BethDurand Posted December 2, 2012 Report Share Posted December 2, 2012 Anyone who quilts for others will get a laugh out of this one. In the past 3 days, I've had 3 different requests by new customers to get their quilts to me and have them quilted by Christmas. This doesn't even include the established customers who want to drop it off the first week of December and pick it up the 2nd week, but she doesn't have a reservation yet. Also the one with the Christmas quilt for her own bed, but she didn't make a reservation for it until at least mid-November. Kudos to the new customer who approached me back in September about quilting a Christmas gift quilt. Hers is done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaC Posted December 2, 2012 Report Share Posted December 2, 2012 Your NEW customers were probably turned down by their regular longarmer. You know what they say about poor planning not creating an emergency on your part! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmcclannan Posted December 2, 2012 Report Share Posted December 2, 2012 I had a customer drop one off the other day and said as long as it was done by July she'd be happy. I wanted to hug her. I can't manage the stress of rush jobs, so I'm not accepting any Christmas quilts this late either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busy Quilting Posted December 2, 2012 Report Share Posted December 2, 2012 I have just learned that the owner of the Balti I am quilting will be overseas for 5 weeks, So I will outline all the appliques to get it stabilised then take it off before crosshatching it in a different colour, next year!. So can now get those last three Christmas quilts done and still have time to finish peicing a Judy Niemeyer Glacier Star before Christmas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted December 2, 2012 Report Share Posted December 2, 2012 I did have two calls--definitely desperation calls since I assume these two picked up all the longarmer cards at the two local shops and were frantically dialing everyone. Neither seemed surprised when I couldn't take their quilt and both were nice to talk to. I have the first December quilt started, my tree is up as well as other decorations, a tiny bit of shopping done, so I'm ahead this year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witha'K'quilting Posted December 2, 2012 Report Share Posted December 2, 2012 i received a call just last night from a gal who has blocks that were put together 13 years ago...and just found. She wants me to put them together (they are not even the same size), quilt it and do "whatever to finish it, " she said. The blocks were given to her grandparents for their 50th anniversary, and now have past their 63rd anniversary, and neither one are well now. She wants to give it to them for Christmas...THIS Christmas! I told her NO. I told her I might be able to look at this project after January, then would decide if I even wanted to take it on. She said she understood, but seemed rather disappointed. She was going to talk to her other family members and see if they were as understanding. Apparently they all agreed this would be the parents Christmas gift this year. Why is it that people seem to think we can just whip out our magic wand and their projects will get done?? I haven't been able to come up for air the past 3 weeks with my job...let alone take on a quilting job right now. AND besides, I have a family of my own and projects too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandmaLKB Posted December 3, 2012 Report Share Posted December 3, 2012 I had a lady call me a few weeks ago asking if I could quilt a quilt for her. When I asked how soon she needed it, she said "Oh, I'm in no hurry..........within the next week or so!" Can you believe that???? I turned her down and gave her the name of another longarmer who I KNOW is at least 3 months out on orders. Maybe she will get the idea that these things don't get done within a few days. What are people thinking? Obviously, they aren't............thinking that is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LFQuilts Posted December 3, 2012 Report Share Posted December 3, 2012 Beth, Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I had an email from a customer wanting a t-shirt quilt (start to finish) done by Christmas. I told her we could meet to discuss. It will likely be finished after the first of the year - but she is ok with that. I've been contacted by a clueless potential customer who wants teddy bears and Christmas ornaments made out of her deceased grandmother's clothing to give to her mother for Christmas. I told her not likely give my backlog to be done before Christmas. Her idea is very sweet, but as a non-sewer and non-crafty person, she just doesn't get it. We will still meet to discuss. I'm working in shop that sells items to be personalized with embroidery. Our three busiest times of the year are May (graduation), August (back to school) and pre-Christmas. We are a miniumum of two weeks out now. Someone walked in on Friday and wanted a stocking done by Tuesday. I'd had a long day and just had to laugh. Yes, her job is only a twenty minute job after the design is digitized - but she doesn't get that there are a few hundred items to be done ahead of hers . . . . As Linda R and others have noted on the forum, so much of our job is about educating customers about what we can and cannot do. In some ways, it is the most important thing we do - providing a reality check for the customer and ourselves. Some folks don't get that we would love to do the work for them - but there aren't enough hours in the day between now and the holidays. With few exceptions, it is not worth stressing ourselves out to perform minor miracles. L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamu Posted December 3, 2012 Report Share Posted December 3, 2012 I just had to chime in here as I got a call just today wanting to know how busy I was. I told her that if she had a small quilt that needed quilted as a Christmas gift I could fit it in but there would be a rush charge. She told me that it was a queen size quilt and it was not going to be a Christmas gift and there was no rush, but would it be possible to have it done by this Friday? after I stopped laughing I told her that I wouldn't take it till after the New Year. She was quite understanding and then said she didn't have the backing prepared anyway.... biting tongue here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted December 3, 2012 Report Share Posted December 3, 2012 Opinions please-- I have four customer quilts to finish before the 15th. Of those four, only one is a Christmas gift. The other three customers grabbed spots as my schedule filled, perhaps not thinking of Christmas at all when they booked for a spot in December.. When I finished the latest quilt and called my customer she expressed that she hadn't thought it through and her quilting payment was taking a chunk out of her Christmas budget. I offered to hold the quilt until January for her when she'll be better able to pay and she agreed and thanked me. It obviously would have been better for me to schedule her for January or later and save a spot for someone who would be gifting the quilt and would have budgeted for it. (Please be assured that I'm not in the least angry about the delayed payment. This piecer is a good friend and trusts me enough to tell me the truth. She could have put me off with various excuses but let me know straight out that she needed to wait to pay. I probably have quilted 20 quilts for her.) I'm thinking I'll be more careful when booking November and December to ask if the quilt is a holiday gift and if not perhaps push it back a month. I have some customer who will welcome the reminder and some who wouldn't be fazed by a couple of hundred extra on top of Christmas shopping. What do you think? Is that a good business decision or will it be offensive? