Monday, June 27, 2011

Sample Quilt Top

**WARNING** Poor indoor, quick photographs were taken...please look past the bad coloring and creases. 

I few weeks ago I was asked to make a sample for the most adorable looking shop in Massachusetts!  I was so excited and the He Zigs She Zags pattern by Tallgrass Prairie and some Summertime fabric was coming to me!! 


Let me tell you, this quilt didn't happen without a bunch of issues along the way!  The shop owner sent me the fabric that was listed in requirements on the pattern.  Great!  Time to start cutitng.  Well after I got all the fabric cut for the zig zags I didn't have enough fabric for the appliqued flowers.  So we worked it out to do the stars instead (pattern includes star and flower shapes)  Not what either of us wanted but we would make do.  So continue sewing and sewing and sewing....ugh, bias work....and then I got half way through.  Yikes, no more big white triangles.  I had the amount of fabric that was supposed to be needed, I cut it the right way but why was I short half of the triangles.  My initial thought was I misunderstood the pattern and needed to cut the big squares into 4 triangles and not 2.  No big deal.  I would just cut the ones already done in half and sew back together.  Nope!  This made the triangles way to small for the zig zags.  There was absolutely no way that was the solution.  I emailed the shop owner (again) and we decided to just make the quilt half as big.  This made it look very awkward if I made it half the size.  Luckily, if I took some length off the rows I had enough sections to make 2 more rows.  That made the top much more visually pleasing and not like someone just gave up with a half a zig.  And the quilt is still a good size.  It's as tall as I am and I'm practically 6 feet tall!  Since the quilt was smaller now I would have enough fabric for the flowers (yay!) since I didn't need as many.  I actually think that this modified size is better for a snuggly quilt than the original twin size (unless of course you wanted it on a twin size bed!)  
Has anyone else used this pattern or heard about this fabric shortage in the pattern?  I find it really hard to believe that a mistake this large would go through testers, but mistakes do happen.  Or did I cut wrong?  If so what did I do so I don't do it again?  My advice on this pattern is to buy about a 1/2 yard extra solid so that if you want a twin size quilt you can have one!
Now that it's all done and ready to be mailed out and arriving at it's new home I really like it!  I was so frustrated through out, and swore I would never make this horrendous quilt again.....but now I'm already thinking about what fabrics I want to use to make my own!  

4 comments:

Andie Johnson said...

Whew! So glad you got it figured out! Looks adorable - very cute.

Lynne said...

It is a lovely quilt; and it must have been worth the bumps in the road for you to be considering another one!

Sharon Pernes said...

Adorable quilt. Have you contacted the designer? They should know that the directions are wrong.

April said...

Hi Kristen! So sorry you had a hard time with the pattern. I was just made aware this morning of the calculation for the triangles. And crazy, I know, it DID make it through testers. If you wouldn't mind sending me your address, I'd love to send you a little something. My email address is april at prairie grass patterns dot com. I would also love to hear any more feedback you have about the pattern. Despite the troubles, your version turned out beautifully. Thanks for sticking with it.
Mwa!
April Rosenthal
Prairie Grass Patterns

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