How To Get Your Quilt In A Magazine

Ya'll! I got my first quilt in a magazine!

And, sadly, it came with an awful backstory.

Here's what happened:

First of all, magazines don't typically give you long lead times. Sometimes it's as short as three weeks to order fabric, make the quilt, write the pattern, and get it in the mail. This was no exception. I don't mind the rush, they pay well enough, and fabric companies are more than happy to send you free fabric for magazine quilts.

I made the quilt (in three days) and shipped it off to Des Moines, or so I thought.

But it never made it to the magazine's office.

Y'all! USPS lost my freaking quilt!!!

They delivered it to the wrong address, and the recipient wasn't honest enough to return it.

When they told me what happened, I decided not to make a big deal of it. In fact, I decided to turn it into an opportunity.

The first quilt I made wasn't my favorite. I used fabric that I already had, and it was good but not great.

If I have to make it again, I'm going to make it the best quilt I've ever seen.

I immediately reached out to Moda and requested the Maeve collection by Crystal Manning. It's the most perfect fabric I've ever seen: it's bright yet moody, it has pink and mustard and black and flowers, and I'm OBSESSED.

They sent me a bundle immediately, and I got to work.

When I got the re-made quilt shipped to American Patchwork and Quilting, they sent it to one of their in-house photographers, and she styled it PERFECTLY! Look at that little room she set up!

My quilt + her staging skills? Chef's kiss

And it made the cover!

It totally matches my own pink curtains and yellow furniture. I'm so obsessed, I looked up the photographer to personally thank her.

If you've ever thought about writing for a magazine, do it! I know you're wanting details, so here they are:

• They paid me $350 for the quilt + pattern

• They get exclusive rights to the pattern for a year, then shared rights in perpetuity. That means I can't reuse that pattern until a year after publication date, and then both the magazine and I can use it indefinitely after that. I don't love the perpetuity thing, it means they can resell my pattern forever without paying me extra. But I knew that going in, so I didn't sell them a pattern I'd want exclusive rights to.

• I didn't have to write the actual pattern, they have in-house designers for that. I just sent measurements and basic diagrams, and they wrote the pattern in their own format. You don't have to be a professional designer to be in a magazine!

• I didn't magically get a bunch of new social media followers or customers from it, which was fine. I did it for the experience! It was so fun to have people email me showing me their copy of the magazine, and of course, celebrating by getting my own copy (and a fancy coffee!).

The best way to get in a magazine is to look up which magazine you want to write for, and look for their editor's email address or a "write for us" button. Some magazines accept submissions, some don't. I personally love writing for American Patchwork and Quilting and Make Modern Magazine.