Actually yes, I have checked her website....honestly her patterns are for the very advance quilters who can go on limited directions. No, I have not emailed her.

If the basic instructions are terrible including fabric yardage, it scares me to even try..... The one I have is "listen with your eyes" -- it is a gorgeous quilt! I bought it at IQF in Houston last year. I have bought a Judy Niemeyer for about the same cost and her directions are 1000 times better.

It's sad because Be Colourful has some amazing quilt designs.....

I always wonder if the designer had wiggle room . And because I have no way of knowing I end up adding because the life cycle ( amount of time it will be available from manufacture) of fabric is now so short. It aways ends up that I have to make that decision at the cutting counter, and because of past publishing or my mishap, I end up adding , and then have more leftover. One of the reasons I purchase patterns is to eliminate the whole question of "how much do I really need question". If the yardages are acqurate it can actually cover the cost of the pattern, because I add too much of a fudge factor when I design or plan a quilt.

I have contacted and comunicated with the designer, but becasue of the launguage barier its her husband ( who does the transalations for her patterns) that replies. The answer was "we are working on it".
Having been quilting for over 40 years , when I purchase a patten its because I do not want to take the time to draft it myself. and am looking for someone else to to some of the thinking for me , for a change. It is enourmously agravating to spend the big bucks , and have terms that do not even apply to the quilt pattern. For example it called for "insert piping" in the
directions when there was no piping in the quilt nor would piping in that part make any sense at all. It was clearly a translation issue but was left with a very real lack of confidence in the whole pattern. It could have been avoided on the designers part if someone who has any skills would have reviewed the instructions.
When I am spending the big bucks for a pattern , I also have the expectation the designer would have included any tips they used/learned for making the quilt.
Bottom line I will spend the big bucks for a pattern but will not buy another from that designer if the first one was a bad experience.

I hear a lot of complaining about Patterns....have you considered buying books instead?
publishing patterns is more costly and time consuming than books. Most publishing companies won't even do patterns any more, so for the most part, patterns are SELF published.
What most NEW designers do not realize is that it is cheaper and just as much work to put together a Booklet of 3-4 patterns! When it comes time to copyright them you pay the same for one copy right on a pattern as you do on a book that might have as many of 12 patterns in it! There by they cover the copyright on 12 different patterns in ONE easy shot!

There are a lot more books coming around at the $15-$20 price range that contain upwards of 10+ patterns in them, making them a greater value all around!

Gorgeous quilt and good luck with your pattern creations. Keep us up to date. I see you are in Michigan. Me too.
Hi neighbor.

Definitely moving that way. I would say in my last 10 pattern purchases, 9 were books! But unfortunately some designers (Judy and Jacqueline for example) don't publish in book form. And honestly their patterns are so advanced that I can't imagine being able to put too many into one book. So I think if you want a very advanced quilt, you sometimes have to go with a pattern. And with very advanced quilts, the directions must be written concisely and well. After making a Judy Niemeyer quilt, I made the mistake of expecting the Be Colourful one to be done just as well....my mistake!

Wow, this is a fascinating topic! I usually make quilts from books, but have bought a few patterns with fairly good results. I also agree that the directions must be very clear, with as many pictures/diagrams as possible. I love the quilt you made for your brother, you are very talented. Good luck in your pattern making quest!

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When I am spending the big bucks for a pattern , I also have the expectation the designer would have included any tips they used/learned for making the quilt .[/quote]


Depending on the designers experience, she might not consider what she did a TIP, but just step in the process!

Do not for a moment fool yourselfs into thinking that just because this designer is Dutch and there might be a translation issue that this is only happening with her patterns. EVERY designer if you go to the their websites will have a page of pattern corrections.
Some are only minor things, but some can be huge differences in the amount of fabric you buy/need, some have directions left out, some are missing pieces....
Publishing a pattern is a long process....it requires more than one set of eyes to proof read and more than one set of skills to TEST the pattern....
and much to your surprise I am sure, it is NOT always the pattern designers mistakes, directions are easily misinterpreted as well!

I have found some major errors in books as well. Not sure if it is the rush to print or what , but one book I purchased in the last year had 56 pages with errors. I would have had no way of knowing except I over heard someone discussing which edition they had, because the first edition had so many errors. To my shock I thought I could trade in my bad edition for the better one, so I would not have to have a book with all these extra papers I had to stick in with the corrections printed.... But nope , I was told no such exchange was possible. One or two errors Ok .. I could mark up my edition but 56 pages with errors thats just careless on the more than one persons part and I would have thought the publisher would have wanted to restore their reputation.

MAn,,,I check all the books I order in, and occasionally one will have a small slip of paper saying there is a correction...but 56....I would pulled that book off the market and demanded a reprint!