Course Name: Project Kits

While creatives do invest time in formal education, significant education comes from the school of hard knocks. Here is what the school of hard knocks taught me about Project Kits.

In addition to selling fabric, every quilt/fabric shop also sells patterns to make items using their fabrics. You can purchase a pattern and then spend (in my case), the next four hours looking, touching, and visualizing all the different fabric combinations that can be used to make the quilt or garment.

In every brick and mortar I’ve visited, finished quilts or clothes made by staff members are hanging on the walls enticing you to purchase a kit containing the pattern and the exact fabrics used to make the display model.

While purchasing a kit can be a huge time saver and can also save you a lot of stress wondering how the finished product will look, there are also a few things that are perhaps not so obvious if you are new to purchasing kits.

I have purchased my fair share of “project kits” over the years, starting in my youth with model airplanes, boats, and cars, and ending just a few years ago with garments and finally quilts.

I say “ending” because for me, kits are a risk/reward situation. In my case, the risks seem to always outweigh the rewards.

Lesson #1: We’re Sorry, That Kit is Sold Out

One of the first things I did when I began quilting was to subscribe to Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting. It was in this magazine that I saw an ad for a quilt kit I knew I had to make.

The kit contained the pattern and all of the fabric for the top of the quilt. Binding and backing fabric, as is typical of quilt kits, was not included.

The most interesting and difficult part of the quilt was two curving parallel strips. I vividly remember cutting all of the curved pieces because I had made a mistake on the very first cut. I tossed the botched pieces on the floor and continued.

As I counted my pieces after all my cutting was finished, I realized with a sinking heart, that I was two pieces short. I LITERALLY had tiny slivers of fabric left.

I immediately contacted the magazine to see if I could get an additional piece of that fabric and was told they had completely sold out of that kit and all fabrics. A dead end.

At this point I dug through all the garbage, and was able to find my discards (the garbage in my sewing room, lest you think they were mixed in with my coffee grounds).

I decided to incorporate the botched pieces even though they were backwards. In the end, and to the casual observer, this mistake wasn’t all that noticeable.

Lesson #2: The Definition of a Kit

The second kit I purchased that made a fairly major impression on my memory was for a trench coat.

I found a pattern I liked on a website (which shall remain nameless), and was pleased to find there was a kit available for the coat. Fantastic! I wouldn’t have to worry about anything, including the strap buckles and buttons and I could even choose the color of the lovely wool.

Upon opening my FedEx package, I found it was stuffed full of the lovely wool but no pattern or notions. When I contacted the company politely explaining they had forgotten to include the pattern, buttons and belt buckle, they politely informed me these items were not included in the kit and should have been purchased separately.

I thought this was especially interesting because the person on the phone (the owner) was somewhat mystified that I would have assumed the “kit” would have included anything other than fabric.   ?

Lesson #3: What the Quilting Community Knows

Several years passed and I learned a lot more about quilting and sewing.

One day, while in a local quilt shop, my eye was drawn to a gorgeous quilt made with Parisian themed fabrics. As soon as I saw the quilt, I knew I had to make it for our best friends as a memento of our recent trip to Paris.

As luck would have it, the quilt was available in a kit which pretty much sealed the deal. Of course, I checked to be certain the pattern was also included with the fabric, and it was, so I made the purchase and merrily skipped out of the store excited to begin my new project.

When I arrived home, I opened the kit and shook out all the fabrics. Lovely large pieces of fabric. As is my wont to do, I filled up my sink with cool water, added a splash of Woolite, gave it swish and a swoosh and tossed it into the washing machine on rinse and spin. Then into the dryer until just a wee bit damp, and finally under my iron, not too hot, for a nice press.

I had everything cut and was down to my last piece of fabric. In fact, I was pretty amazed at the fabric in general because there was so much of it in the kit that I was able to fussy cut a few pieces. For those of you who have never purchased a quilt kit, you should know that this is something that is NOT typical.

When I laid out the final piece of fabric, my heart sank – the piece wasn’t big enough for the two blocks I needed to cut. In addition, the piece was also wonky from the washing.

I pulled and tugged and spritzed and ironed but it was simply never going to be big enough.

At this point I had to contact the shop and hope they still had the fabric.

When I called, I politely explained that I had purchased the kit and that one of the pieces was not large enough. Upon hearing the horror of this happening, the salesperson said she would go look for the fabric. Whilst looking, she must have mentioned my situation to someone in the shop (most likely the person who made the horrible blunder). Regardless, that “other” person came on the phone to profusely apologize for what was happening.

During our conversation, I mentioned that I had pre-washed all of the kit fabrics.

It was at this point the conversation took a turn, for the worse.

