Ethical question?
I recently saw a quilt that really sparked an inspiration. The quilt is part regular piecing, part paper piecing. Although the paper piecing portions are very nice I would like to do the quilt with raw edge applique and use different designs in those blocks. I figure the quilt would be about 50% original layout and 50% my design.
My dilemna is ... should I buy the pattern? If it was just $10 I probably would not even hesitate and just never open it, but its pricey at $25 and its very, very detailed as it includes patterns for all the paper-piecing which I would never use. The basic layout is 5 large HST (16") with paper-piecing in one half of the triangle - that's where I would applique and 3 nine-patch blocks (16") and one blank block.
This is not a copyright issue, I have no intention of selling my version as a pattern. I would be creating a quilt to be auctioned at a fundraiser.
I feel like I would be paying $25 for a simple arrangement of 9 blocks of HST & 9-patch. But I feel conflicted since the pattern designer's hard work obviously inspired me to take the quilt in a different direction.
Thank you for any input.
Mo