The naming of quilts

With apologies to Eliot's "Old Possum"

"The naming of quilts is a difficult matter, It isn't just one of your holiday games"

I have finally (all bar the binding, and I want the label to be incorporated) finished the blue and white quilt I started way back when Noah was a lad. (Ecstatic Dancing etc.)

The pattern is called 'Oh My Stars!' and came from a book called "Quick Method Favourite Quilts" published by Leisure Arts, Arkansas. I have followed the pattern, more or less, with a few tweaks here and there, completely different fabrics, and some changes to the quilting pattern.

There is no one designer acknowledged.

Do I have to call my quilt 'Oh my Stars!' ? What is the protocol? Obviously if I entered a competition with it (some chance!) I would acknowledge, with thanks, the origin of the pattern, because it isn't my design, but I hate the name.

Am I honour-bound to maintain the original name? I am aware TANQP, but this has been bugging me to the point where I've put it away unfinished to avoid the problem.

If I did (for the sake of argument) decide to exhibit it, besides acknowledging the pattern, would that change anything? What do other people do?

All suggestions gratefully received. I've never had this dilemma before, because either the design has been my own, or the quilt is unfinished, or unlabeled, or perm any of the above.

Nel (Gadget Queen)

Reply to
Sartorresartus
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In my not so humble (and probably ill-informed!) opinion, no, you don't have to keep the name. While there may be copyright laws associated with the design, I don't think they apply to the name of the quilt, so if you want to call it "Noah Had The Blues When He Was A Lad," I think you can do that. OTOH, we have a lot of people on this group who are more educated than I am in copyright law, so I could be just engaging in wishful thinking and they'll straighten me out!

As for the ecstatic dancing, I wanted to do that for you -- really I did! But the last time I tried, I had to use a heat pack on my back for three days. I think I'll just do the stroll if it's all the same to you.

Reply to
Louise in Iowa

I tend to name my quilts something that identifies the recipient -- Grandpa's Geese, Sally's Sailboat, etc. Grandpa's Geese would perhaps be a variation of the Flying Geese pattern, and Sally's Sailboat would be a Storm at Sea with a sailboat on one of the blocks. So, I don't re-name the pattern, but I name the specific quilt. On the other hand, when I occasionally design my own pattern I name the pattern itself, and anybody who wants a copy of it gets one with my copyright notice on the pattern pages.

Reply to
Mary

I don't really name a quilt unless I am putting it into a show. Those are usually my own design; but, if one were from a pattern, I would feel in no way bound to use the pattern name - acknowledgement to the creator of the pattern, certainly, but not the name. Even the quilts in my book just had the name of the mathematical principle behind them! No real name.

I don't think I've taken a whole quilt from a book as it is, so I've never even thought of calling it what the author did?

You could, of course, call it 'Ecstatic Dancing' >gWith apologies to Eliot's "Old Possum"

Reply to
Patti

I'm in the boat with the others -- I think you may name your quilt whatever you wish. But were you to exhibit -- you would need to acknowledge the designer.

What I've done when I've shown quilts -- is include the pattern/book/designer name for 2 reasons:

1) to give credit where credit is due 2) but when I see a quilt that gives me that "I HAVE to make this quilt!!! feeling... it's nice to know the details behind the design... or where to find the pattern.

Almost all shows provide information about the quilts and/or maker -- and to me this is a good place to include that information.

Reply to
Kate in MI

Reply to
Joanna

My opinion, and it is worth what you pay for it I name my quilts as they ask/demand to be named. On the label I will include a "based on......" or "inspired by......" but by the time I have finished it may not really resemble the original pattern. I think it is very important to acknowledge the original designer/ publisher but sometimes the name doesn't fit.

For what it is worth, there has been some discussion about this on the quilt designers' list. No clear cut answer, except that mentioning the original source, by the name the designer gives it, does make it easier for someone to find the pattern/book if they want to make one too. (That is one convoluted sentence.........sorry.)

Don't avoid finishing the quilt. Put what you think is important on the label. I tend to do fairly comprehensive labels just to cover all the bases. And the label helps document the quilt, since I haven't put the info into a journal or whatever.

