PatchBalls are a wonderful combination of geometry, curves and tiny piecing. They are a great way to use scraps. They are perfect for a gift for a child or decoration for your home.
The Orbits PatchBall reproduces some in 3D format. You can make it in 2 colours or customised as you wish.
Skill Level is Advanced. The Foundation Paper piecing part is easy. The hard part is closing the Ball, which you can make by hand.
PatchBalls are a wonderful combination of geometry, curves and tiny piecing. They are a great way to use scraps. They are perfect for a gift for a child or decoration for your home.
The Galaxy PatchBall reproduces a spiral in 3D format. You can make it in 7 colours or customised as you wish.
Skill Level is Advanced. The Foundation Paper piecing part is easy. The hard part is closing the Ball, which you can make by hand.
PatchBalls are a wonderful combination of geometry, curves and tiny piecing. They are a great way to use scraps. They are perfect for a gift for a child or decoration for your home.
The Chess PatchBall reproduces a Chess board in 3D format. You can make it in 2 colours or customised as you wish.
Skill Level is Advanced. The Foundation Paper piecing part is easy. The hard part is closing the Ball, which you can make by hand.
Before placing your patterns on QuiltInk you need to subscribe to a plan.
You can see all the plans available at the “Subscribe to a Plan” button in your Designer Page.
As new designer on QuiltInk, you have two options to start placing your patterns on the web app:
Trial Plan
A time where you can see and learn how the app works. You can also check the response of your followers by being able to color your pattern on QuiltInk. Terms of this plan:
Number of patterns: 1.
Numbers of sizes per pattern: 1.
Time period: 14 days.
It can only be subscribed to once.
It is cancelled automatically at the end of the trial period.
Paid Plans
These paid plans are always available on QuiltInk and allow you to place patterns in the app. You can subscribe to one of these plans and skip the trial period. Terms of these plan:
You pay a monthly/yearly fee, through Stripe, depending on the patterns included in the plan.
Every pattern can include all the sizes you want.
You can set up as many designs as you want of every size/pattern.
You will have a personal page on Stripe where you can manage your subscribed plan ; change your plan to a higher or lower one, or cancel it whenever you want.
Before sending a design to Quiltink, please prepare the files using this guide. We need to receive the files in a properly edited way, otherwise we will have to edit it by ourselves, involving some extra work.
Whichever is the designing software you use to create your pattern designs, please follow these simple steps:
Use only closed shapes. Please don’t use open lines to create the shapes.
Remove any stroke from the shapes, using only fill colours.
Send all the shapes filled in the same colour. You will create the different colour lay outs once the pattern is uploaded in Quiltink. Check here to check how this works.
Check that all the shapes are one next to the other, avoiding blank areas between them
Place all the shapes in one layer, please don’t duplicate shapes.
If you are sending several quilt sizes, make one file per size, naming each file with the corresponding quilt size.
Files must be in .svg vector format . Please don’t send img formats like jpg, png, tiff… Here you have some instructions on how to export your files in .svg format, depending on the designing software you use. If you use a different one, export it in pdf format.
Exporting from Inkscape
Inkscape is a Freeware tool that already works in svg format. So there is no need to export it. You may send the file.
Exporting from AI or InDesign
To save your artwork as SVG, choose File > Export > SVG (svg). Check “Use Artboards” to export the contents of your artboards as individual SVG files. Make sure that the name of each artboard is the quilt size of the layout in it.
InDesign does not export to SVG directly. Export your shapes to PDF, open that in Illustrator and save your SVG from there.
Exporting from Quilt Assistant
Go to File – Print Preview. Check the Design box and both options shown in the image below. Then Print. In the printer dialog select “save as a pdf”.
Exporting from EQ8
You only need to print a pdf from the “quilt worktable”. Click “print & export”, then “block” on the right side.
This dialog box pops up. On page set up change the measurements of the page to the quilt size. Select “outline drawing” and the settings shown here.
The rest of the process is exactly like any other pdf printing. You just need to select PDF as the printer.
Submitting your design
Once you have your files ready, it’s time to submit them! It is quite simple to do. Here is a step by step explanation:
1.
On the main page, go to your account.
2.
On the top right account icon, click on designer page.
