I am a pattern designer. (I hope I'm not violating forum guidelines by stating this, but my following impressions come from my business view of the market.) Currently, our pattern line contains only machine quilting designs intended for the domestic sewing machine, but my plans for 2012 are to add applique and pieced patterns in time for the fall quilt show season.
What I see as I look at the patterns around me is a lot of really easy stuff...big squares and rectangles...fast, quick and easy seems to be the goal.
But me, I like quilts that take awhile to make...like the 'Oh My Gosh Quilt' in my avatar here. Or the Birthday Quilt...both have lots of little 1-1/2" finished 9 patch blocks. Honestly, they are simple to make, too, but the scale of the design makes them infinitely more interesting (in my humble opinion) there's just a lot of them.
What is comes down to is the marketplace. The quilt store where I teach carries a lot of patterns. There appears to be a couple of 'favorite' designers where they've got the majority of the designer's pattern line. But most of the patterns are the fast, quick and easy stuff. One of the owners and I have talked extensively about it...she'd like to carry more involved, detailed patterns, but the customers buy the fast, quick and easy. The more advanced patterns don't sell.
The reality is that quilt stores need to move fabric to stay in business. The kind of quilt that I like to make will keep me busy for quite awhile, I'm not in the store buying new fabric on a regular basis. So I'm not the kind of customer that will keep their business going.
So what happens is that you've got more customers than not telling both the designers and store owners that they want fast, quick and easy. This information is gathered solely through pattern sales. The economics tell them they have to cater to a beginning type of quilter to move fabric. It's a vicious circle if you ask me.
There are two ways to go, again IMHO, either tell your local store owner what you want and back it up with your dollars...if you find a pattern online that's more to your liking...see if your local quilt store will order it for you...if you just buy it online, the store doesn't get that piece of market information or the revenue. If you like a particular designer, email them directly and tell them...if there's no website on the pattern envelope, they usually have a website or facebook page. Google to find them. Tell them specifically what you like, or don't like. Designers need that information, too.
As I said, we design machine quilting patterns. Our customers asked for more 'beginning' type patterns and we obliged...we want to grow our business. And it's our beginning designs that overwhelmingly sell the most when we vend. My market information tells me I need to add more 'beginning' type patterns.
The other option you have is to simply do your own thing. I use Electric Quilt to design...have purchased or upgraded to EQ3, EQ4, EQ6 and QE7...clearly I like the program. It was easy to learn. The books published by EQ have been totally worth the money...though there aren't any new ones for EQ7 yet. And as I've upgraded, everything I'd already learned was still applicable in the new upgrade...I didn't have to relearn.
So, to the original poster, I agree with you on the pattern front. But the only thing that can possibly change it is when quilters vote with their pocketbook and take it to the next level by involving their LQS and the designers by telling them what you want.
I hope this hasn't sounded preachy or as a rant on quilt stores or designers. It wasn't intended as such. It was intended to add to this conversation.
Thank you.