Interview with Cherri House of Cherry House Quilts pattern company - June 2009
by Penny McMorris
Q: I just discovered your site by browsing. I think I googled EQ6 Projects and there you were. Since we’ve never met, can you tell me a bit about yourself?
My name is Cherri House, and I live in Humble, Texas (suburb of Houston). I was born in California, but have lived in Houston for much of my life. I am a single Mom with 4 grown children, with one grandson, and another on the way. My son is in the Army at Fort Hood, and my 3 daughters are spread around the country. Lizzy is in Portland, Ashlee is in Salt Lake attending college, and pursuing a music career; and Melissa will be moving to Baltimore to attend Johns Hopkins School of Nursing.
Q: I loved the photo you have by your bio – it shows you covering your face completely. It rather turns you into a “Mystery Woman.” Your site bio says you’ve been quilting for 20+ years. What got you started?
I come from a long line of Mormon Pioneers, and quilting is a strong part of our culture. When I was little, I would lie under quilting frames at church while my Mother and the other woman had quilting bees. My sister received a scrap quilt from our Grandmother when I was about 8, and I thought it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. How I loved that quilt! My mother and I made a scrap quilt when I was 12 (which she still has on her bed today). The first quilt I made on my own was when I was expecting my first child; my son in 1982.
Q: I think it’s so great that you’re involved with your daughter Elizabeth (Lizzy) in your Cherry House Quilts business. Tell us a bit about Lizzy, and how and when you both started your business.
Lizzy has always been an artist! From about the second grade her style began to manifest itself - thank goodness I saved all her earliest school work. I have always had businesses: a floral design business, a medical transcription business, a word processing business. Lizzy and I would talk about being in business together since she was very small. She actually encouraged me to start a quilt pattern business. Cherry House Quilts was started in June 2007. Just two weeks after my last baby left home. Being a single Mom is hard; being a single Mom with no children at home is harder.
After two weeks, I had had enough time to recover from Melissa leaving for school, I had cleaned everything, caught up on all the TV I cared to watch, and I had to do something different. I just filled out the forms, became a business, and called Lizzy and told her it was official.
Q: What roles do each of you play in your business?
She is the art director - graphics, pattern covers, press releases, and photographer. I design and create the quilts, as well as handle the printing, and shipping side of the business.
Q: You have a very graphic style which I find appealing – you make wonderful designs with simple repeating blocks. Is there something about simplicity that you appreciate? Are you designing for ease of sewing or the look you like? Or both?
Thank you! When discussing what we wanted "Cherry House Quilts" to represent, we felt there was a huge hole in the contemporary end of quilt patterns. We wanted patterns that would be inviting to the youthful demographic. If it appealed to my daughters, then it was a go! We do utilize traditional, public domain patterns, but color them in such a way that gives them a unique, contemporary feel. Our thought process was more about who we wanted to connect with, which is often inexperienced sewers, so ease of sewing is a consideration.
Q: I understand you design with EQ. How and when did you first start using our software?
I only purchased the software when I started the business. Prior to that I would buy buckets of fabric, makes tons of blocks, and work on a design wall until I found the right combination. It was a time consuming, and expensive way to quilt, I wish I had bought the software sooner.
Q: How do you use it for designing: Do you draw blocks? Do you use it mainly for deciding on colors? I’m wondering if you come to it knowing what you want to do, or discover it as you’re trying this and that on the screen?
All of the above. It really depends on the project and the fabric. When designing for Cherry House Quilts, I generally know what I want to do, and I'm utilizing the software for the math. If I am designing for a fabric manufacturer, I need to create a design that I can submit for approval. Generally I create the blocks, manipulate and rotate things until I find a combination that I love.
Q: How many patterns do you design a year – and do you have a goal in mind (one per month/ three per quarter) or just design as the inspiration hits?
My goal is to produce 8 patterns a year for sale, but this always takes a backseat to other projects that seem to pop up from magazines and manufacturers at the very last minute. Often I just play on EQ6 on create patterns the way some people play video games. When the right fabric is available, those random patterns then become a quilt.
Q: I know you’ve had quilts in magazines. Do you design for them? Or have you submitted quilts to them that they’ve published. How has that all worked for you?
I've had one quilt in a magazine from a connection that I made with a publisher, but everything else has come through the fabric manufacturers. The manufacturer will state the size, complexity, and fabrics to be used. I, in turn create the design with their requirements in mind, and submit it for their approval.
Q: What inspires you?
Everything! I see quilts everywhere; there are so many graphic, geometric, sources of inspiration around us. There is no limit to the quilts that could be made from squares, rectangles, triangles, and other simple shapes. In December, when I drove to Idaho for Lizzy's college graduation, I saw these rolling fields that had been plowed, and had the lightest dusting of snow. I wanted to capture that beauty and somehow turn it into a quilt. Some things lend themselves more to being a quilt then others, but inspiration is everywhere, free for the taking.
Q: What do you and your cats do for fun when you’re not quilting now that your chicks are leaving your nest?
I love to work in the garden, and the cats love to be outside. Those darn cats have the most rotten habit of stealing my pincushion, and leaving pins, like breadcrumbs along the way. Don't let anyone fool you, long distance mothering is a time consuming event. Thank goodness for cell phones, I am on the phone to my children all the time.
Q: How do you distribute your patterns?
Through Brewers, United Notions, Hancocks of Paducah, and many small shops around the country. Our patterns are also available in our pattern store on our blog.
Q: What would you say to someone else who wanted to start their own pattern company?
Become part of the online community, find a niche, have something unique to offer, find your market, be prepared to work hard, and find support through local groups like Quilt Guilds, or online support such as through Yahoo Groups.
Q: Any last words of advice, or ideas for how to have a business and still leave time for yourself?
Prioritize! Having a business at home becomes a family business, whether that was the intention or not. Make sure you schedule time for your family, and yourself. When you are trying to grow your business, it's hard to say no whenever an opportunity comes along, but sometimes you must in order to take care of the ones that matter most.