Please Let Me Vent. (Machine Quilting)

that just stinks, Sherry. i'm so sorry you did not find the right type of person who cared enough about her work to do a good job or if she can not at least she ought to refund your money, all or some of it.

that said.... i like your idea of putting it into your show with the sign. its not being mean, just honest. afterall we're always being told we must give 'credit' ?? where credit is due. i wonder if you put this idea to the quilter what she would have to say. tho i think i'd wait til i went to pick up the quilt, not while shes got her mitts on it. you've got time to get the wording exactly right when the time comes to tell her this. wouldnt help her business much would it. :)) i'd also contact a few people in your guild who you value their opinion and see what they think.

you know you can vent here anytime it is needed. with all the wealth of knowledge and variety of folks here, there is often a soluti>I am just so sick. I took a quilt that I had worked on for a year to a

Oh, Sherry, that's awful. We feel your pain.

Cindy

She *is* the shop owner. That's why I took it to her. Because I'd seen some really nice work hanging on the walls. I swear this woman either let someone else do mine without me knowing it, or she didn't do the quilts herself that she has on display.

Sherry

Did you discuss with the quilter how you wanted your quilt quilted or did you leave it up to her to do what she thought appropriate? Is she a LA quilter or did she do it on her sewing machine? I know if seams aren't straight, it can be difficult to stitch in the ditch on a LA. Sometimes if we don't communicate clearly what we are expecting, we can be disappointed. I'm not sure where you are, but $100 sounds pretty reasonable for a 60 x 68 quilt. I'm not saying you shouldn't be unhappy with the end result, but perhaps she quilted it the way she thought it would look best. Did you discuss what type of thread you wanted her to use? These are all things that my LA quilter goes over with me before she starts on a quilt. The first quilt I gave her was a quilt I made very early in my quilting career. At the time, I thought it was just beautiful. It was basted & waiting to be quilted for about 2 years before I finally realized that I wasn't going to be able to do it. When I opened it up I saw all my "beginner flaws" just glaring at me. When I handed it over to her, I told her I knew she was not going to be able to make my flaws disappear - I just told her to do the best she could with the tools I was giving her:) I'm sure that was not the case with your quilt, but my beginner quilts that I thought were so beautiful are so BAD when I look at them now. (Not that I'm perfect yet - I'm still very much a novice - have only been quilting a little over 4 years now - I have much room for improvement!)

I'm sorry your quilt didn't turn out nicely for you. Perhaps you can talk to the quilter about the things your are unhappy with & maybe it can be salvaged. It is possible to rip out the quilting you know (not that I would want to take that project on.)

Pauline Northern California "jennellh" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@d55g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...

Hey Sherry:

One thing we have found here in the South is that complaints to the Better Business Bureau will get results.

Filing a complaint with the AG of your state will also get her attention. We used to have a LQS here and the owner got a woman to do MQ for her. Well one quilt owner complained and wanted every stitch picked out and her money returned. She got both and the MQ was fired. The LQS didn't stay in business long either.

Kate T. South Mississippi

I will be the first to admit I don't know *anything* about machine quilting. But let me ask you this: It is my (amateur) opinion that a 3" feather design centered in a 6.5- inch border is just not acceptable. It looks weird. It leaves too much space on either side. The sashing was 2.5 inches. There's about a 1-inch leaf design down the middle of *it*. Leaving the majority of the space unquilted. Your thoughts? I *did* specify cream-colored thread. I realize that my definition of "custom" could have been misconstrued, but I was very clear about the color of the thread. I do not know why she used verigated thread.

Sherry

Sherry

Howdy!

Ask her, Sherry. Put on those fancy "big girl panties" and confront this woman. You can do it, you have every right to ask and receive some explanation as to why she advertises the type of service (hanging in the shop) which you did not receive. You shouldn't have to know all the answers ahead of time, or all the questions to ask about machine quilting, some but not all; she should know what to tell you to expect before taking your quilt. Go ahead, ask her. We'll be standing right beside you.

R/Sandy

So sorry! If you really like the piece, might be worth the trouble to unstitch the quilting. (one-sided razor, slice carefully between the backing and batting, won't take more than a couple of hours.) Was there any firm evidence that the shop samples were her work? If so, and she didn't do them, or if she sent your piece to someone else, that might be fraud. Good reason to get your money back. Is there someone at the shop who can tell you for sure? Then you have to confront her. Explain exactly why you are unhappy with the quilting. If you can find an impartial expert to back you up, all the better. Know any local show judges? Roberta in D

"Sherry" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@o80g2000hse.googlegroups.com...

I totally agree, I've read a couple of books and the general opinion seems to be that the design needs to go at least as close as 1/4 inch and preferably closer at at least some points. If a narrower design is chosen, then echo, stipple, crosshatch, or something in the background to make the design pop, though I don't think I've seen that on a border, only in a block.