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbara Conquest Posted December 3, 2012 Report Share Posted December 3, 2012 I can't see why it would be offensive. My customers have been most considerate, telling me that they understand this is a busy time, and that they're quite all right with not getting their quilt until after Christmas. But if they hadn't volunteered the informaion I would have asked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merryjo2003 Posted December 3, 2012 Report Share Posted December 3, 2012 I just got another call today (yes, Sunday....we do work 7 days a week, right?) from a customer asking me if I could fit 2 more quilts in for Christmas. I picked up one from her a few days ago. It was lavender and purple satin, very slick, made of her daughter's wedding decorations and bridesmaid dresses. The backing was made exactly like the front! It is also exactly the same size! I told her the backing has to be bigger and I would have to sew a muslin strip on each end to even get it on the machine. She said it was fine if I cut the top down for her. Then she needs help with the binding! Luckily, the next 2 are cotton. These will be the last one's I accept for Christmas deadlines. I still have 6 others ahead of hers. She told me she "obviously can call someone else and give them the business instead of me." I told her that would be fine! I know she won't find anyone who will take these quilts and have them done for her at this late date. Oh, by the way, the backings aren't finished yet and she can't drop them off until next weekend. Then she said she didn't want to take them elsewhere. Right! Because I'm sure she tried and nobody would take them!!! I guess customers believe they are the only customers. They always seem surprised when I tell them how many quilts are ahead of their newest one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BethDurand Posted December 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2012 Oh thank you all for the laughs! I agree, it is our job to educate people. So many do seem to think that we have magic wands tucked into our pockets. If that were true, my house would be cleaner! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcfay Posted December 3, 2012 Report Share Posted December 3, 2012 I don't think the general public has any idea what it takes to even put a quilt on the table. My daughter was here Sat. and was looking at my quilts and machine. She said, "do you have to stay out her with it while it's quilting?" I think lots of people think you just push a button and it does it all with out you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamu Posted December 3, 2012 Report Share Posted December 3, 2012 We do have lives other than being long arm quilters. We also have families and other daily life obligations that the general public of quilters are not aware of. With that said...... I try very hard to alert my customers in advance, that I will not be available to quilt for them after December 1st unless they have booked with me ahead of time. I start telling them this in September. Most of my customers are very considerate and appreciate the heads up on this time line. I do have some quilters that seem to think they should receive special treatment (thus the prior post) because they have been with me for a while. But, I really try hard to stand firm on this. Since most LA quilters are booked several months in advance, I don't think that your request of information as to the quilt being a Christmas gift is out of line at all. It certainly relieves the stress of trying to 'do it all' when this is a very challenging time for us to do the Holiday things we like to do with our families. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancingraisin Posted December 3, 2012 Report Share Posted December 3, 2012 I am amazed that folks expect to be able to get quilts done this late! Until I bought my Lucey, I sent my edge-to-edge quilting to a fabric shop that does e2e for a very reasonable price yet does good quality work. They have teams of quilters and a slew of business. Christmas delivery is not guaranteed unless the quilt is in their hands by October 1. Another local quilter's web site discloses that she will not guarantee delivery unless she has the quilt by November 1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie H Posted December 3, 2012 Report Share Posted December 3, 2012 I was reading this thread and thinking of one of my customers who isn't at all like those in this thread. She's a gal that started bringing me small table-topper quilts a few months back, and she keeps making and bringing so she can gift people anytime of the year with them. I love her sweetness! She is going through chemical chemo and comes to town often for doctors appointments and brings quilts when she comes down from the mountain. So this morning she calls me a few days earlier than scheduled and asked if she could bring her next set of table toppers, she was just in town doing some shopping, that she's in no hurry to have them quilted because she can give them away next year as gifts. She understands without having to educate. She is truly considerate in her heart. And she brought me the cutest little birdhouse!! Her elderly dad makes them and sells them at the bazaar every year. Anyway, just wanted to share the upside of quilting for others at Christmastime and to share a picture of her gift to me P.S. And her gift came to me in one of my own brown Kraft bags I use for returning quilts to customers, and it was all stuffed prettily with Christmas tissue paper! I love that she re-uses them :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancingraisin Posted December 4, 2012 Report Share Posted December 4, 2012 Bonnie--I loved the birdhouse and would love to buy one (or a few depending on price) from your customer's father. (I live in Clovis and would drive wherever to pick it up.) I was going to send you my phone number to pass along to her so that she could call me if she (or her father) is interested, but your message box is full. Could you please message me with an alternate e-mail? Thanks! Cynthia Scharf ("Dancing Raisin") Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie H Posted December 4, 2012 Report Share Posted December 4, 2012 Cynthia, I cleaned out my msg box if you want to msg me again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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