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Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Mix & Match Quilts With the AccuQuilt GO! Blog Tour

Day 2 Blog Tour


Review of  "Bursting Into Bloom"
Designed and Quilted by Connie Kauffman (pg.21)


When I saw the quilt I was to review I was thrilled.  I think this pattern is fun and cheerful.

 Many of the dies necessary to make the projects in Mix & Match Quilts are included in the AccuQuilt GO! 12" Finished Block Set.   The GO! Rectangle (3 1/2" x 6 1/2") , GO! Funky Flower Die and the GO! 2 1/2" Strip Cutter Die were the dies used to make "Bursting Into Bloom."  

I think it is wonderful that all the dimensions for each die is given in the book as well as the Funky Flower template.  So for those who do not have a AccuQuilt GO! or Sizzix Westminster Fabric Cutter you can still make these quilts using your choice of rulers that will cut the necessary shapes and the templates supplied in this book. 

I did not make the "Bursting Into Bloom" quilt however I did read the instructions several times.  The instructions were not as clear and I think they could be and I'm not sure a beginning quilter would have understood some of the terminology and directions. 

Here are a few examples:

"Die Cutting Instructions"
"1.  Cut one 7 1/2" by fabric width strip from each of five coordinating bright prints and fan-fold 4 1/2" wide.  Die-cut eight H rectangles from each strip."

I'm not sure a beginning quilter would know what a fan-fold is and a diagram or photo would be much clearer.  Perhaps adding that you would have a total of 40 rectangles when finished would be helpful too.  The other thing that I found confusing was referring to the rectangle die as H.  While on page three of the book all the dies are described in depth, a beginning quilter may not have noticed they were also labeled with an alphabet letter.  When I first saw the instructions I wondered what H was referring to so I looked back through the beginning of the book.  The dies are even labeled that way on my website but it was not readily clear to me. 

The book shows photos of the shapes that the dies cut and I think it would have been clearer if a beginning quilter actually saw a photo of the die too.

Later in the instructions the letters X and Y appear along with other letters.  At first I thought I was missing something and I began searching page three for X and Y.  Then I thought that the X and Y might refer to X and Y axis.  So I looked at the quilt and thought to myself, "there is no way they could be referring to the X and Y axis...that makes no sense."  So I looked to the end of the instructions and noticed on some of the diagrams there were small alphabet letters that referred to rows.  I think it may be helpful to tell people in the beginning that the letters would be referencing rows on diagrams that would be shown on the next page.

That was my experience with reading through the pattern.  Stop over to Vickie's blog at Spun Sugar Quilts and read her review of  the "Bed of Roses" pattern also being reviewed today.
You can  visit Tonya at Tonya's Sewing Room Blog  and Jacki at Canton Village Quilt Works Blog tomorrow and read their reviews as well as find out who else is reviewing the patterns in this book on Thursday. 

Everyone is different and I look forward to reading about their experiences with the patterns.  The quilts and projects are beautiful and I think the concept is definitely great for a beginning quilter. 

Smiles,
Kelly

29 comments:

  1. Thanks for the review of the book and of the quilt. Always helpful when new books come out.

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  2. I am a fairly serious GO! user and I didn't "get it" about the "H". Certainly if there are letters used to connotate, they should be explained in each pattern on first usage. (After all we don't always read pattern books front to back!)

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  3. Some patterns just confuse the living heck out of me. Hence I usually go my own way and just do it on my own.

    Hope you have a safe trip back (you're traveling today... right?).

    Have a great rest of the week. Can't wait until you post more about your trip.

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  4. Thanks for this review and honesty in the instructions...

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  5. As a beginner I think you are right on the ease of the directions.

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  6. You are right it is fun and cheerful looking.

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  7. Good review. I think you are correct as many patterns are written for those who have been quilting for awhile and intimidating to those who are beginners.

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  8. I tend to look at the pictures and copy it that way, lol.
    I always get confused when I read directions. I like them with pictures and short sentences. I hate having to "read" how to make a quilt;)

    Debbie

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  9. Looks like at great book, do not have a GO

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  10. THanks for the review. I would have loved to see a better picture of the quilt...what is showing does look great though!

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  11. This is a pretty quilt. Thanks for the review of the pattern.

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  12. I love an HONEST review! Thank you!!

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  13. Kelly, it is so funny you said that about a fan fold because I belong to the Yahoo Accucutquilters group and there was a member that didn't know what that meant. We tried and tried to explain it and finally one of the other members found a YouTube video for her.

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  14. LOL, I never would have got that - I have enough trouble reading very clear patterns!

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  15. I've been wanting to check out this book and I do appreciate your insights. I agree with you that many wouldn't understand fanfolding. Sounds like this book didn't take time to include a visual or good description of the process of fanfolding, which is unfortunate.


    SewCalGal
    www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

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  16. Thank you for the review. It was very helpful. There are a lot of pretty quilts out there using Go dies and a book full is a great idea.

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  17. Thanks Kelly, we can always count on you to be honest. I have a hard time with patterns, I need clear pictures. So often the wording just confuses me.

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  18. I wanted to say that your review was awesome. I think I focused too much on trying to make the block. I made it, a totally different size LOL. I love my Go! but I didn't love this book at all.

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  19. Thanks for the review. I'm with you on this one - I've been quilting for quite a while and these instructions sounded a little mystifying to me too. It is a cute pattern though and I am glad they added the cutting directions for those who don't have the GO. HUGS... and stitches

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  20. It is a pretty little quilt! Thanks for the review of the instructions. It can be frustrating to have to refer back and forth to the front of the book. I usually like to read instructions several times and make notes. Yes, I write in books!

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  21. thanks for the review. I am not a beginner and I don't know what fan fold is.

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  22. Thank you for your review. It will be helpful.

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  23. Thanks for the head's up, maybe they can clarify on their website or future editions.

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  24. Thanks for the review. Some days I can't even find the right side of the fabric. I get confused easily.

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  25. This books looks like it has lots of fun projrcts. I'd love to make Bed of Roses.

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Thank you for reading the IHAN Blog. I love getting and reading every comment that is left here; however I may not be able to respond to all comments left during giveaways. There are times when I am juggling many tasks at one time and may not reply to all comments. Please e-mail me at quiltnotions@gmail.com if you need a reply quickly. I thank you for your understanding and-
More Later-Beth

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