3.
Click on Manage Patterns
4.
Click on submit a pattern.
5.
Fill in the form with the information requested:
Name: The name of the pattern displayed in Quiltink when published.
Type: Quilt, pillow, block….
Technique: Traditional, Fpp…
URL: Link to your shop where the pattern is for sale.
Description: tell us something about the pattern, like level rate, design inspiration…
Once you have finished, upload the files. We need to receive one file per size. Please name the files with the size.
After submitting a pattern to Quiltink, we will create one skeleton per size of the quilt. These skeletons are not coloured yet and you’ll need to make the different colour layouts depending on the ones available in your pattern. Let’s see how to create them:
Creating the draft
First of all you need to create a draft. In your account icon, go to designer page, then click manage patterns and click on the pen icon next to the pattern you need to create a colour layout for.
In the edit pattern page, click on the purple plus sign to create a colour layout. Then select the size you want to create the colour layout for, by clicking on the plus sign.
Coloring the draft
A new draft layout will be created automatically with the name “New Layout xxxx”. You’ll change this name later. First, click on the colour palette next to this new layout.
A new window will pop up where you can colour your layout.
You may find further info about how to colour your layout here.
Merging pieces by colour
One of the new features in QuiltInk is the possibility of merging pieces of the same colour. You might group or ungroup the pieces of the same colour at any moment.
The icon on the left side of the highlighted area will merge the pieces by color. The user, by clicking on one of these pieces, will be able to colour all the pieces of the same color automatically. This is very useful if you have fixed colour distributions in your pattern.
The icon on the right side of the highlighted area will unmerge the pieces. The user will be able to colour the pieces one by one, and create a custom colouring of the design. Also, if during the colouring, you need to add/remove one of the pieces from the same group, you can use this tool for that.
Once you have a clear idea of the pieces that should be grouped by colour in the final colour layout, you have the option of locking the merge in the “…” icon of the left side menu. If you lock the merged pieces, the final user won’t be able to change the colour distribution. If you don’t block the merged pieces, the final user will be able to create a custom colouring, merge or unmerge the pieces on their own. Remember, the lock of the merged pieces can’t be undone. So, be sure the colour layout is ok before to do it.
We recommend the designer to check the colour layout is working fine before publishing.
Final checks
Please note that a colour layout can only be published if all the pieces have a colour asigned. To check you have painted every piece, you can click on the dropper and a window will pop up showing the list of colours included in the colour layout. If there is any piece missing, a message in red will show up on top of the list.
Also, the publication of the colour layout will be locked. You’ll see a crossed out cloud in red next to the layout draft in the edit pattern menu.
When you are finished, click on the floppy disk icon to save your draft. This action will not publish the colour layout yet. You might come back and edit it again.
Editing the Colour layout options
Once you have the colour layout ready, you can edit the properties. Go back to Edit pattern and click on the “···” icon of the layout you need to edit. You’ll find three options there:
Edit layout properties
Duplicate the draft layout
Delete the draft layout
1. Layout properties
If you click on edit layout properties, a new window will pop up showing you the properties:
Name: here you can change the name of the layout. For example: 3-colors, multicolor, etc…
Size: set the size of the layout
Real size: type here the finished size of the quilt.
When you are finished, click save.
2. Duplicate the colour layout.
This is very useful if you want to change/amend a published colour layout.
It will create a new draft based on this colour layout. Then follow these steps:
Unmerge all the pieces
Re-colour the pieces you want to change
Merge again. And block the merging if necessary
Save
Publish
If the colour layout you need to change has been already used by any user, it’s not possible to be removed, but you may deactivate it clicking on the eye icon. Notice this option is not possible if you locked the merging. When you lock the merging it can’t be undone adn you will have to redo the colour layout if you need to change/amend it.
3. Delete de colour layout
This action will remove the colour layout. If the colour layout you need to delete has been already used by any user, it’s not possible to be removed, but you may deactivate it clicking on the eye icon.
Publishing
When you are ready with all the settings, click on the cloud icon to publish the colour layout. This colour layout won’t be public after publishing. If you want to make it public, click on the eye icon. You can deactivate it at any moment.
Once you have ready all the colour layouts, you need to set a cover of your pattern before it’s published.
