I find the most beautiful quilts online that are free. I guess they are free for a reason. I am on my second quilt, this one from a blogger. She constantly stressed the 3 1/2" squares then said there would be half square triangles and quarter square triangles "using your favorite method."!!! This should have been a clue with a big red flag, but I have come to the conclusion that I'm one of the reasons for blonde jokes because I fell for this. Another flag was quantity instructions that went along the lines of pull out whatever you want from your stash. The waste of trial and error to make her instructions work has been frustrating at best. I have decided I will put together what I have and let it go. I have wasted several months forcing things to work with her instructions. It has not been fun. It was a gorgeous quilt, but...I have so much wasted fabric I could have made two good sized quilts.
On another occasion, I saw an absolutely gorgeous pattern. Gals who are pushing a specific line of fabric for a company must not want the pattern to ever be used again. If you don't use that specific fabric, then don't use their pattern, I guess. I happened to have fabric that was so similar as to almost be the same, but the instructions went like this: 1 1/2 yards of 23CV6Q; 2 yds of RD123Y. Had they said focal fabric 23CV6Q and supporting fabric 1 "RD123Y," you may have been able to use this pattern again.
This particular pattern had me cutting lots of triangles, then she switched to squares that would make half square triangles. I had made many quilts doing this; so, I cut out squares etc. for each block. At the end I had these 70-80 triangles that didn't go anywhere. That was because I chose the simpler method she had switched to later on in the instructions. Duh!
I believe in simplicity. I want to know exactly how much fabric I need. I want the instructions so basic that a child could follow them. In other words something along the line of cut 10 strips @ 2 1/2"; SC into (200) 2 1/2" squares. Place 50 in Bag A and 150 in Bag B.
Instructions such as cut out( 450) 3" squares leaves you guessing as to how much material and or strips you will need to cut. This is the perfect opportunity to cut too much and have lots of waste; and if the pattern is beautiful, think ahead. Someone might want to make it again down the line. Why make them suffer? Next time, I will put in a chart for making HST (half square triangles) and QST (quarter square triangles) and another for how many squares you can cut from each WOF fabric.
On another occasion, I saw an absolutely gorgeous pattern. Gals who are pushing a specific line of fabric for a company must not want the pattern to ever be used again. If you don't use that specific fabric, then don't use their pattern, I guess. I happened to have fabric that was so similar as to almost be the same, but the instructions went like this: 1 1/2 yards of 23CV6Q; 2 yds of RD123Y. Had they said focal fabric 23CV6Q and supporting fabric 1 "RD123Y," you may have been able to use this pattern again.
This particular pattern had me cutting lots of triangles, then she switched to squares that would make half square triangles. I had made many quilts doing this; so, I cut out squares etc. for each block. At the end I had these 70-80 triangles that didn't go anywhere. That was because I chose the simpler method she had switched to later on in the instructions. Duh!
I believe in simplicity. I want to know exactly how much fabric I need. I want the instructions so basic that a child could follow them. In other words something along the line of cut 10 strips @ 2 1/2"; SC into (200) 2 1/2" squares. Place 50 in Bag A and 150 in Bag B.
Instructions such as cut out( 450) 3" squares leaves you guessing as to how much material and or strips you will need to cut. This is the perfect opportunity to cut too much and have lots of waste; and if the pattern is beautiful, think ahead. Someone might want to make it again down the line. Why make them suffer? Next time, I will put in a chart for making HST (half square triangles) and QST (quarter square triangles) and another for how many squares you can cut from each WOF fabric.
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