I have had a similar problem with a Keepsake baby quilt - after washing fabric I was short - even though I cut carefully. My LQS kits often are cut without an eighth of an inch extra - a problem if you are not very precise or if the fabric has been cut uneven. Like a previous poster, my experience with Connecting Threads is the opposite - their kits always have fabric to spare.

Understand your coomments. I know when I get a kit and it says to use scant 1/4 inch seams material is going to be tight.

Suggestion for the Golden Books fabric - I'm working on a Disappearing 9 patch for a baby quilt, the fabrics have very little in common, 2 purple tones, 1 black print, 1 navy print, 2 light brown tone prints and one red/orange print. Sounds nasty, but when I put into the pattern and slice apart, I will wind up with a very interesting set of blocks, with an interesting "side" pattern. The red/orange will be the center square so will be split into 4 small squares. by controlling myself when I twist, I'll have corner to corner and will control the pop of bright color. Then to decide if I want to sash or just frame the finished product.

I think your Golden books fabrics would look good in that pattern. You may still need to acquire another fabric or two to help lighten up the darks, or use the darkest one as the center block, so it becomes a small accent instead of over-powering the rest!

So far, I have WAY too much fun buying fabric from across the spectrum at stores to even really consider letting someone else "program" my choices. I too have stood in front of the selection and said "OH my, how would I ever....." then something comes over me and I take home a pile! Too funny and some of the choices have made me wonder about my own sanity, but once I start folding fabric and moving it around, I can usually find a combination that will work. And it's even better when I decide I need 2 or 3 out of my stash to finish the design (stash is handy, IF you use it!)

Good luck and trust your instincts! If you look at the folded fabrics and think it needs a bright yellow, you are probably right!

Keepsake Quilting changed hands a few years ago, never has been the same since.

I like the Golden Books fabrics to and also thought of just adding another fabric...different color. :-)

i hear ya, had the same experience with keepsake a few years ago. yardage was cut so skimpy i had to add to it after washing to finish quilt. i wash ALL fabrics that come into my home before using or putting away (except some batiks). as others have said, never had this problem with connecting threads.

Thank you all for reaffirming my commitment to never buy kits!

My rule of thumb for kits is that if I don't plan on getting it sewn up almost right away, I don't buy it. If you wait too long and you have any problems, then the fabric may no longer be available. On the bright side, I love to make scrappy quilts so I have a kazillion kits right in my stash - it just needs to be cut into pieces first ... lol

I like kits but I only buy them from our local quilt stores. I also only buy them when they are on sale.

I get a wide variety of kits due to shopping at garage sales, quild sales, ebay, etc. It helps that I dont have an issue with adding fabric or changing fabric and dont like matchy matchy quilts. I want a large variety of fabric in my quilts.

The absolute best are Homestead Hearth kits. Every tiny piece of fabric or small group are labeled. It is so time consuming to do this but their kits are the best. I would never have a problem buying one of theirs. Our southside shop tries out each pattern before making up a kit and have found a variety of problems and fixed them before putting their kits together so I trust them.

I have a couple of favorite sellers on Ebay that make up kits and they are great too.
Worst kits were from the big time manufacturers who try to skimp and save. They are more likely to be "short" and it is mostly because of the savings they are trying to get out of labor and materials. They also tend to be more matchy matchy from one line of fabric and harder to "add" to when short.