To set it, select the layout you want to be the cover of the pattern, click on the “…” icon and “set as pattern cover”.
As QuiltInk Designer, you have the possibility to embed your QuiltInk pattern colouring pages onto your website.
For those of you that don’t own a website, there is the possibility of a link, which can be opened with a browser and redirect the customers directly to your pattern colouring pages on Quiltink. This link can be placed on Etsy or your Instagram profile, for example, or where ever you want.
Get the code/link on QuiltInk
Go to Manage Patterns on your QuiltInk Designer Page.
Click on the “…” icon near the name of the pattern you want to embed.
From the drop down list click the “Info” icon.
Here you will see some info about your pattern plus the code and link for two different ways to embed the colouring pages of your pattern:
Embed the main pattern page with all the Colour Layouts: This embed code/link will show your customers a page on Quiltink with all the Colour Layouts you set up for your pattern. Then, they can choose which one to use as the basis to colour your pattern.
Embed one Colour Layout: this embed code/link links directly to the colouring page for a specific Colour Layout. This way is suited for patterns with only one Colour Layout, or when you want to place all the individual designs to color in a blog post, for example.
Paste the code/link in your website
Copy the code/link you want by clicking over it.
Either paste the embed code in the “text” editor of your website page.
Alternatively, you can share the link to your pattern / Colour Layout, where you want. The link can be pasted in any place from where people can copy it and paste in a browser, or you can add a hyperlink to it and redirect customers directly to your colouring page by clicking at it. For example: a pdf file, Etsy, Instagram profile, etc.
Result
The result is that people will be able to color your pattern directly in your website or, if you share the link, in any browser window.
The embed allows you to offer the colouring QuiltInk service to your customers in a more direct way. They can color the pattern in the product
page and then buy the pattern directly, they don’t have to return to your website from QuiltInk. If customers don’t leave your website, they don’t
have to come back, so there are more chances they will buy the pattern.
To have in mind
Since customers are not in the app, they won’t be able to log in and save their colour versions in their account (there isn’t a “save” icon in this option). This Colour Version can’t either be placed on the QuiltInk Wall. If they want to keep the Colour Version Made in your website they can export it.
With the embed/link option, people are not able to see the colour versions of your pattern placed in the QuiltInk Wall. The Wall is only accessible from que QuiltInk app, so if you want people enjoying all the colours versions made by other users and get inspired by them, you have to redirect people to www.quiltink.com
Private Rooms allow you to offer the possibility to colour a pattern to a selected group of QuiltInk users.
This option is thought to be used by Designers when:
You are still working a pattern and want to make colouring layouts tests.
For coworkers in a pattern designing.
To offer to your testers the possibility to colour the pattern on QuiltInk in a private way, before making it public.
For fabrics shops that have to prepare kits for your pattern before it’s released.
Or just for quilting friends you want to give you colour layout suggestions about a new design you are working on.
Creating a Private Room
You can create one Private Room per pattern. For that:
Go to Manage Patterns on your QuiltInk Designer Page.
Click on the “…” icon near the name of the pattern you want to create the private room.
From the drop down list click the “People” icon.
Add the users you want to include in the Private Room:
Tape their usernames in the field.
Click the “Person +” icon to add them.
Click the “Stick” icon, at the top right, to create the Private Room with the users included in.
NOTE: The users included in a Private Room will receive a notification about it in their Account Page (a purple floating button in the top right of their account profile box indicating with a small red circle over it, the number of new patterns they have in the Private Room). We also recommend the designer tell personally to the users they’ve been included in the Private Room.
When you finish using the Private Room you can close it by clicking the “CLOSE THE PRIVATE ROOM” button. When a Private Room is closed, the Colour Versions made in that private room will turn into Colour Versions made from an active pattern in the main page. There is no possibility to reopen a Private Room closed. If you close a Private Room and open it again with the same users included, it will look as if it was new.
Notes:
One pattern with a Private Room can be activated in the main page or not. The fact it has a Private Room doesn’t mean it can’t be activated. So, be aware to not activate the pattern (“Eye” icon near the pattern list) if you don’t want it to be public.
