Sunburst, I have that problem with my printer. I wish I knew how to set my printer to print the original size. Do you know what I should do?

Agree on the possible pattern mistakes. At the LQS shop where I work, we were putting together a sample quilt for a new fabric line based on the manufacturer provided pattern. It was a virtual pattern, meaning the designer never tested it. We followed instructions precisely, and EVERY SINGLE SHAPE WAS WRONG. The big error was saying to initially cut HST at __ 1/2, rather than __ 7/8. Then there was one that was supposed to be 6.5 and they put 3.5. That one was funny. That was a mess.

And, yeah, be careful about what's called "beginner". My SIL took her first beginner class (the how-to uber-basic one) - they had her do y-seams and circles. My beginner class did rectangles. Bias edges and lots of different shapes - I wouldn't call that beginner.

yikes! I learned the hard way that Y seams are not for beginners. I finally gave my 1/2 finished quilt top back to the class instructor and asked her to do the Y seams for me. I kept turning into a cursing old sailor every time I tried to tackle the Y seams!!!

This may be a stupid question, but did you attach the correct sides of the trapezoid?
You must have, or you would have noticed.
Also, the parallelogram might have been distorted when you printed out the template.
Pdfs are sometimes reduced and distorted on some printers.

I don't think this is easy either. I have not tried anything but squares/triangles, and even then I have trouble matching up nicely.
And I am a perfectionist so I don't go where I can not have good results.

I just looked up the pattern and saw the quilt made by Bruce. Now, I have to make his quilt. Love the blues and the reds. Thanks for posting the link.

Remember Eleanor Burns used to say sometimes we need a "smidge" smaller or bigger?

Great idea. That happens more often than it should.