You are not stupid! You know that saying...measure twice, cut once? Well, not only did I measure three times, I wrote the measures down and still cut the fabric too small. Cutting the fabric larger would have been too easy!

How do you get block instructions printed from EQ?

And as far as test blocks, been there done that plenty of times. The last quilt I made I sewed everything upside down. Instead of ripping I came up with a new quilt. Didn't look too bad.

I'm glad I read this post! Yesterday, I drew up a design for a quilt and worked out all the block sizes for cutting. Being someone who gets overly excited about starting new projects, I had visions of cutting all the fabric this coming weekend. Then a voice in my head (yes, I have them:cool:) said, "Maybe you should make a test block first to make sure your calculations are correct". Another voice spoke a bit louder and said "Nahhh, waste of time, just get started". Well, now I certainly know which little voice I'm going to listen to! (And the rest of them that natter around in the background, I'm just going to ignore :))

Been there done that, more than once. Sometimes, I'm so excited by a new block, I forget the test block also. Not a good thing. My recent favorite hint from someone on the Board was to make test blocks red white and blue. That way those orphan blocks make a great patriotic scrappy. Luckily, my Bee takes test blocks, we call dog blocks and makes Community quilts out of them.

It is sooooeasy to make a mis-cut,I now call them mess cuts. However, I always find a use for them, and for my orphan blocks, too. Mess cuts can be pieced together and always make a wonderful tote bag, for instance. I am working on a cotton scrap crazy quilt, and it doesn't matter about the size of the fabric as long as it's at least an inch. .
So fear not, you will find a use for the fabrics and you will enjoy making the test blocks in the future. I make my test block out of anything I happen to have, just to make sure the sizes are right and I enjoy making the block. In the beginning, I thought making the test was 'wasteful.' I have now decided otherwise.

A good tip I once heard is make a test block out of Christmas fabrics. Eventually you can make a quit out of them. I do it with patriotic colors. I have had blocks where I would never want to make into a while quilt.

I was all set to Start a wedding quilt for GS2. I had the fabric and the pattern which was in a popular magazine. I decided to test the whole process by making a lap quilt in another fabric, actually a jelly roll, just to be sure I would like it finished. I only worked on one block and discovered the pattern was printed wrong. I Was able to see the mistake and so only lost one strip from my roll. So even printed directions have to be checked out. Whew! So glad I tested.

You are not alone! I just made an entire quilt top without measuring the block size. I made each block 2 inches bigger than I was suppose to. It sits in the corner now waiting for me to decide what to do with it.

This is a very cool idea. If you make all your test blocks in a few of your favorite colors you can't go wrong!
peace