AtkinsonDesigns.com
Title
Atkinson Designs - One of life's simple pleasures
Description
Atkinson Designs is a family-run quilt pattern business. Elk River, Minnesota is home to the Atkinson family. Terry designs the quilts and writes all of the pattern instructions, Kirk is the business manager, and son Derek and daughter Megan help out wherever they can.
Terry started the pattern business as "Simple Pleasures Patterns" in 1994 when Megan went off to kindergarten. She adapted her most popular class handouts for the first two patterns. Initially, the patterns were sold in local quilt shops. A pattern distributor picked up those first two patterns that year, giving the patterns exposure across the U.S. In 1997, Quilt Market was held in Minneapolis, and Terry exhibited for the first time, giving her patterns even more exposure to shops and distributors.
In 1998, a new pattern company also called "Simple Pleasures" appeared at Quilt Market in St. Louis. An internet search turned up even more businesses using the same name. "Simple Pleasures Patterns" was changed to "Atkinson Designs" to avoid future mixups.
