtag
Telling testers how to work around Instagram’s algorithm, we are quilters not social media experts
o New requirements after sign up
o Too many requirements and rules
o Having the testers be the marketing team for the pattern
o Not clear on the guidelines
What do designers want from their testers?
Designer
o Vague and indecisive
o Chooses fabric colors or fabric line you HAVE to use.
o No to slow responses
o No acknowledgement that feedback was received.
o Not showing / sharing your final product on their page
o Not promoting testers equally
o Not sending the final pattern
o Last minute changes.
Scrapping everything and having to start over…. SUCKS!
o Micromanaging
o Multiple versions/revisions being sent out.
Hard to keep track of which is the current version
o Isn’t tech savvy or willing to learn
o Feels entitled
The tester is doing them a favor
o Doesn’t love their pattern
o Ask specific questions
What issues does the designer have
What are they unsure of
o Saying something can’t be fixed, for various reasons.
Feeling unappreciated
No sense of community
No balance between tester’s efforts and designer’s efforts. Designer needs to match or exceed what the testers are bringing to the table.
Unnecessarily large test group
I set unrealistic expectations for myself and/or over commit
Having to sign a contract
Photos
Flying Geese
100’s of the same block (Ie Half Square Triangles or Flying Geese)
Group chats
o too overwhelming
o go on non-quilting tangents
o Suggestions: make it voluntary, suggest turning off notifications, Designer - make formal email for important information
Too much interaction
Having to teach yourself how to make a block
Being sent the pattern and then ignored for the rest of the test period.
One huge take away I felt need to be fully stated. If the designer is requiring specific fabric for a test YOU (the designer) need to help pay for the fabric. Volunteers should not be forced into fabric selection. Especially designer fabrics. At this point the designer is commissioning a quilt, not pattern testing. - Kaitlin
What is something you wish every pattern test had? I.e. Instagram chat, google sheet, extra communication from designer...
Chat with the testers and designer on Instagram or Facebook
o Ask your testers which they prefer, if you don’t have a preference.
o Designers – be involved in the chat
o Have control of the chat
Private Facebook group
o Easier to see a question and comments that go along with that question.
Easy to find hashtags
Requirements/Expectations for the test from Designers
o Clear expectations
o Timeline and due dates clearly stated
o Clear format how designers want feedback
o Image of pattern and fabric requirements before signing up to test
o Make any No No’s known
Don’t post before this date
o What social media posts designers want before testing
Designers
o Review fabric requirements and cutting instructions thoroughly before testers get pattern
o Respond to emails in a timely manner
o Questions the designer has, things to look at closely
What makes “good” feedback? What is helpful feedback?
o Seeing designer’s progress and the story behind the pattern
o Sharing all tester’s social posts/promote their work
Feature post on designer’s feed for each tester’s quilt
o Acknowledgement of feedback received
All it needs to be is “Got it! Thanks!”
o Open communication
o Be organized
o Send out the pattern to testers in a timely manner
o Send reminder email closer to due date and release day
o How to videos on complicated things within the pattern.
o Frequent check-in’s with testers
o Help with fabric suggestions, do not demand fabric choices
o Feedback for testers at the end of the test
What was helpful?
What can a tester do better?
o A Thank You to testers
Pattern
o Numbered pages
o Coloring sheet
o Clear diagrams
o Labels to mark cut pieces if there are a lot of pieces
o Visible before signup
o Larger fonts
o Good diagrams
o Prequilt color chart
The Test
o Smaller test groups. No huge tests with 35+ people!
o Email to those who haven’t been selected to test
o Updates if other testers find something major
o A rubric or outline of what is expected from testers
o Easy to find deadlines. Don’t hide them in an Instagram chat
o Having a theme for the test to make your testers feel more like a team
o Treat the test like a Quilt Along
o Central location for updated pattern versions (drop box, google doc/sheet, etc.)
FPP: Specific layout of blocks from paper and fabric sides shown
FPP: templates colored or have unique patterns to show different colors
How much do you spend on fabric for a pattern test? Let’s say for a Throw size quilt. Include if it’s from your stash or purchased specifically for the test.
