Moo to You, Sarah!

It's that time again, friends.

Time for a bit of a moo from a Cranky Old Woman.

What's it about this time?

A pattern designer who obviously didn't test her pattern! Mooo!

So, the quilt in the book was beautiful. It was perfect, even. Perhaps that is why I wanted to make it! The quilt in the book is a double-bed size. Near the end of the directions were the specs for a 40-inch baby quilt. Exactly what I had in mind. The quilt has a 100-piece center square with massive flying geese on all four sides, with the wings also pieced. So far, so good. Really liking how it is going. Then I'm ready to cut the square for the center part of the geese and the author prescribes a 19-1/2 inch square, cut diagonally twice. Plus four squares, each 10-1/2 inches, for the corners.

No, friends, it did not occur to me that the measurement might be wrong. Not until I had cut the square and the diagonals. Not until I started to apply the wings and they were way too big. And the illustration in the book shows that center to be oversized "to allow for individual differences in piecing." I struggled, I snarled, I just may have annoyed my colleagues. Then I did the math, for crying out loud. With the center square finishing at 20 inches there was no way that cutting that square for the geese should be 19-1/2 inches.

Fortunately, I had purchased additional fabric, so I cut a square at 21-1/2 inches and proceeded. The top is finished and it is pretty. It is as terrific as I had expected it to be. But I wasted a nice chunk of fabric.

Ma'am, you are selling this book for close to $30 in American money. That is not cheap, and neither is the fabric I bought. For this price I would expect you to have had your alternate size directions tested to be sure they are accurate.

Mooooo!