Pati, in Phx

Reply to
Pati, in Phx

Hi Nel,

IANAL. As far as copyrights go, you cannot copyright a title, hence we have songs, books, movies, articles, etc. with identical titles. That said, if you reproduced the pattern *exactly* I think it would be prudent to acknowledge the original title, etc. However, you've made alterations. In some cases, copyright may apply; in others, it may not. It comes down to what the copyright actually applies to, how significant the changes are, and what mood the judge is in... :-)

I think if you acknowledged all original information, you can call it anything you want, followed by "variant/variation of" or "inspired by" or "with acknowledgement to" or something like that...

If your changes are significant enough that it can be considered a different quilt, then IMHO anything goes. Copyrights are worded "in whole or in part" but what is "in part"? All written works use the same words; all music uses the same notes; all paintings use the same colors - it's how they're combined, and in the case of a quilt, what is it that's being copyrighted? For sure the images, instructions, and anything else original, but if it's comprised of blocks that have been around forever, then it doesn't apply to the blocks.

Sorry if this is vague; intellectual property law can be. Even lawyers' opinions can be wrong or discounted by a judge, and not all judges agree on all issues. (Ain't law fun? :-) I hope it's been of

*some* help*.

Doc

Reply to
Dr. Zachary Smith

You are allowed to change the name to ... anything you like, but only if you post photos of the quilt as it is now (do NOT wait until you put the binding on, we need to see quilts NOW) for the rest of us to oooh and ahhhhh over and enjoy. I think the name slapped on in the process of making the book was probably done by some editor late in the day when it was realized the quilt had no name and the author was still in recovery. ;)

So name that baby and show it to us!

Sunny

Reply to
onetexsun

Reply to
Roberta

It has many, unprintable ones, I'll tell you!

Thank you all of you for your input. I hate neaming thigs at the best of times, but 'Oh my Stars!' is something I would never utter in a million years.

'My Blue Heaven' might be a contender, on the grounds that it's stars and my Sewing Room is refered en famille as my 'Heaven' as it's at the very top of the house. Also with my recent mental state, 'Blue' has to be in there somewhere. I did do a hellava lot of the stitching in the 'Funny Farm'. Going with TSE I suppose it could be "The Heavyside Layer'. It's been known as the 'Blue Montrosity', the 'UFO', the 'Oh! Isn't that finished, yet, when exactly did you start it?' and 'Lost Luggage'.

It certainly has a tale to tell and it's been round the world at least once. And now...

I put the binding aside when I finished the piecing and...

You've guessed it... It's disappeared. Gone. Vanished. Nowhere.

So the binding is obviously, "(A)etherised upon a table" somewhere.

Oh dear. Here we go again... the pros and cons of non-matching bindings and whether I should use the backside fabric which is lighter or another...

It's just too difficult. My head will explode!

Nel (Gadget Queen)

Reply to
Sartorresartus

On Sun, 9 Aug 2009 07:39:27 -0500, Sartorresartus wrote (in article ):

I don't think you are bound to use the original name as long as you acknowledge the pattern. It's your quilt, you've tweaked and changed the fabrics and made it your own. I'd name it whatever you want.

Maureen

Reply to
Maureen Wozniak

My year old QI is, strictly speaking, a Tortoise Shell (cat). Like every other Tortie. That's her design. But it ain't her name.

*She* is Astra. Other Torties have other names.

IMO, same deal with quilt names. "Oh my stars"--- that's the name of the

*design*. It ain't the name of the quilt (unless it's the name of the quilt that was done as the example for the book.)

Your particular individual quilt is entitled to its OWN name. Feel free. :)

(And of course you just have to list its genealogy if it ends up in a show. :)

--pig

Reply to
Listpig

I agree with Sunny. Finish the quilt yet to be named and show it to us! Maybe we can help you with a suitable name for it. :-)

Michelle in Nevada, USA

Reply to
Michelle C.

"Pat in Virginia's Stars Quilt" Made by Nel, 2009 Based on Oh My Stars Pattern, Leisure Arts Publ.

Then, when the show/exhibit is over, you keep the ribbon and mail the quilt to:

Pat in Virginia!

Reply to
Pat in Virginia

It is obviously therefore "Prufrock's Blues"

Lizzy

Reply to
Lizzy Taylor

Reply to
Polly Esther

Hopefully this code will be a link to three photos of said 'thing'.

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Think it's going to be "Per Aspera Ad Astra"

Breathless to the cars...

Nel (Gadget Queen)

Reply to
Sartorresartus

Hi Nel,

That link doesn't come out properly (much less work) on my browser, but this one does:

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Hope your Latin translation was easier than mine. ;-)

Doc

Reply to
Dr. Zachary Smith

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