Welcome to the Quilter's Academy Journal

Hello!
Harriet and I are glad you visited... we established this blog as a sort of question and answer forum for all of you who are working through the Quilter's Academy book series.
It is also a place to find a list of the errata from the books-
You can find those by looking back through the archived blogs.

So, welcome, and please post a comment if you have any questions or topics you would like us to discuss.

Friday, October 22, 2010

While we are addressing issues, I overlooked adding yardage for the large 9-patch blocks for the quilt Four Patch Chain on page 70 of Volume 2. The yardage should be 2 2/3 yard of white. Carrie and I are really hoping that everyone using these books are truly doing what we are teaching and figuring each quilt on your own to develop the pattern and yardage for yourself and to really understand the process before you start. We apologize for any thing we have overlooked, such as this, but also hope that if you are truly studying this as a college course, not using the book as a typical pattern book, you will discover these issues and know that there is an error and also know the correct answer. This is the whole reason we are doing this. We are not trying to get off the hook for our mistakes - believe me, it is humiliating to find the errors after the book is in print. We read the books a minimum of 7 times and think we have found the problems, only to find that an obvious problem crops up - like Townsquare in Volume 1. However, as Lesley stated in the very beginning, she knew she was right and the book was wrong because she did her own math and her numbers were right. That is truly what we want for everyone. By doing this, you are getting closer and closer to being able to take a photo and dividing it down to a block, a grid, a recipe, and a yardage chart - all on your own. The step after that is to design your own original quilts and be able to write your own instructions.

I will share with you that one of the hardest parts of writing instructions is that you have no idea what your readers do and don't know, and what they do and don't do as far as following instructions. This being said, there will always be problems with the written word and having everything perfectly understandable for everyone. We really want to teach our readers to contemplate and analyze the quilts and the patterns, not just follow the pattern.

We would like some feedback on this if anyone has any thoughts.
Harriet

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Volume 2 Sashing Instructions

Well... there seems to be some problems with the sashing for the Cabin in the Cotton quilt on pages 43-48.

Using the formula on page 85, you get a sashing strip that is 25 1/2" long. However if you have cut your side setting triangles the full 8" as stated in the instructions for this quilt, you will have a quilt top that is not even at the outside edges.

My quilt was this way when it was completed because I then trimmed the quilt down so that the binding would be right at the edge of the corner of the sashing, meaning most of the fabric that hangs over on the side setting triangles is trimmed away.

This not being well explained has caused some issues, here are a couple of thoughts/ considerations for you to take into account.

First, if you know that you are not going to add another border to your quilt or don't want your blocks to "float" in the background, only add 2" to the measurement of the block to get the needed size for the side setting triangles... in the case of Cabin in the Cotton you would then be cutting 7" squares in half twice diagonally (see page 47, at the top).

If however having an uneven edge on your quilt makes you crazy, you can amend the formula on page 85 to read this way:
(Finished block size x number of blocks) + (cut sashing size x number of sashes) + 1/2"

By figuring using the cut size of the sashing, you add extra inches to the length of the sashing as well as the 1/2" for seam allowances, giving you more sashing length to play with and space for trimming.

I apologize for the confusion this may cause or have caused and hope this will help.
Carrie