If I were you I'd be devastated, but when I'm like that, I can't deal with asking all the questions is there anyone else you can send to the quilt shop to find out who did the displays there and if this person who does the quilting actually does do it - perhaps she is ok, but passed it to another person.

I think if you're not good at doing a design that fits each part of the quilt well, you can at least pick an overall design and use a pantograph, I've seen some great ones that aren't classic large meander stipple

Anne

I agree. You need to approach her about it. Ask her why it was done so badly. She may even realize it's terrible but wanted to see what *you* would say...and if you say nothing, well....

-Irene

Sherry, I'm *so* sorry this happened to you. Can you have her remove all of her quilting so you can redo it yourself?

Sadly, if the LA quilter's work is that sloppy and she is upset/angry at having to remove the stitching could you trust her to do it correctly and perhaps unintentionally harm the quilt top or backing with a slip of the thread cutter? I know I have been stressed when unstitching and made some slip-ups and cut into my fabric- it happens. And Sherry could be dealing with tiny holes from the needle and thread, too, that would leave outlines of the unfortunate quilting stitches. What a sad, sad mess this quilter has created for Sherry- I'm so sorry she is having to deal with this.

Leslie, Missy & The Furbabies in MO.

I am so sorry Sherry. That is awful. If you belong to a local guild or other group that you can show the quilt to that might be a good thing. SOme sort of confirmation of the quality (or really lack) would help. Did you have a contract or written agreement with her? It sounds like you have been had with poor quality work in addition to lousy communication. If you had no written agreement I would say you set yourself up for part of the problem. I would enter the quilt in the show if you had planned to enter it and do make note of the quilter. If this quilt is remotely special I would go ahead and pick it all out. Before you do that you need to contact this person and try to find out just what went bad here. She said bring it back. Do that. YOu don't need to leave it with her again since you don't trust her but you need to straighten the whole mess out. I had a friend who picked out all the machine quilting done poorly by a bad quilter on a large quilt. It was a nightmare but there are more than a few horror stories out there. There are a few great MQ'ers that hang out on the group here. Maybe we should try them out? Where is that list? Taria

Sherry wrote:

Well, yeah, Taria, I admit I did set myself up. I just naively thought that anyone who hung a shingle out as a machine quilter would do a good job. I didn't think that when I asked for cream-colored thread, I needed to say "not varigated." I didn't think I'd need to say "Try to fill the entire border space." I just pointed at the one on the wall and said, "I want it to look like that." (but it didn't) The quilt was kind of special in the sense that it was a Block of the Month deal and it took me a whole year to finish. I concurrently did a "practice" quilt. I'd make a "practice" block out of my own fabric, so that I could sew the BOM fabric perfectly. I really put a lot of time into it, and I was really pleased with the way it turned out. (whoa-sherry-stop-right-there. You're whining again :-)

Anyway, no, I didn't get anything on paper. I will *never* do this again relying on trust/verbal instructions. I do love machine quilting when it's done right, and I'm sure I'll take another one to someone else someday. Next time I think I'll create a form, complete with illustrations, to better convey what I expect.

But thanks everyone for the shoulder(s) and the support.

Sherry

now now, calm down. feel free to vent, whine whatever works for ya. what are you gonna do about it now? i like Sandy/ragmops idea frankly.

i'd first find out who did the quilting on the shop samples. maybe get a friend to go in and casually find that out.

if she actually does quilt and did the work on the shop samples but didnt do the work on yours and did not tell you that when you took the quilt in...that is fraud. someone already said that. find out all you can first. if you need to, take in a good friend who knows all the info and what you wanted/expected your quilt to look like. take her with you for support and if need be she too can support your point. no need to settle for less than was expected. i would not let her unpick it, if it comes to that. as someone already said, she might make holes and wouldnt care. cant chance that. feel free to discuss it here if you need to. call guild friends. know any quilt appraisers? tell her you did not ask for the varigated thread. you specifically asked for your quilt to be quilted like the ones on the wall in the shop and yours is not like that at all. what is she going to do about that as you are sure not satisfied. see what all she will do first before ya say this quilt is going into the show with full credit for the quilting to her and her shop. she might change her mind then. argh, dinner on the table, gotta go. will bbl to see whats up. hugz, jeanne

At the very end I would unpick it myself as has been suggested. A long tedious job perhaps, but you would have your baby back. Then I would baste, redo the in-the-ditch first so the quilt is extra stable and stitch round the edge like you do pre-binding, or even put the binding on. Then I would wash it, perhaps in the bath so you hardly have to move it, to minimise the hole pattern from her 'quilting'. You could probably get away with just plain, pleasantly warm water and squish it. Then when you have quilted the rest and it is completed I would wash it normally, and hopefully your baby will have grown into the princess you wanted!

Then perhaps enter it in next year's show as 'Reborn!'.

Sally at the Seaside~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~uk

nzlstar* wrote: