Quilt kit from Hell
 

I was wondering if this is the norm for quilt kits that are built custom from quilt shops. I received a quilt kit from my sister daughter, she purchased it at a quilt shop in Montana for around $100.00 with fabric. The fabrics were not the same as mentioned in the directions and there was no picture of the finished quilt other then the one on the directions also the direction had a mistakes , there seems to be no updates to the pattern on the patterns website. There was no page that stated modifications Is this the norm for quilt kits. thanks

It's very typical for a kit to contain a different set of fabrics than seen in the pattern, also typical to have only one picture of the finished quilt in the directions. Modifications for different sizes are sometimes given, but other kinds of modifications are usually not. Also many patterns unfortunately have mistakes, and corrections aren't often available. So yes, what you got is the norm - except for the price, which might be lower than normal, depending on the size of the quilt. I might add that all this is typical for any kit, not just those custom built by a quilt shop. The worst thing I've run into in a kit is not having enough fabric, and that has been very rare.

I just paid $750 for a quilt kit. It is a Judy Neidemeyer pattern and that alone was over $100 of the cost. I'm not brave enough to start now that I actually have everything needed to make the quilt in my possession. It's the first quilt my daughter ever looked at and said - if you ever want to make me a quilt, THAT is what I want.

Whether or not a kit includes "enough" fabric is sometimes a matter of perspective.
There will usually [although not always] be exactly enough if you cut their way and make no mistakes.
There is almost never enough "extra" fabric to save you in case of your own mistakes.
that's one reason i don't buy kits unless they are so deeply discounted i can afford to buy an extra bit of each (or similar) fabric off the bolt as insurance. which is almost never.

Sadly it is not unusual. Hopefully they had a good eye when choosing the fabrics. When I find pattern errors (especially in the blocks), I will take scrap fabric and work up a block to practice even before I begin to cut.

I was spoiled by a local Quilt Shop which now has closed.When they kitted a quilt with different fabric, there was always a slip of paper in it telling you what was what.

Yes, directions are wrong in patterns and fabrics are substituted in kits. I wonder if the pattern was tested and checked for errors?

Double check that the pattern measurements work before cutting fabrics. A recent wall hanging pattern had the border length too short. I reached out the vendor and they agreed.

Another quilt pattern has the amount of backing exactly to the width and length of the quilt. There is no extra allowance for longarm quilting or squaring the ends. Thankful I didn't purchase the backing yet.

I've done a few kits with mixed results. A few have caused me to wish for the sign that says, "Bang Head Here." I've done one or two that make me question why I ever got into quilting. Some have been so easy and carefree that I was sad they were finished. The worst are what I call theoretical quilts that have been produced by a computer quilt design program but never put together by a real person. I finished one in July like that and the blocks were 1/2" smaller than the design. I just put a border around it and I can't tell the difference. Wishing you luck!

I rarely buy kits because of the shortage of fabric problem. When I buy fabric to make a quilt, I always buy more than necessary just in case. Not having extra stresses me out and somewhat spoils the fun of quilting for me

I've only bought 1 quilt kit from a fabric store in my life as the recipent asked for fall colors and I found this one by accident. It was a Bonnie Hunter pattern. She had asked for a full size quilt and this one fit the bill, then later she asked for it to be a queen size quilt. Well, darn, there wasn't enough fabric for that size so I jumped into my stash and added fabrics that would go well with the fabrics that came with it. Only issue I had was that I wouldn't have enough fabric for the border plus I'd purchased this kit say maybe a year before I had time to start it so to find more of the border fabric would be a miracle. I went back up to that fabric store and lucky me, I found 3 fat quarters of the border fabric which made it enough as they gave you more than you needed in the first place. This was a kit put together by the store employees plus the store was being sold so for me to find the fabric I needed to finish this quilt was a miracle in itself especially as it was a year or more after I'd purchased it in the first place.

b.zang, would you like to share which kit you bought? I'd love to see it. I've not yet been inspired to take on a Judy Neidermeyer pattern. But I have found it helpful to review patterns over a period of time, and each time the familiarity grows and it seems less daunting. Good luck in getting to this project!