it is always difficult when a fabric has distinct pattern (like wording in lines) the quilt shop simply rolls out the fabric from the bolt and cuts the measurement you asked for- if it cuts down the center of a line of words- that is---what you asked for unfortunately-
one way to avoid this in the future is to ask them what the repeat measurement is= then you know if your measurement is going to land in the middle- or cut off the design-
and you can adjust how much you order.
many places employ people who might notice this but don't want to get in trouble- dont want to cut you more than you asked for- then you will be complaining you ordered 1/2 a yard but were charged for 5/8 ...or what ever it winds up being. ... it is important to find out what the repeat size is-
i once ordered 1 yard of a fabric from an lqs---and it was a panal- i did not realize instead of cutting one panal- she measured and cut 1 yard- and cut right through the middle of the next panal pictures----the owner was quite upset with the employee to find a panal ruined---but she was only cutting what i asked for- 3 of us lost in that deal- lesson learned all around.