First Charity Project for The VMQG

 Hi Everyone,

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Can you believe I haven't sewn a stitch since last December?  I took a break from sewing/creating last December to deal with an issue that I will share later in this post.  I don't believe in sewing when I'm not in a good spirit; none of the seams will be straight or be what you want them to be!!  LOL.

Now I decided to break through this awful experience and start anew.  What can be better to cure the blues than doing something for someone else?  At our last guild meeting, I picked up a project to do.

 

These are the scraps that I got.  I'm supposed to make a quilt top, or maybe two small ones, using a pattern called Turning Twenty by Tricia Cribbs.  I've never used this pattern before and I'm excited to get started.  

I spent a few days cutting all the needed pieces out.  I added some coordinated fabric from my stash.  I put some pieces on the design wall and cut some more. 

 

I plan to make two quilt tops.  One is a lap size, above, and one is a baby size.  Next is piecing the blocks together and putting them back on the design wall for the final layout.

Enter at you own risk!!

The following content is the hardest thing for me to write.  I am an artist who is happy just to create.  I always try to look for goodness in everything and everyone around me.  I'm publishing this post as a warning to all quilters out there; be real careful when you submit your quilt into shows.

I had two quilts in the IQF Houston show last fall.  The show was organized and run by Quilt Inc., which Karey Bresenhan is the founder and president.  I sent the quilts to them on June 19, 2023.  The show was in November and I got my quilts back on December 5.  When I opened up the package, one of the quilts has brownish stains on it.  The stains form a rectangle shape along the perimeter of the quilt, about 4-5 inches from the edges.  They are more obvious on the back of the quilt, but seeped through to the front as well.  They can be seen with the naked eye.  I was so shocked to see them on my quilt.   I'll let you be the judge. 

 

This picture was taken when the quilt came back.

 

This picture was taken at the submission time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The stains continue along the bottom edge.

The stains at the bottom left corner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I immediately wrote an email to the Special Exhibition team who I had been corresponding with from the beginning, and handled my quilts for the exhibition.  I inquired for information about what happened and asked them to investigate.  After a week of not hearing anything back, I wrote another email to the manager of the group, again asking them to investigate.  She wrote back and said that the office was closed for the holidays and she would look into the matter when they come back in January, and would contact their fabric specialist.  She asked for more pictures.  The pictures above are some of which I emailed to her.  I also offered to send back the quilt so that the fabric specialist could take a closer look.  She declined.

In January, she wrote me saying that the quilt already had stains on it when they received it, but it's customary for them to show quilts with imperfections and the artists are not contacted.  She said she compared the submission picture to the receiving pictures when the quilt was received in Houston.  Here are the two pictures she sent me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The picture on the left was my submission picture.  The other picture was one of the attachments in the email I sent.  She didn't show me any 'so called' receiving pictures to prove her case that the stains were pre-existing.   She totally ignored the stains that I pointed out in the pictures of the back of the quilt.

She then proceeded to say that the stains might have been caused by a disappearing ink pen marker, and then offered to pay for it to be dry-cleaned which I declined.  I did not use a disappearing ink pen on my quilt!  It's puzzling to me that the specialist could determine and come to a conclusion about the quilt without seeing or inspecting the real quilt. 

It seemed that no one in the Special Exhibition team would take any responsibility for this problem.  First, they ignored my inquiries then shifted the blame on to me.  I did not accept this answer, and I then sent an email, explaining the situation to the VP of Shows and Show Director and again asked them to investigate the matter.  I did not receive any response.  

After two weeks of not hearing anything from the VP, I then escalated the matter to the President of the Quilt Inc.  The manager of the Special Exhibition moved on to another position in the organization and no longer handled this matter.  So, I'm back to square one.  As of the present time, I have received no further response.

I was very upset and disappointed by the lack of care and accountability on their part.  I wanted an apology and to make sure that this sort of thing won't happen to any other quilters who enter quilts into their show.  I have decided that I will move on and consider this as "water under the bridge".  Life is too short for me to carry this excess baggage.  There will be more joy and blessings in life despite of this terrible experience. 

My dear quilty friends, let my bad experience be a cautionary tale.  Some show organizers may not handle your quilt with the care and attention that you expect. I understand that life happens, and if the unexpected happens to your quilt and it is returned in a lesser state than when you sent it, not all people may take responsibility for it while it was in their care.  Be sure to take lots of pictures before sending in the quilts and know the risks.  Even though the pictures don't seem to help my case, they don't lie.  In that, I am sure.

Have a wonderful week and thanks for visiting.

Margo

 

In addition to the linky parties on the sidebar, I also link up to:

 

To Do Tuesday  hosted by Carol at Quilt Schmilt 

Put Your Foot Down at For the Love of Geese  (Thursday)

Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty (Friday)

Peacock Party at Wendy’s Quilts and More  (Friday)