1/4 inch shrinkage each way on a piece that small seems to be a lot to me.
Depending on which way it was shrinking - on a 42 x 36 inch piece of fabric
that uncut piece would end up being (36 x .916) x (42 x .964) = 32.976 x 40.488
or (36 x 0.964) x (42 x 0.916) = 34.704 x 38.472
I arrived at those decimals by this method:
(3 - 0.25)/3 = 0.9166...
(7 - 0.25)/7 = 0.9642....
The dark brown as compared to the green really does brighten up the quilt.