…but not in this case!! Last night I started cutting out the wool pattern “Settler’s Pride” by Maggie Bonanomi of Blackberry Primitives. What a nightmare!
I have been collecting wool for this quilt ever since I bought the pattern well over a year ago. I paid $48 for the pattern!! Now for me to pay that much for any pattern must mean that I LOVE THE QUILT…and I DO!! I had never paid that much for a pattern before …or a quilting book for that matter! But I LOVE this quilt so much that I bit the bullet and doled out the money! When I saw the quilt made up at the Country Loft Quilt Shop I did a happy dance around it as I loved it even MORE!!
Isn’t it stunning..!! Maggie did an awesome job designing this quilt!!
No happy dancing for me last night!! I had flashbacks to Lisa Bongean’s blog (from Primitive Gatherings) where she said that someone on staff re-wrote or tweaked the pattern to make it more user friendly for their BOM class. These are Lisa’s exact words~ “I love this quilt, but I like a pattern with the blocks drawn out. So Jules from the shop took the time to draw out all of these big blocks. We will provide the layout with the blocks each month to make this easier each month”. Well I discovered what she meant!!
To start with…her fabric requirements page doesn’t give you a total of the wool that you need..only 2”X4” for the flower in block 6…and proceeds to list a million bits and pieces…no total! And she lists the colours of the wool according to the colour names from her shop…like Hickory, Army Green, Butternut, Leaf Green, Spruce, Old Moss…??? What ever happened to the colour wheel…? Maybe I am being too picky!! With this I guessed…
OK…let’s move on…I started with the sunflower block…and quickly discovered there is no lay out sheet only a pencil drawing on the corner of the instructions. (This is what Lisa was talking about!) The background block is 18”x16”…but does it go length ways or width ways?? Don’t know…??
There are no Patterns for a lot of the pieces…YES YOU HEARD ME!! You have to DRAW your own!! Here’s my version of the petals to the sunflower and the corners to the block!! 
SEW…if you are thinking of making “Settler’s Pride” my advice is to go over to Primitive Gatherings…and order the BOM…you will receive the proper layout sheet, ALL the pattern pieces to scale and the proper colours of wool…and you won’t have to guess at wool yardage! BUT of course you will have to pay a lot more for all of these things! You see, you get what you pay for!!
If “Settler’s Pride” had been well written I would have been quite happy paying the $48! Now I just feel ripped off…I hope that feeling goes away once (or maybe I should say IF) the quilt ever gets made!!
Thanks for listening to me rant!! This is just one quilter’s opinion…
Have a Fun Friday and Happy Quilting!~P
Seems to me you ought to send this in a letter to the manufacturer of the pattern. It ought to be illegal to charge that much for a pattern that isn't complete! For $48 it ought to sew itself while I sit back and watch!!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sarah - that's just crazy and I'd be ranting too!
ReplyDeleteHope it all works out though, and that you still love it just as much when you get it completed.
That is not something I would want to do and that is a lot of money for an incomplete pattern. I find that a lot in patterns I have. I buy them so I don't have to think about what I am doing and they are too confusing for me;)
ReplyDeleteDebbie
Oh my goodness, Paulette there is no bigger let down than unquilter friendly pattern, especially one that you want to love so much. I almost ordered it from PG because I heard that. Your rant is justified. I know you'll figure it out and it will be just beautiful.
ReplyDeleteRant away. For that price someone should have gone through it and made sure it was 100% user friendly. Sorry you're having problems but you could just take it one step at a time. Work on what you have cut out and cut the rest later. You may feel better once part of it is done.
ReplyDeleteYou should write to the pattern designer. If enough people complain at the very least it will make her aware that the pattern needs to be revised.
ReplyDeleteI teach at a quilt shop and it is amazing how many poorly written patterns are out there. Writing a great pattern takes a lot of practice and effort.
Oh Paulette - I can well imagine that took the wind right out of your sails. I would have given up sooner than you did.
ReplyDeleteI think you should write a letter to the designer.
Makes ya wonder:
ReplyDelete"What was I thinkin'."
Here's a lesson in patience.
Holiday Hugs
and Lots of Patience.
Gerry
Thanks so much for your rant!!! I was thinking about ordering this yesterday & held off, now I'm really glad I did!! I just wish Primitive Gatherings was still offering it as a BOM, I believe it's full & closed. Oh well maybe they'll offer it again. I look forward to seeing your progress & hope it's less frustrating as it goes on. I agree with the others you should write a letter to the author. For that price it should be a complete pattern!
ReplyDeleteHi Paulette!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the others, you should at least email her. Maybe she'll refund you your money, or better yet, get you the BOM goodies.
It is so disappointing when you get so excited, and plan, and then the whole mess implodes!
Maybe just move on to another project until you hear from Lisa. She seems like a nice and honourable person, I'm sure it will work out in the end.
Take care, Leslie
Feel free to rant - $48 is a ridiculous price to pay for a pattern anyway, but then to find it doesn't give you half the info you need. If I were you I'd write to the designer, the publisher, the shop and anywhere else I can think of. Perhaps we should all do it for you?
ReplyDeleteGroan!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWow, what a nightmare. I know I would never make it if I had to draw the patten myself....good luck with that! I would feel ripped off too, that is a shame.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing more frustrating than purchasing a pattern and not getting a good pattern along with precise instructions. I have the same pattern and I feel the same way!
ReplyDeleteI would have been so annoyed Paulette! I don't draw like you do, so I think I would have had to give up! Your rendition will more than likely be better than the original!