This question should have been a select the answer, however, it wasn’t…
Many testers use their stash or scraps when they can. If they are making the quilt for someone specific they will spend more money to get the perfect fabrics. The majority of responses averaged around $100 for a pattern test. The range was anywhere between $30-200. There were a couple outliers around the $500 mark. Remember that it’s not just the top tester’s are spending money on. Most testers quilt their tops, adding batting and backing fabric to the cost equation.
Any other comments or thoughts about being a pattern tester?
This question wasn’t intended to be a loaded one, but here we are. I’ve broken it into two sections. First, the responses I was expecting. Second, the conversation on compensation.
The Good!
o I enjoy it!
o Usually sign up for too many
o Being valued and appreciated goes a long way
o Community!
Community engagement through testing is always a joy
It’s a great way to get involved
o Testing is a way to relax/self-care
o Builds my skills as a quilter
o Knowing you’re a part of something
o Seeing other examples of a quilt you made
o Having your voice heard by the designer
o I get inspired by being a pattern tester!
o Some testers use hashtags after release day and add to the postings, because they can and want to support the pattern and designer.
o Great designer attitude = great testing experience!
Comments directed towards Designers
o Let testers have control over fabric, thread, how the quilt is used
o Be mindful of timelines – don’t expect a full quilt top to be done in a week.
o Don’t make it stressful
o Don’t add extra things to the test, I want to know what I sign up for at the beginning
o As the tester I would love to get feedback, tell me what I’m doing right or wrong so I can get better at testing.
o Don’t ghost your testers!
o I always seem to miss tester calls or not be chosen.
o If designers only test for other designers there is less of a chance for new quilters to get involved in the community.
o Seeing requirements for the test BEFORE signing up!
o How do testers get selected to test again for the same designer?
o Allow ALL tester quilts to be sold after pattern release day.
o Designers make sure to share ALL tester versions, don’t miss anyone!
o Is there a way to have testers who just review the pattern? Focusing solely on corrections within the pattern, not making the pattern?
o Correct mistakes in the pattern that testers find. Why have testers if you aren’t going to fix your mistakes?
o SO many new designers are following course formulas, they aren’t showing their individuality.
o Designers not fully engaged with their testers.
o I asked for feedback from the designer I tested for and was denied
o I would not test for a designer who doesn’t have a good following on social media.
o I will only test for designers I have tested for in the past. I know they will appreciate me and my work.
o I spend at least an hour if not more providing good feedback.
Testing can cause burnout. Too many tests = no time for personal projects.
Sometimes IG chats get too overwhelming.
After a few tests, testers become more selective on who/what they test for. Experiences varied, but you know when a test isn’t good.
If you shrink the tester pool, it limits the community aspect of the test.
Language barriers. Foreigners are being excluded if they don’t speak English. How to make translations easier?
It can be fun or an extreme chore
Testing is not for everyone, and that’s okay!
Pattern Testing Compensation
Ironically, compensation for pattern testers wasn’t high on my radar when writing my “Dear Pattern Writers” post and gaining insight from other pattern testers. The a day or two before I had planned to release my survey, Pattern Testing Compensation became a hot topic. I added a couple extra questions to my survey just to feel out what everyone else was thinking. Almost every person added their thoughts on compensation to their “Other thoughts/Comments” answer. Conversations, like compensation, aren’t easy to have. Factors range drastically in a creative field that is also considered a hobby. I personally don’t think there is one answer. I think there is a minimum pattern writers can do for pattern testers, and there’s a way to not pay the testers. However, the pattern writer is making a financial transaction for this product, but many don’t see anywhere near a profit off of their pattern. It’s a strange balance of wanting to respect an artist vs respect a hobbyist for their time. Some of the responses blew me away; honesty, compassion, a little hostility, and yea I put in 15+ hrs for this quilt I want to be paid. As a business owner and an artist I see both sides. I see the pain of not getting paid. I also see that pattern testers volunteer, no one has to be a pattern tester. Many quilters who do this as a business also consider it a hobby. Where do we draw the line? Do we need to draw the line?
Pattern testing requires a lot of time, effort, and materials. It’s not for everyone. It’s expensive and a privilege to be a pattern tester. I really wish I could give a pre pandemic vs pandemic perspective on this topic as well. If you are someone who has pattern tested pre pandemic I’d love to get your take. The tester pool seems very saturated right now, I’m curious how it was before people were staying home and had extra time to quilt/be creative.
