It's frustrating when a pattern doesn't work. I have seen quite a few publications have errors in their patterns. I've also seen editors publish corrections. Since many of the Jenny Doan quilts are tutorials I feel pretty certain they are testing the patterns. Another source of errors can be in the printing of the pattern. Things can happen when many hands touch a product. I'm absolutely certain that MSQ family doesn't intentionally put errors in their publication to challenge us. :-) I agree that you should contact MSQ about the problem you had. As for your next quilts make sample blocks before you commit. That has saved me some frustration with a new pattern. Good luck !