I used to dream about opening a brick-and-mortar quilt shop. Then I watched what tariffs and commercial real estate did to small retail, and I did some real soul-searching. Turns out, the dream wasn't the storefront, it was serving quilters and crafters in a way that actually lights me up, long-term. So the offering evolved. You'll still find me at shows with my pop-up quilt shop, but the online store is evolving into something simple: handmade, by a human. #IRL.
I'm a creator first, a bit of a mad hatter, honestly. When I'm designing something new, hours disappear and I don't even notice. My daughter (also my Creative Director) and I dreamed up this next chapter together, and we wanted a name that felt like exactly what it is: bold, a little playful, unmistakably us. That's how Cowgirl Crafty was born.
The heart of it: hand-drawn, computerized longarm quilting patterns, designed in-house in California's East Bay.
Every pattern starts with pencil on my iPad or large XP Pen drawing tablet, sketched in professional illustration software then get finalized in industry CAD software. Once the patterns are pixel perfect they are exported into the full range of formats computerized longarm machines actually run on:
- ABM/Innova/.PAT
- Bernina Q-Matic/.BQM
- DXF/.DXF
- HandiQuilter/.HQF
- Inteliquilter/.IQP
- PC Quilter/.TXT
- Qbot — .PLT
- Quilt EZ/.QCC
- Side Saddle/.SSD
- Statler Stitcher/.Qli
- Windows Meta File/.WMF
As a longarmer myself, I design with the longarmer's experience front and center: minimal overstitching, clear stitching direction, intentional composition so edge-to-edge rows flow instead of clustering awkwardly. Nothing is rushed. Every pattern gets the time it needs to actually be good.
Right now, things are beautifully in motion. The business is relocating, the product lineup is being rebuilt, and new patterns will roll out in phases over the next few months, picking up speed as we move into the fall. The first collection is already live in the shop, with more dropping regularly, so there's something to bring home now, with plenty more on the way. Over the coming weeks you will find our sewing supply inventory being loaded in one by one which is a process.
All digital quilting patterns are handmade, hand-illustrated, and built slowly. On purpose. If you have a pattern you wish I would make, you can share your wishlist.
If you're local, come find me at a show.Click here for dates and locations, and if there's a show you'd love to see Cowgirl Crafty at, let me know. Also please feel free to leave a comment below.
Here's a peak at our featured designs.