The Wizard's Reply

Last week I found what I was sure is a "bug" in the software program "Quilt Design Wizard" that I bought just a few days before. I found the problem when I designed this 36x36" wall hanging. As you can see, there are 5 pieces in this quilt, with the center one being an "on-point" block.

The "...Wizard" told me I'd need 4 7/8 yards.

The software vendor provides an email contact on their website, so I sent contacted them and explained the problem. I also sent along a copy of my project file so they could look at it (on the outside chance that I'd done something to cause the error).

They replied the next day, basically saying they don't consider this a "bug" - but is simply the result you get because of how the software calculates yardage. Here's their explanation of how the program calculates:

• It adds the seam allowance you select to each patch.
• It places an imaginary rectangle around each patch.
• It places these rectangles on fabric of the selected width.
• Each time a row is filled, it begins a new row counting the entire strip as required yardage.

The result is generally an over estimate of the required yardage. The amount of the overage varies depending on a number of factors. Shapes like on-point lattice strips, for example, tend to give exceptionally large yardage figures, because there is a lot of wasted fabric in the circumscribed rectangles, like the longer diagonal strips in the blocks. For blocks with many small regular pieces, estimates tend to be much more accurate. The estimate for the border is the length of the longest border strip.

Hmmm....

Interesting. I can see the problem from a programming perspective. They are having to assume a lot of things in this estimate, such as one-way design, and assume that all on-point blocks are cut on the bias (oh... maybe bias-cut squares is what on-point really means? I'll have to research that...).

I am still thrilled with this software - even knowing about this problem. When I get around to trying an on-point design, I'll have to take the estimate with a grain of salt.