Meet Amber Elliot of Alderwood Studio

When I first took the Immersion course, I was working as a software engineer and running a quilt pattern design business (and taking care of a baby) in the evenings and on weekends. I had a big dream of becoming a fabric designer, but didn't have the technical skills or industry knowledge to make it happen. I was also working two full-time jobs and knew that I couldn't spare the time to try to learn all that I needed to know on my own!

I decided to take the leap and sign up for Immersion, even though I didn't know if I'd have the time to devote to it and was worried about the financial investment. However, I was able to take it at my own pace and learned more than I could've even imagined! Creating my portfolio was a long and slow process with two jobs and a baby, but after I had my second child I was able to quit my day job and take my business full time. I made sure to prioritize and carve out time to continue to hone my design skills during each work day, and finally submitted my portfolio to fabric companies two years after taking Immersion.

I'm proud to say that I'm now a fabric designer for Riley Blake (the first company I submitted to!), and my first collection is shipping to stores later this year, with more to follow! I cannot recommend Immersion highly enough to anyone interested in pursuing surface pattern design. The high quality instruction and the amount of time it saved me was so worth the price of the course, and I would take it again in a heartbeat!