I didn’t think I would become a moderator for Pattern Testing Compensation. So here are my boundaries. I’ll listen to all sides, I will lift the voices of all sides, and I will shut it all down if kindness isn’t a part of the conversation. No attacking, no name calling, no being a meanie head. Be Kind! I want this important conversation to happen and have everyone be heard.
Ideas on How to Compensate Pattern Testers!
*These lists can and will be updated when new ideas are shared.
Free ways you can compensate your pattern tester…. The bare minimum!
Social Media Promotion – Likes, Comments, Saves, and Shares
Tester Parade – Make sure you show EVERYONE!
A personalized Thank You email
Some Effort Required but Cheap ways to compensate your pattern tester….
Hand written Thank You note
Quilty Stickers
A free pattern from your shop of their choosing.
Handmade Trinket
Discount code to a quilt shop for fabric or long arming.
Give Feedback to the Testers, what did they do well, what could they improve upon?
Trade of services
o Long arming
o Fabric
o Pattern test between designers
o Workshop
Mail a physical copy of the pattern to testers
Drawing between testers for prizes
o Rotary blades
o Thread
o Fabric bundle
People’s Choice Award: based off of the most interactions on a social media post wins a prize
Designers, brag about you testers. Tell the world what they did great!
Actual Compensation….
Gift Card to a LQS or Online Fabric Shop
Larger Companies/Designers – Pay your testers
Thread
Clapper
Workshop
Fabric Bundle
Royalty/Commission System
o Give tester’s a referral code, or use their name at checkout, to track where customers are coming from. Then, the tester gets a kickback. Can be set for within a specific timeframe (i.e. first two weeks after release).
o Motivates testers to promote the sale of the pattern more.
Here are the contributor’s responses about Pattern Testing Compensation: (in no order)
What about taxing paying someone for pattern testing. As a small shop/designer there is no way you can afford to pay pattern tester employees and pay the taxes that come with that.
Logistically how would being paid work?
Raise the price of patterns
Some designers are more grateful than others and it shows.
o Need to realize testers are doing the designer a favor, not the other way around.
o Some designers have posted “How to increase your chance to test for me.” It sound egotistical and presumptuous, because it’s unpaid.
Suggestions have included: photography, have more followers, better past test posts. If you want to be that picky PAY your testers.
Pattern does well, then the testers could get a kickback.
Compensation based on the feedback/comments received, not the time it takes to make the quilt. I.e. $10-50 not over $100.
Compensation is not one size fits all
Time is money in business, but with a hobby – it is? Quilting first and foremost is a hobby. There are exception for some who make it into a business.
Should be compensated – BUT doesn’t need to be with money
o Appreciation goes a long way
o Show respect
o Don’t take advantage of testers’ time and materials
o Gracious and compassionate
When it feels like helping a friend and connections/friends are made, no compensation needed
Really conflicted about compensation.
o Am I contributing to an unethical and exclusionary system?
o Having people profit off of my free labor and materials
o Why are we politicizing pattern testing?
I’d love to know what designers actually make, if they’re getting rich off of patterns – then of course pay your testers in some way.
Learning a new skill is compensation
Quilty people like helping others
There is no way to make everyone happy
Monetary compensation isn’t inclusive
o Comes from having economic privilege
o People can’t always afford to test out of pocket
o If you can’t afford materials, you can’t make a quilt. Are these people really volunteering to test patterns?
o It’s not the designers job to support a new hobbyist by purchasing their supplies.
o Monetizing pattern testing could make the community less inclusive, which is the opposite of what advocates for paying pattern testers are seeking.
o Want vs Need
Quilting is expensive, but not a necessity. Not everyone needs to be a tester.
If you can’t afford to test right now, wait until you can
o Newer designers won’t be able to compete for testers if they are paid.
o Could become very cliquey
Volunteered!
o No on forces a tester to test
o Testers choose to test
o Never saw it as something that should be paid for
o I know what is involved and still want to do it.
o Compensation would be nice, but not expected.
o Leave it the way it is now, there are plenty of volunteers
o People are eager to test to help a new designer
o Volunteer = Hobby
o Testing is NOT a requirement for being apart of the quilting community
o I can say no
Artists should be paid, pattern testers are not the artist in this case.
