Quiltmaking

Re: Need to Vent

Kris — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 06:17:34 GMT

Star,

the quilt is fantastic. Nice work. I'm glad the shoddy quilting job wasn't bad enough to ruin it. Too bad he's a Bills fan (coming from a Colts fan) LOL.

Re: Need to Vent

Barbara — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 03:40:36 GMT

Star , that would be alittle much for me to . .Its still a very pretty quilt . Gald he liked it . You did a good job with it . Barbara

Re: Need to Vent

Star — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 03:27:41 GMT

LOL Barbara. My friend turned his garage into a Buffalo Bills / Nascar mancave. He is planning on painting his bedroom Buffalo Bills blue to match the quilt.

Personally, I found it very hard to come up with a pattern, and other colors to match the special order Bills fabric. I'm just glad my friend liked it.

Re: Need to Vent

Marie — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 03:19:37 GMT

Star, the quilt is beautiful! Glad the longarmers mistake is not visible.

Re: Need to Vent

Barbara — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 03:18:44 GMT

Oh Star don't let Thea see this ,She is a big Bills fan ..Barbara

Re: Need to Vent

Elizabeth — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 03:18:15 GMT

Sorry for the bad experience. We are lucky that most non quilting people do not notice what we do. He was sure to love this wonderful Irish chain!

Re: Need to Vent

Elizabeth — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 03:18:07 GMT

Sorry for the bad experience. We are lucky that most non quilting people do not notice what we do. He was sure to love this wonderful Irish chain!

Re: Need to Vent

Spudgrandma — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 03:12:58 GMT

Star:
Thanks everyone, I do feel better now.

I'm glad you are feeling better Star and your quilt is very pretty!

Re: Need to Vent

Star — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 03:07:00 GMT

Thank you to everyone for your kind words. I did ask to see examples of her work before having her do my quilt. There were many examples hanging in the quilt shop and I did not notice any problems with them. I did talk to my friend, yes she had to listen to me vent too, who said she will let anyone else she tells about this LAQ of my bad experience so they can decide for themselves. I also will take some of the advice to make sure everything is in writing and I will be sure to have the discussion of what will happen if I don't like it if I have to find another LAQ before my friend is back in business. Oh, and yes I got my batting back. King size, good for 2-3 smaller quilts!

I just hate that I probably will not go back to her quilt shop either since there are not that many around here and they do offer a lot of classes. Most of their classes are at beginner level though, but it is fun to gather with other quilters.

I delivered the quilt today, and my nonquilting friend, who is male, did not notice a single thing wrong. He was just thrilled with the quilt. I was glad that it hung off the sides about 10 inches so the quilting is not easily noticable. You can't really see that the quilting stops 2-3 inches from the edge on one side and runs right off the other. It is also not noticable that it is no longer square due to the size. Here are pictures complete with matching pillow shams and three throw pillows.

Thanks everyone, I do feel better now.

Re: Need to Vent

Carey — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 01:46:29 GMT

That sounds horrible. Guess that is why I quilt my own at least if I make a mistake I can try to remedy it myself and learn at the same time. I have never did biz with a longarmer but my sister in law has and has had no issues. I actually like fmq but I am not overall good at it and my schedule is all messed up so I can't do practicing like I want to.

Re: Need to Vent

Caryl Anne — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 00:52:39 GMT

Dear Star, venting is good for your blood pressure. We do not need extra stress over a hard worked project such as a quilt. As stated our work is defining of who we are, our tops are prized and the LAQer should be aware of that. Knowing she could not do or want to do the job correctly, she should have just been straight with you, or called be fore the job to tell you the final costs & get approval. and why the heck would she not use your batting? I recently took three quilts home not finished from a LAQ who has been in business for several years, I was not impressed with her job on my queen size, therefore I paid our agreed price an removed my others from her list. They will stay in my closet of UFOs until I find a new service. I paid $175.00 and brought my backing straighted, trimmed and pressed as well as my own batting. That made for a queen quilt, still needing binding, costing over $350. Binding service is $65.00. I am unable to do my own finishing on anything over a throw size, because of my hands cramped with arthritis. Darn her for taking liberties with your quilt.

Re: Need to Vent

Sukochi — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 00:17:13 GMT

You know, Star, as I have read all this, I feel such hurt in my heart. We make these quilts with so much love, are so careful that all is done right. To, then, have such a thing happen just makes me sick. I think, to help the next quilter who uses her servicewithout knowing the kind of work she does, you should tell her just how unhappy you are about the shoddy workmanship. I would let others in your quilting community know of your experience and just who did it. Quilts are definalety not cheap to have quilted, and they are, certainly, not cheap to make. For this lady to make something you took to her to quilt for you, and make it less then it was when you took it in there is without excuse. I hope you got your batting back. For a quilt that large, that amount of batting was costly. I agree that, if you do not know the quilter well and have not ever seen her work, I would get the estimate in writing signed by her. That way, if push comes to shove, you can shove her right in front of Judge Judy...and WIN!.

Re: Need to Vent

Joni — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 23:16:27 GMT

Wow, what a horrible experience.

I am so blessed, I have a shop that does great quilting and a dear friend, who belongs to my church quilting club who also does beautiful work. Both are LAQ'ers and they are very precise as to what they can and will do and what the charges will be.

I pray you never have to experience this tragic mess again.

Re: Need to Vent

Spudgrandma — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 17:27:37 GMT

What an awful experience Star and it is even worse because this was a gift. I think you have handled it very well. I also a agree with whoever said to get it all in writing, at the very least you should not have had to pay for the extra she charged you for her mistake..

I also wanted to say Hi as I don't think we have met

Re: Need to Vent

Thea — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:13:10 GMT

Star - I am sorry that you had such a horrible experience. I know I would have - like you - just picked it up and not said anything to her - but we should - they are doing a business and getting paid money for it. We don't get paid when we do a bad job and we get fired from our jobs if we do bad work. I have quite a few friends who are long arm quilters and they do wonderful work and care about the job that they do. We have one that is now a great long armer - but in the beginning she wasn't - she told you upfront that she was brand new and learning. I know that she sat and picked out tons of thread because of mistakes until she learned to do it correctly. she has a statler stitcher so she isn't right over top of it watching it do its work. This cost her a lot but she was kind enough to do this. It does not hurt the quilt to take those stitches out too... I am not sure you know this but if you hold your quilt up to the light after it is quilted - all those little holes show through and you can see where stitches have been picked out... but those holes will recede in time so it is okay to take them out.

I know it is hard for all of us - as I have found more very nice people that are quilters then those type of people who say "do it over " or " I am not paying for your shoddy work" but we really need to toughen up and make those few poor long armers aware of their inadequacies and have them correct their mistakes.

I am so so so very sorry that this happened to you!