Have you ever had an embarrassing moment? Well, let me tell you about mine.
During the holidays I was asked by a representative of Fons & Porter to review a new free eBook. I said I would, but with all the demands of the holidays, I never got around to it. I could have done a simple post, I suppose. However, I wanted to give an honest review and how could I do that unless I actually made something from the book. For me, who is not that great at patchwork, I felt that was the only way I could give the book a truthful appraisal.
Yesterday, I finally got around to making something from the eBook. So I opened my computer and started flipping through the pages of the book. I was pleased to see that there were clear steps to follow.
I fell in love with this beautiful quilt that Ricky Tims created exclusively for Love of Quilting. However, I decided it was a bit much for me to tackle on this first project.
There are even instructions for doing Trapunto.
I liked the way it showed you how to organize your strips in a pizza box, and the many layout diagrams.
I finally chose to make this Linked Chevrons designed by Marti Michell. The book said it looked complicated but is actually easy. I was going to impress my friends. Since it is only 20” x 20”, I thought I’d make a doll quilt for my great granddaughter. Last night, I read and re-read the instructions and for the life of me I could not understand how to make this quilt. Finally, tired and irritated, I wrote the man who originally wrote to me, and asked him why it said the block ended up 2” square when by my calculations it should end up 4” square. I also complained about no sub-cutting instructions. Was I supposed to guess that piece #2 should be the same size as piece #1? It was late and I was cranky.
I went to bed thinking about the eBook, as I am the first to acknowledge that I have problems following instructions (as attested to when I made the 3 zip pouch). And surely Fons & Porter wouldn’t put out an eBook that lacked clear instructions. At 5 a.m. this morning I woke with a start. “What about seam allowance?” I screamed into the dark room. That was the reason the block would not end up being 4" square. Still, I wondered, would that make the block as small as 2 inches? I drug myself out of bed, opened my computer and looked over the instructions again. The first thing I saw was “cutting instructions.” Duh! How did I miss that? I swear to you I was not drinking the night before.
I was mortified! That man will read my email and think I'm a total idiot! Embarrassed, I wrote the poor man back right away, in the hopes he hadn’t yet seen my previous message. I then made coffee, fed the cat, and went to my sewing room. I used 30s fabrics because I thought they would make a cute quilt for a little girl’s doll. I made two blocks and sure enough, when I used the cutting guide each block ended up 2 ½” unfinished. Later in the day the dear man did write me back. His nice note said that they had found some errors in the eBook and hoped that wasn’t my problem and sent me the latest, updated issue. My heart melted. What a gentleman!
Above, I placed a quarter next to the blocks so you can see how small they are. That corner red square is smaller than a quarter! I’m shocked that I was able to make it. But with these instructions I got a great start on making this cute little quilt.
Build Your Best Log Cabin is put out by Fons & Porter and you can get a copy
here. It is free and comes as a PDF. The book is only 24 pages long but is packed full of inspiring pictures and clear instructions that even I can follow. Besides all the wonderful patterns for the various Log Cabin block styles, it also includes instructions on making a piped binding and a lumpless binding. Thanks Fons & Porter for this wonderful opportunity!
Until next time,
♥
Stay Calm! Stay Kind! Stay Positive!
Caroll
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