Expectations
o Set clear expectations and have everyone agree to them at the beginning of the test
o Pattern testing = make the pattern and giver feedback on errors and clarity. This does not include Pattern Influencing: marketing, posting, sharing the pattern – that’s extra.
o Tester shouldn’t have to go through a pattern with a fine tooth comb.
o Given up front.
Turns a hobby into a job
o Do it for fun
o Payment = guilt or having to do more
o Stop trying to monetize a hobby
Competition between testers to get the better tests/designers
Tester expectations are lower when they are not paid.
o Compensation increases expectations which many may not be able to meet.
Less stress, but doesn’t mean they will do subpar work.
Testers not feeling like they are good enough to test and won’t apply.
Other hobby/crafts test without paid compensation.
Testing is labor and labor should be compensated. Free labor isn’t a good or correct standard to set for the industry to rely on.
Designers need to experience a test before they do their own.
Scholarship for quilters who can’t afford to test?
Use a paid tech editor or copy editor instead of the tester group to proofread/edit the pattern.
Larger Companies/Designers
o Have a position to pay testers – and they should
Smaller Designers
o Use other ways to compensate (non-monetary)
If you pay testers are designers more in control?
o Micromanage
o Choose fabrics
o Social posts
o Rigid timelines
o Designers are making sure their team of testers is diverse and inclusive.
If you made it this far.. Thanks for scrolling through!! Hopefully this information will carry conversations about pattern testing along. I hope to do a follow up version of the survey for pattern designers in the future. If you haven’t already, check out my other post giving a detailed look at how to run a pattern test based off of the tester’s needs/wants.
Contributors!
@Crazy_acres_quilter, @Werqricky, @sarahhuangsews, @commonloonquilts, @Sprouting_stitches, @tree.textiles, @Modern_rural_quilter, @quiltystitchystiff, @andreabquilting, @milmiria, @jennysimsmakesthings, @hasmeinstitches, @quiltalope, @_vanessa.griffi _, @2littleowls_handmade, @Rivera.debora, @Colleenquilting, @domdomquilts, @harkincquilting, Kimberly Maher / Kimberly 2959, @zoesquiltypleasures, @nowsewwhat, @Sewingscientist, @peteyandco, @meredith.a.adolf, @sewmuchsarah, @djrquilts, @Msnovembercharlie, @Prairieandocean, @quiltyshug, @sew_what_bec, @quiltandclay, @auroraa1714, @sincerely.laura, @Angela_BelovedQuilter, @boymom_creative, @Bluelillacquilts, @Bookendsquilting, @Emerald.binding, @Treehousequiltingco, @Squilting, @modernquiltlab, @NogdoraStudios, @Krebsbachhubercrafts, @roseivyco, @crestview.quilts, @cloverquilts, @acorncornerquilts, @koalamommily, @farrah.handmade, @quilt_kersten, @mollymcquilterson, @Raining_stitches, @Shirlee_partridge, @Katherineelizabethquilts, @Mtngalrn, @mandahmadeit, @Mgarner08, @Skippysewz718, Shiloh's Quilts, @vinyardquilts, @Rasdas99, @ @lakesidelongarmer, @drlizcarter, @thequiltsmith, @kindredquiltco, @andreahaverinen, @feltlikesweets, @sunstitchedstudio, @Pennyspoolquilts, @so_gingerly, @studiocornerquilts, @Gcoburn, @mountainmadequilts, @wicki000, @lydia.rose.arts, @MaechenMarie, @myquiltingphd, @quiltsbyolivia, @Midwesternbite, @wanderingtracy, @labouroflovequilts, @My.dandelion.days, @Quiltedbasket, @goldenrod.mood, @thepaintedbuntingstudio, @licastanho_patchwork, @grape.soda.studio, @quiltsbypaulajean, @createjoyquilt, @Modernstitch_, @rrquilts, @viviry, @Heritage.threads, @Legacythreadsquilting, @Cottonandcraft, @Bearcat.sewing, @Annariemakesstuff, @Plainjanesandco, @justfinequilts, @campfirequiltco, @Pieceandquietquilts, @hillarytweed, @Midwestnotions, @kmnquiltco, @quilted_cactus, @Patchwork_pear, Lauren M., @spunstraw, @Diamondhillquilts, @mollzmcguire, @Threadtothread, @JRoussel.Creations, @justaquiltingirl, and anyone who answered Anonymously.
