A couple of years ago I was approached by a woman in our local Quilt Guild who was opening a shop, she wanted me to quilt as well as piece samples for her. I offered her my lowest rate for quilting as well as piecing. I did a lot of work for this woman and my mistake was first of all not having our arrangement in writing and also not billing and receiving payment before handing over my work. I also taught a class at her shop which she collected fees for my teaching.
To make a long story short she decided that she shouldn't have to pay me, or at the most at half of what I charged for quilting and nothing for piecing, though she did offer the quilts back to me at what she said was fair market value.
I ended up taking her and her business to small claims court. There was a settlement conference held where the judge repeatedly asked her if she was in possession of my work, she said yes, he said what makes you think you shouldn't have to pay... She still refused so that judge recommended it go to trial. Oh I did have emails with her admitting that she owed me the money. On a funny note she said that she is not an owner but a shareholder of the shop and that she is a volunteer as are her friends who work there.
Anyways, in the end she hired a lawyer and made an offer to settle, which was less than she owed me but a thousand more than she had been willing to pay before the lawyer...she also had to pay her lawyer. I chose to settle and end my stress. The case is public record and the story is known by many in our local quilting community. I have been told that I am not the only quilter that she has treated this way.
So my purpose in sharing my story? Always get any business arrangement in writing even if it's with a friend and don't let your work out of your hands without payment.
Wendy's Quilting
APQS Millennium