A couple of years before I retired a friend who worked close-by in another office asked if I would install her software package she was putting together for her customers. I told her I knew nothing about her job. She told me that made me perfect for testing it. So I sat there and installed it and she wrote down every question I asked so she could make sure her instructions were clear.

What's really aggravating is that since the invention of spell check the quality of the written word has decreased rather than increased. People are not proofreading like they used to - they expect spell check to catch all their errors.

A few years ago my Daughter bought me a kit for Christmas. I was able to make it and a scrappy quilt with the leftovers. I used my fabrics for the backing. I guess maybe where you buy the kit has something to do with it.

I have had it happen with a kit. It was a directional fabric and they did not allow for it. They made it good.

Keepsakes Quilting has always been good to me. I too, tend to buy kits and put them away for several years. The last one I knew I had made the first block but could not find it. I called and explained what had happened and asked if they had the pattern or any fabric that could work and I would be glad to pay for it. They replied "no problem and sent me a new complete block for replacement at no charge...Then another time (same company) I was shorted a fabric (no way could you cut four 1 1/2" strips from a five inch piece. They immediately sent more fabric with apologies. I would buy from them again just because of their service policy.

I haven't done kits for this reason.

I don't buy too many kits because I like coordinating fabric colors myself but when I have purchased them, I have not encountered any shortages to date.

It's nice to hear from those who have had this problem, that they have had good response from the company or LQS to help them fix it.

I would have to say the quilts have been pretty generous - especially the ones from Connecting Threads. I have bought several from them. I did a log cabin and I found some of the colors kind of blah so I added some from my stash. I have also added borders to kits that did not have them planned by using stash.

I had a kit that advertised 3 different sizes: crib, twin and queen. I was making the twin size, and ran out of the contrasting fabric. If I didn't have enough to make a twin-size quilt, heaven help anyone wanting to make the queen-size quilt! And I wasn't short by just a few inches, either: the pattern called for the inner border to be made with that fabric, which also appeared in each block. I had enough for the sides of the border, but not the top.

Fortunately, I was able to buy a "close-enough" match and am making the entire inner border out of it. But the experience taught me not to trust kits again. (I'm a new quilter, and was overwhelmed by all of the decisions you have to make re color, design, amount of fabric to buy, etc. I thought buying a kit would let me just start, if you know what I mean!)

I also had a problem with a pattern in a quilting magazine, I bought a kit on ebay and the pattern had several pieces short. I contacted the editor and was told to contact the designer. The designer did not test the pattern and was sorry for the error. Well, I was able to use another fabric and cut the correct size piece and it turned out. Mine was just a little different from the sample.

Anytime I have ever purchased a kit of any kind, no matter the craft, I've been shorted. 3 was my limit. No more kits for me. I still look at them but check with my LQS or fabric store to see if they have the same material on hand just in case I would run short. it seems like the kits have always been like "Let's throw these scraps together and sell it as a kit". let's face it also, these kits are pricey.