I was curtly informed that “everyone in the quilting community knows you never wash kit fabric.” Those were her exact words.

Once I snapped out of my shock I thought, Really? I’m in the quilting community. Why don’t I know this?

I asked her if it is written on the packaging and I simply missed it? Snarky I know, but I was irritated that she was reprimanding me like a child.

You know the point where the situation is bad but not too bad, but could be getting worse? Yep, we were there and I knew that it was only downhill from there. And quite honestly, I was not relishing the thought of never again shopping in that particular store. So, in the process of deciding to calm down and just go buy the fabric, I was told to hold while she summoned the owner.

The owner calmly said they would be happy to give me a new piece of fabric (even though her voice was saying they really weren’t that happy about it at all), so I will continue to be a happy customer.

I said that I had no problem paying for the fabric if it was truly my fault that I should not have pre-washed the fabric. My bad, my mistake, I just didn’t know and I will do the right thing and pay.

I went on to say, that it was just so odd to me that the fabrics in the kit were so large and I had so much left over that it just made me think there was a mistake on their end. A truly innocent comment.

It was at this point the owner said, “come in and bring everything you have cut with you along with all your scraps”. I really do not think she believed me at all but our moods were lightening up and we were veering away from utter destruction.

When I arrived back at the shop, the owner inspected my cut blocks and my leftover fabric – and looked at the piece of fabric that was uncut and very crooked (and very clean I might add).

She gave me the replacement piece all the while mumbling about how they were going to be changing their policies about cutting kit fabric. She said the larger pieces of fabric were actually the mistakes and not the one that was too small, after washing.

Lesson #4: Not all Fabric is Created Equally

My final kit lesson – the one that made me hang it up and swear on a stack of bibles that I would never buy another kit, was for a beautiful flannel quilt.

Guess where I bought that kit? Yep, the same shop frequented by ignorant members of the quilting community. And guess what else? Yep, not enough fabric after shrinking.

So how on earth did this happen after my previous lesson?

Yes, the pieces were actually plenty big enough for all the blocks even with room for shrinking – so I thought.  Before washing, I actually measured everything to be certain.

The difference was that the kit was flannel, not quilters cotton.

Did you know that flannel can shrink up to four (that would be 4) inches? Because I do.

Lesson #5: Disclaimers are Few and Far Between

In my final semester in the school of hard knocks, I had one last lesson that didn’t have to do with me purchasing a kit but it served as a really good summary of the prior lessons.

I was at a local Sew Expo and saw a piece of fabric that I absolutely had to have for a project.

The vendor was selling 1 Yard cuts of fabric and as part of the purchase, was giving away a pattern for a simple quilt that would use the entire yard.

Before scanning my credit card, the woman in the booth asked me if I pre-wash my fabric. Yes, I said, I do.

She then informed me that if I were to pre-wash the piece of fabric I was buying, I would not have enough (after shrinking) for her pattern because she cuts exactly 36” yards.

Now there is a person who truly understands who is in the quilting community.

I have absolutely no qualms about how you treat your fabric or why. I do know however, that if you are purchasing kit fabric, you should assume the store has cut the fabric for exactly (and I mean exactly) what you need, and not a scrap more.

If you pre-wash and are tempted to wash your kit fabric, I would recommend you take the following steps:

1. When you pick up your kit or put it in your on-line shopping cart, verify the contents on the label so that you know exactly what you are buying and what you will need to buy in order to finish the project. As I said, a typical quilt kit does not contain fabric for the binding or backing. It will also not include any thread or quilt batting, so you will have additional items to purchase.
2. If you are purchasing a quilt kit you will be making immediately, check to see how much, if any, of the fabric is in stock in case you should need more.
3. Even though I said I pre-wash my fabric, I suppose I should include that I never pre-wash really small pieces. Anything fat-quarter and above however, I consider to be just fine. My advice for that quilt kit fabric is to, before pre-washing anything, read through the pattern and decide whether or not you will have enough fabric to withstand even minimal shrinking. If you have enough but only just, and you insist on pre-washing, consider using cold water and a clothesline (do these even exist anymore?) or some other drying method that will minimalize shrinkage.
4. My final piece of advice is if you are in an unfamiliar quilt shop, chat with the people who cut the fabric. Find out if they tear or cut their fabrics and what is their policy on cutting amount? Do they cut an exact 36” yard or do they cut a 38” yard?

I hope my kit crib notes will help you pass through your school of hard knocks with fewer bumps and bruises.

I will be discussing fabric cutting vs tearing, pre-washing vs not in my next few blog posts.

Until then, enjoy your next kit!

Thanks for Reading, Auntie V