Kris P

I prefer patterns written for strip piecing that is then sub-cut. I'm not fond of making 200 squares of each color, only to sew them together. I'd much rather sew the long strips, then cut them down to make pairs, then 4 patches or whatever.
I also have learned if I'm at a quilt shop and am interested in a pattern, I'll bring it to the desk and ask if I may open the zipper bag and look at how it's written. If it's all text and no diagrams, I'll leave it. Life is too short to try to figure out what a pattern designer means by slogging through page after page of text. Even a hand drawn sketch would be helpful. This is especially true of bag patterns... no thank you!

Kitsie

Me too! I have so many "My Way (name of patterns)". And I put the cutting measurements on an Excel Spreadsheet.

Jan in VA

Oh no, please don't say this! I've always written my patterns from a "strip piecing" point of view, because I learned quilting from Mary Ellen Hopkins, one of the forerunners of the strip piecing/speed piecing teachers way back in the late '70s/early '80s.

How do you cut a single square at a time from yardage without making a mess of the yardage? Gosh, it seems SO much easier to me to cut a strip, selvage to selvage, then fold in half and cut that into squares!

Ah, well, you say potAtoes, I say potOtoes.

Jan in VA

Stitchnripper

I go the Jan way. Much easier to manage strips and sub cut. But then the instructions could start off saying you will need 200 4" squares and then say use strips or whatever, but once you know how many you need you could go with your favorite method. The second choice in the example doesn't say how wide to cut the original strips. I guess one would assume to be 4" because the squares end up 4". But, once I see a pattern saying this many of that and that many of this, etc. I get dizzy and have to lie down!

Jan in VA

Okay, reading all the posts has convinced me to begin to state the number of squares necessary before I state to cut strips and subcut. I often use remnants of fabric in odd shapes too; so I get it.

Jan in VA

bigsister63

How do you know how many strips to cut if you need 400 squares? Let the pattern do the math for you. I will cut all strips required from the fabric and then sub-cut the required pieces. That way I do not have to move the fabric and have to re-even up the edge. Also how over whelming to have to cut 400 squares instead of X# of strips. also I am one to read the direction s step buy step as I go. Even though I have been quilting for about 6 years I am not so experienced that I can put together and understand all the directions if I read them ahead. what ever gets your quilt done.

AnnT

I prefer the first way - I like to know how many I need without doing the math. Then if they want to give me a helpful tip like cut so many strips then subcut so many squares, I appreciate that. Sometimes I change the color distribution so knowing (without doing the math :-) ) helps me there. I,, too, write all over my patterns and then some! I keep a pad of paper on my sewing table so I can write down what I did different or maybe what I think I should do different next time. Those notes get put with the pattern when I'm done.

institches33

Cutting strips and then sub-cutting eliminates the math, and is adjusted to the yardage.

annette1952

I like mine written in a list up front with no surprises on the 3rd or 4th page. I always read the entire pattern now but I didn't always. Quite often now if the pattern is confusing I re-write it my own lingo. Then I have a good chance of getting it right!

bearisgray

I also strip cut and then subcut when I can. The reason for wanting the total number needed is so that I can guesstimate how much total fabric I need.

I prefer to make my first cuts on the length of fabric instead of width of fabric. The reason for that is that I think it improves the chances of having at least one direction be on- grain in the cut pieces.

I also might be using fat Quarters or odd- sized pieces instead of yardage.

I also prefer lists to be " bulleted" instead of in paragraphs. Much easier for me to follow. I know it might take up more space on the page, but I am willing to pay for that extra sheet of paper. I also like a bit of space left between each item for my notes.

Making a test block before cutting all the pieces is always a good idea.

I also like to have everthing needed on one page.

I do have a problem with directions saying to cut a border to an exact length. I would like to see something like " reserve. 5 x 60 inches for the border. The target length is 5 x 58-1/2, .

That would probably be confusing to a beginner - but almost everthing was confusing to me when I was a beginner.