ReplyDeleteoh no, what a total shame! (and sham!)
ReplyDeletei agree that you should write to the publisher, author and shop where you bought it. It'd be nice to get some recompence, but really you want to let them know there's a problem so they can withdraw it. That high cost could be someone's only 'treat' money for months, or a present given with love. If we dont tell them when somethings wrong they wont find out. x
I was in pain just reading about that quilt! How frustrating and EXPENSIVE too! I think that you should write a letter of complaint! I hope that after all the hours of work you put into this, it turns out amazing...I'm sure that it will. =)
ReplyDeleteYes, you need to let the designer know. You bought a "pattern", that you love, for a huge cost and did NOT get what you paid for!
ReplyDeleteSo frustrating! I wonder if you could return? We are all sharing your pain. I am sorry this happened to you. Hugs
Very irritating indeed. I too wanted this pattern. Why do they think it is okay to do something like that. If we knew how to draw and plan out this quilt we wouldnt need the pattern, well I guess we still wouldn't need this pattern. I am sorry you had a frustrating night!
ReplyDeleteGosh this scares me to death!! As a newbie I need to have everything explained to me in baby speak!! No way would I be able to draw my own pattern, surely that is what you are paying for. Good luck.
ReplyDeletewhoa...that's ugly. i'm sorry for your.
ReplyDeletei have to admit that i have, in the past, paid that much for a pattern (leanne beasley's 'leanne's house bom' but that one was perfectly written and in the end worth the expense.
you should write the designer and tell her your thoughts on her pattern!
hugs, julia
I think that I would be ranting too - paying $48 for a pattern that didn't have everything drawn our for you. I hope though that things get easier for you. There is nothing worse than loving something and having to go through so much trouble to accomplish it.
ReplyDeleteI would have been "over the edge" on this one!
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone that you should write a note to the quilt designer. All of us aren't designers and that's why we buy the patterns they design, the only thing we should have to do is choose what fabric to use.
For the amount of money you spent on the pattern alone, they should at least have given the fabric colors so that you wouldn't have to guess what the difference was between Army Green, Leaf Green, Spruce and Old Moss. What's with that anyway!!!
I know that you'll turn this into a beauty Paulette but I totally can understand your frustration...as I said I would have been "over the edge" had it been me!
Hugs,
Elaine in SLO, Ca
www.faithfulquilter.blogspot.com
Geez, I am so sorry Paulette. How disappointing! To pay that much for a pattern then have to spend hours drawing stuff yourself?! Unbelieveable!!
ReplyDeleteThat's very disappointing. You are really going to love this quilt or just hate it, hard to tell at this stage. On the bright side it will be unique, made with your personal creative touch! Happy sewing.
ReplyDeleteYou perserveered so much longer than I would have. Its so disappointing to have loved the pattern so much but the actual instructions etc so disasterous. Don't blame you for passing on ths one (if that's what you want) but then there is the other side to make the quilt in spite of the poor instructions.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the next pattern I write will be, "Here's a picture, good luck". I could make bookoos of money in very little time!
ReplyDeleteWow, how rude - $48 for the pattern and you had to do much of the work yourself. Pattern writing is not always done well but there are people out there who can help (I was project editor on a quilt magazine for some years, so I know whereof I speak) so there is no excuse for that. I would contact the manufacturer - or was it self-published?
ReplyDeleteWhat a bummer! Are you going to contact the publishers/designer? It doesn't seem good enough to me.
ReplyDeleteHope it doesn't steal the pleasure of making the quilt.
Ab x
That sounds like an absolute nightmare! Ugh!
ReplyDeletenup...not good enough Paulette.
ReplyDeleteI would not be happy either..
I recently bought a pattern where I have to blow up the design 200% then another 107%...really put me off it..
Julia ♥
Draw your own pattern pieces!!! I've never heard of anything so cheeky and at the price you paid I would be very cross. It looks like you're doing a fantastic job there Paulette. Most of us would just give up and throw it away!
ReplyDeleteThis is not right - especially not with it costing that much. I didn't provide a layout diagram for my Lemon Tree, but it was FREE and I wanted folks to make their own tree. I DID provide the full-size pattern pieces. I can't imagine charging so much for a pattern and it's not even complete. Good grief.
ReplyDeleteBummer. I've never heard of a pattern costing that much, and especially one that makes you draw your own designs!
ReplyDeleteI had the same problem with the Evening Star quilt pattern I recently used to custom make a quilt. The pattern did not tell me how big a finished block was to be and it did not tell me how many of each block to make, it was a nightmare!
ReplyDeleteI would write the company and tell them you want your money back for a pattern that isn't even half there. Tell them how unhappy you are with it. I would not let this go, not for the price you paid for it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the other comments complain to the company
ReplyDeleteFor me i would want the kit for that sort of money no way would i pay that for 1 pattern.
On a happier not it because of you i got some felt wool & will be doing a few small projects with them next year as i got my friend some for Christmas so we can do some together
Hugs Janice
Oh, how many times I have been tempted by that pattern......but not now. Your experience has put me off wanting it. I don't understand why you would have to draw your own pieces after buying a pattern.
ReplyDeleteI ordered that quilt as a BOM as soon as I read about it. Boy was I ever disappointed when it arrived and I looked at the pattern. Then I was even more upset when I read that Primitive Gatherings was offering it AND was reworking the pattern. I couldn't cancel the first order and couldn't justify ordering it agian from PG. The kit is still waiting for me to start drawing the blocks.
ReplyDeleteI have seen the finished quilt and know it will be worth it in the end but like you I feel I was ripped off.