Vintage Quilt Revival: 22 Modern Designs From Classic Blocks by Katie Clark Blakesley
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I’ve had Vintage Quilt Revival for about a year, and finally got around to making a project from it. The blocks, projects, aesthetic and photography are all very appealing and pretty. But either it was my dumb luck, or the book suffers from a number of errors, because the cross-patch bag project’s measurements were all wrong.
It is supposed to make an 8.5″ block before finishing. The book tells you how many of each type of block to cut out, and in what size; this I did, right off the bat. Then it says to get the template off the included cd and print 16 copies and use foundation piecing to put them together. Well, this is absurd. The cross-patch block is not difficult, from a piecing perspective. Careful measurement and piecing will work to produce a good block without wasting 16 pieces of paper. Also, I don’t have a cd drive on my computer, and I’m not buying a new laptop so I can make better use of a $20 book.
Or it would work, if the measurements given for cutting were accurate.
But they weren’t.
(Aside: the inner pieces are given as 1.5″ wide. The outer pieces are given as 2.25″ wide. I have double-checked and yes, it does say 1.5″, and yes, it’s for all of the inner pieces, not just one–so not a typo. I have a feeling that the 2.25″ is the correct measurement so if you are going to make the crosspatch bag from this book, cut your inner squares out at 2.25″x 2.25″, and the white strip as 2.25″ x 6″. That should work better.)
So I made up the first block just following the diagram, and the lattice arms on the outer portions were about an inch wider than the arms in the inner portion, completely breaking the interwoven effect. I had to take them apart and trim an inch off of the outer lattice pieces to make the effect work–and at that point, of course, it was no longer 8.5″. It was 6.5″. Which would mean a bag that was 12″ across instead of 16″ across. Not something I was really keen on.
So I trimmed all the outer pieces into sizes that would work with the inner pieces, cut out pieces for one more block, and turned it into a cushion cover. (3 blocks x 3 blocks with an envelope back in a solid yellow.) It’s a very pretty cushion cover, and I’ve had the 18″ form inside it hanging around for years, waiting for an appropriate home. But it’s not a bag, and I’m not sufficiently motivated to try another project from the book to see if they have more accurate cutting measurements. I’ll just use the book for inspiration, and use block instructions from elsewhere.
I’m starting to think, though, that I may be one of the few people on the planet who waits to review crafting books until after I’ve tried a project from them. This book has a lot of good reviews on GoodReads, but none of them mention anyone having actually made something from the book. Buyer beware.
Zoopolis 
I think it only makes sense to make something before you review it. Otherwise it’s like loving a cookbook without making the food (like the gwyneth paltrow brownie recipe I adore but which costs about $25 to make and that’s good to know if telling people to buy the book!)
It is exactly like reviewing a cookbook without making any of the recipes.
$25 for brownies, huh? That’s not so bad if it gives you 20 brownies. But yes, a kindness to warn a reader, for sure.
I am with you! It wasn’t this particular block or pattern for me, but I have tried 8 blocks out of this book and am so frustrated. I did 6 immediately when it was released, and became too annoyed to continue. This summer I thought I would give it another shot but after two more blocks I am again very annoyed and ready to give up. I noticed the review issue also, I was one of 4 on Amazon who mentioneded the measurement issues in my review. I can’t understand how people aren’t/weren’t more bothered by it.
I think a lot of people review the books without ever doing any of the projects in them. That’s all I can think of, anyway.