8 Years....

I got an email from a gal the other day about a block from the web site she was trying to make.  She explained what she had done, and asked me to check the block and see if could figure out why she was having problems.  So I checked the block… I will admit I checked it rather quickly as we were heading out the door.  I thought I saw her mistake and told her, and made a wee correction on the web site to make it clearer. 

A day later she sends me a more detailed email, and I see that I have indeed made a mistake on the cutting directions.  It isn’t the first time and I doubt if it will be the last either.  Let’s just say that I do mistakes very well.

What I found so frustrating about this mistake is the length of time it has taken for anyone to tell me about it.  From the very beginning of making this block I had someone checking my work.  This block was done as a BOM for my local guild and I had a very reliable proofreader and tester.  And the block was distributed to at least 100 ladies at guild way back in June of 2006.  At the same time it was given to the ladies at guild it was put on the internet for anyone who happened to see it.  

In 2008 a shop in Minnesota asked to use my directions for their shop block and I gave them permission and sent them a printable copy of the pattern.  A guild in Indiana used it as their BOM in 2011. 

And no one has ever said to me that there was a mistake.  

Not always do I want people to point out my mistakes, I had enough of that growing up, which is probably why I try so hard to do things right the first time.   But in this case I wish that someone, anyone in the last 8 years who noticed the mistake would have told me.  There is nothing more frustrating to a beginning quilter than mistakes from the designer.

I apologize to anyone who finds a mistake in my work, but please tell me about it (nicely) so that I can fix it for the next person.