Using the Private Rooms
To access the Private Room you, and all the users invited, will see a purple floating button in the top right of your account profile box. Click it and you will access to the Private Rooms page.
The Private Rooms page is a mix between the QuiltInk Wall and a “Colour Layouts” main page for a pattern. So:
At the top, you will see all the patterns with a Private Room you have access to.
By clicking over one of the patterns on top, you will have access to the Private Room of this pattern, and you will see below all the Color Versions of this pattern made by you or the users included in this private room, which you can “love”, save in your favorites, export, etc. (all you can do in the public Wall).
To create a new Color Version of the pattern, click the “NEW +” button, over the second bar. The Colour Layouts page will be opened in the same way it does in the QuiltInk main patterns page. Click the Colour Layout you want to use as a basis and the colouring page will open, in the same way as in the public mode.
Make your colour versions and save them as finished versions or as Drafts, in the same way than in the public mode.
In your account, for your colour versions made in a private room, you will see an extra “Eye” and “Cloud” icons in a purple box. They are the icon you can use to make that Colour Versions visible or not in the private room Wall, “Eye” icon in the Saved versions, and to turn a Draft from a Private Room into a Saved from a Private Room, “Cloud” icon in the Draft versions.
IMPORTANT: When you create a Colour version in a Private Room it won’t be published in the public Wall regardless the pattern is activated or not, and the “Eye” icon to share in the public Wall will be crossed. So, REMEMBER when the designer activates the pattern to appear as a public pattern in the main QuiltInk page, to click the “Eye” icon for your Colour Version appears in the public Wall (The “Eye” icon which is not in a purple box).
When a Private Room is closed, the Colour Versions made in that private room will turn into Colour Versions made from an active pattern in the main page. There is no possibility to reopen a Private Room closed. If you close a Private Room and open it again with the same users included, it will look as it was new.
As a web app, QuiltInk can be installed in a mobile device like another app. Check our tutorial for Installing QuiltInk as an app.
Your QuiltInk Account
Registering on QuiltInk, you will get an USER ACCOUNT, which will allow you to:
Save your colour versions to check or change them later,
Share your colour versions on the QuiltInk Public Wall and save the colour versions from other users.
And people will be able to show you their love for your colour versions on the Wall.
Remember! It’s FREE and you can use all the QuiltInk features.
Designers
To place patterns on QuiltInk it’s necessary to update the account to a DESIGNER ACCOUNT. Placing the patterns on QuiltInk you can have:
All the sizes for every pattern.
As many colour layouts you would like for every pattern.
Any sewing technique.
Embed the colouring page in your website.
Private rooms.
Restricting the colours.
Designers pay a fee to place their patterns on QuiltInk depending on the number of patterns.
If you want to offer to your customers a modern, fast and fun way to colour your patterns, check the Designer Info!
QuiltInk Features
QuiltInk has a mobile application format. It’s set up in 5 pages (icons) at the bottom:
"Home"
Header: with some links to the main features on QuiltInk.
Button to add QuiltInk like an app on your mobile device.
Latest news: every new pattern, new feature, new option on QuiltInk,… will appear here and the notification center on your Account. Read them to be aware of what’s going on in QuiltInk!
"Patterns"
Here you can see all the patterns you can colour on Quiltink, with the pattern name and pattern designer.
They are sorted randomly, and at the top are highlighted the patterns released or have an important activity running (like a QAL) started during the last 7 days.
You can filter the patterns (right top icon) by: Size, Technique or Designer. Or you can search a pattern by name or designer.
By clicking one pattern, you access the different sizes and colour layouts the pattern designer has chosen as a basis for you to colour the pattern.
By clicking one of the options, you access the coloring page for this pattern option.
Start colouring! pick one colour palette, pick one colour and click the pieces you want to change the colour! Learn all the features to colour a pattern in the tutorials.
"Wall"
The QuiltInk Wall contains all the colour versions shared by users, and designers. The best place to get inspired before starting colouring or sewing!
To share a colour version on the Wall you need an account and save your version as finished, your drafts will never appear in the Wall.
From the colour versions in the Wall you can: like and save as favorite one colour version; and you can visit the user profile who did it by clicking over their username.
