Robert Kaufman pattern problems
 

I purchased a kit from Craftsy named "Holiday Dash" by Robert Kaufman Fabrics. It's a Xmas quilt. It was listed for a "confident beginner." Looked pretty easy - churn dash squares inside a mitered border. There are 14 fabrics. The cutting instructions for 4 of them were incorrect. The instructions for cutting the outer border couldn't be done at the width instructed. Took me 2 days to figure out how to get close to what I needed. No instructions for the inner border, other than use 9 of the 13 strips cut - nothing about how to join strips, what the measurement of the inner borders should be, etc. No measurement given for the outer border or any instructions for beginning quilters to measure to be sure borders match.

I posted my comments on the "contact the designer" on Craftsy. Got no reply. Noted that others had posted comments, again with no reply. I sent an e-mail to Craftsy direct with my problems. Got an immediate response from them offering me a complete refund. I refused as I had figured out how to make the quilt, so they gave me a discount credited to my account. They also said they had tried to contact the designer. Haven't heard anything from that.

I also sent an e-mail to Robert Kaufman Fabrics direct. I have never received a reply.

So, if you have this pattern, check it over very carefully. I will never buy another pattern from Kaufman.

I agree with Tartan that you did receive good customer service from Craftsy. Here is the pattern:
http://www.robertkaufman.com/quiltin..._dash/#color:1
Don't make any mistakes because this is last years fabrics.

Great to hear about the good customer service from Craftsy. I feel sorry for any beginner--confident or not--being stuck with poor or incorrect instructions.

Glad that Craftsy stood behind their class. They are good about that. I have many of their classes.

I made that quilt when it came out, so I have forgotten if I had any problems. Obviously, if I did, I figured out something to do myself. I gave the quilt to my daughter. I really like the fabric in that quilt. I am so sorry that you have had such problems. Hopefully, in the end, you will like your quilt as much as I did mine.

I ordered the kit and the pattern together. My point was that the instructions appear to be incorrect. For example, the instructions say to get the churn dash you sew 2 2-1/2 strips together, then make 1/2 square triangles out of 5" squares. If you do that your squares are 1/4" too large (5" squares should have been 4-7/8"). Same instruction for the small churn dash in the center - also 1/4" off. Another one for the outside border says to fussy-cut 4 8-1/2" strips lengthwise. Matching the pattern exactly you can only get 3 strips, with a lot of waste. I finally partially solved that by cutting one strip 8-1/4" starting at one selvage, then moving to the other selvage and cutting another, then back to the first side, then back to the second. Then I had to reverse the strips to get the lines to match up. Not exactly matches the pattern but good enough. I always use patterns, generally from quilting magazines, so I am not too surprised if one instruction may be off - but not almost every one!

Oh, it's such a pretty pattern. I'm glad you were able to make it work. Craftsy handled the customer service end like a pro. I hope you were satisfied by them anyway.

I can honestly say, I would not have been able to figure that out. As my Math skills are not the best. And, I consider myself a confident beginner. Thank you for all your input. Maybe this will help someone else out with this pattern as well.

I can understand the instructions telling you to make your HST's larger than needed, but did they say to trim to a certain size? Even confident beginners will not always make perfect HST's and it certainly is a lot easier to trim to exact size.