"Account"
Your personal page with your photo, description and contact info. You can edit you personal info by clicking the person icon at the top right fo this page.
Below you personal info you will see your colour verions:
“Saved”: colour versions you saved as final and you can’t change. They can be shared on the Wall.
“Drafts”: colour versions you saved to be finished or changed later. they can’t be shared on the Wall. When a Draft is finished, it can be turned in to a Saved version and shared onto the Wall.
“Favorites”: colour versions from other users you selected by clicking the star over it in the Wall.
“?” icon: where you can acces all the tutorials. Every new tutorial or the ones you haven’t read are in red. Make sure to read them all and you will be able to use all the QuiltInk options.
“Bell” icon: notifications about any new on QuiltInk: new patterns, new fabrics collections, new options on QuiltInk, etc.
“Person” icon: from there you can acces to edit your account and log out.
“Designer on QuiltInk” below the username appear in the Quiltink users that has patterns placed on Quiltink. If you are interested on becoming a Designer on QuiltInk, check the Designer Info. If you are a Desginer on QuiltInk you can acces to you “Designer Page” at the “person” icon at the top bar. If you have been invited to a Private Room you will see a purple floating button at the top right in you Account page. Learn how to use the Private Room in the tutorials!
"Info"
Here you can see QuiltInk general info, instagram link and contact info (email).
Check the Designers Info.
Access to the Quiltink Tutorials.
Check the Terms, Conditions and Legal Policies you need to know while you are using Quiltink.
Check the actual version of the web app and the version you have installed. So you can check if you are using the latest version.
Colour and share!
Colouring with QuiltInk will allow you to export the colour versions you make to share them on social media or to print them for reference when you cut your fabrics, for example.
You can export just an image or a sheet with the image and all the info of the pattern and colours used. The exporting can be made in png or pdf format. You can learn all about exporting the colour versions in the tutorials.
QuiltInk updates
Quiltink can be updated at any time to introduce new features, fix any code mistake, etc. Be sure to be using the lastest version by checking it on the Info page.
The software will show you a message when you need to update to a new version.
The new patterns are uploaded automatically to the software. It’s not related to the software version you are using.
Before colouring a pattern, you need to choose the pattern you need to colour up, so go to the patterns tab by clicking on the icon on the centre of the bottom menu as shown below.
On the Patterns page is where are all the patterns available for colouring. You can choose the one you like best to customize it, and each pattern can have one or more sizes available, depending on what that designer offers.
Click on the size/design you need to colour up and this window will open where you can make all the changes and functionalities of the pattern.
On the right side menu highlighted above you can:
Select your preferred colour palette, depending on the fabric manufacturer. There are the main firms: Robert Kauffman, Paintbrush, Andover, Moda, Free Spirit, and a long etcetera
Find some of the colours that are in the given design. You may not want to start from scratch and simply want to modify some of the colors present in the given colouring. With the dropper you have it very easy!
If you are clear about what colour you want to use and you know its reference, you can use the magnifying glass to find it.
Choosing a palette
Selecting colours from the given design
Selecting a colour by its reference
On the left side menu highlighted above you can:
Undo an action if, for example, you have made a mistake. If you click it again you’ll undo another previous action.
Randomize the colours in the design. The app will choose new colours randomly.
Merge pieces of the same colour. You can group pieces of the same colour, so next time you would like to change the colour of those pieces, you´ll just need to click on one of them to change the colour of all the pieces in the group.
Unmerge all pieces: very useful if you’d like to change the original colour distribution of the design and make a custom colouring.
Please note that the merge/unmerge actions are only available if the designer doesn’t block the colour merging.
If you click on extra tools, a window will popo up showing these extra features:
Show or hide the strokes from the shapes inside the design.
Reset all colours of the design to have a blank one if you’d like to start from scratch.
Return to the original colouring of the design chosen.
If you start from scratch, or you want to change any colour from the design, you just need to select the colour you need to use by clicking on the colour sample.
Once selected, click on the area you need to colour. All the shapes with the same colour in the design will colour automatically.
The process is always the same: select the colour and apply it on the design. if you need to change something, you might undo the steps or select another colour and re-colour that area. Just like that!
Once you’re done, you might Save your design or Export it as an image or a pdf file.
