Had to send back a QOV quilt, unquilted

[chickenscratch]

I just had to box up an unquilted quilt and send it back. I feel so bad, but there was no way I could do anything with it. It was so poorly pieced. Some of the seams were coming apart and it was bunched and crinkled everywhere. I did load the backing and tried to load the top, but it wouldn't even roll onto the rollers without creasing and bunching. I looked at it for 2 hours, trying to decided; then I took it off and wrote her a note and boxed it up. Was this the best thing to do? Have any of you ever had to return a quilt?

[Stagecl]

Yes, it was the best thing to do...you are not paid to fix the poorly pieced quilts. You are paid to quilt. We always work with some issues with piecing as no one is perfect. If they need to be restitched the piecer needs to fix them.

Yes...I have returned a quilt and there was one that I should have sent back...it turned into a big headache.

Cheryl Mathre

Stone Creek Quilting

Sandy Hook, VA

[countrystitcher]

Yes, Teresa, I had to do this once also. I felt bad, but the quilt was an old quilt and they had put borders on it that were so wavey that it would have been impossible to quilt. I'm just finishing a quilt that I wish I would have sent back. It actually looked okay at first glance, but I could not get it rolled on the roller evenly and it had lots of puckers in it; but I decided to try it so I did a full float -- wrong move. The quilt actually kept moving on me and I fought it the whole way. I ended up calling her and explaining what was happening and that I was going to have to put a couple of seams in it to keep it even. She said to do whatever I had to do. I think this was her first quilt. It has really upset me because I don't know what her response will be when she sees it; but I have really tried my best on it. She also sent in backing in two pieces of fabric; so I had to sew them together before I ever started. Then last night I got interrupted in the middle of the panto row and when I went back I re-tracked what I had just done --- so I have about 10 inches to rip-rip-rip. I will be so GLAD when this one is done! I have learned a lot from this experience!!!

Believe me - you did the right thing by sending yours back.

May all your quilt tops be flat and square!!!!

Sharon.

[sewhappy]

Sharon -

What's a full float??

Patty

[sewingupastorm]

There are some things you can do to coax a badly pieced quilt into submission. If you look at the vintage quilt on my webshots page:

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2724282330053837050sRLtGc

What I got was a pathetic top. Very poorly pieced, puckering, seams not matching, frayed seams popping aprart from being washed too many times, stains, fadeing etc. The quilt was made by her grandmother and had been totally abused.

I charged for repairs which did not take as long as I had calculated...............did them by hand as the top was handpieced and that acutally took less time than machine would have. Then I took forever to press it as it was a wrinkled mess. I did a full float on the top and this worked really well....................the fabrics were thin and worn but were from the 30's and 40's. I did an allover stipple on this quilt. Where it puckered I just stitched tighter. I used my left hand to hold the fabric and coax it flat as I went. It took patience.

I did charge extra than my usual cost for my quilting because I knew it would take longer. Since the lady was not a quilter I also did the binding for her.

I have to say I was so suprised how nice the top turned into a very nice little top she can now use instead of a wrinkled mess.

I feel like I really learned by doing this quilt and I was paid well for the work I put into this quilt. I actually made more an hour on this than some of the detailed coustom work I do.

There are tricks but again you are the one that needs to decide if you want to do it.

[Judi]

Teresa - you did the right thing for you - if that is what you want to do! You

are your own boss and YES - you have the right to just say "NO"!! I know

that we still can lay so much quilt on ourselves at times.... try not to! You

just need to be able to sleep at night too. I'm sure you didn't write her a

snotty note - cutting down her quilt top or anything, your not that kind of

person. And you writing here, about your worries proves it!

As for returning a quilt - as of yet I have not - but there has been a couple

that I REALLY wish I would have! Just needed the $$ at the time - not the

headaches that came with them!

Personally - I just finished my "Good Deed" quilt, and am all used up! First

time quilter, high school girl. I fixed about 10 holes and 1 whole seam in the

top that had NO tension. Also re-did her backing, just re-sew and then

trim and press. It really only took me about 1/2 an hour to fix and I added

that into my time when billing. This girl had to have it done for class by the

10th. She even had me put on the binding, just the machine part, because

they do not own a sewing machine. Turned out nice and she gave me a

really great tip!! Like I said - I did my good deed - and then it paid-off!!

[Patch]

You did the right thing, it seems to me. There ought to be a "Quilter's Bill of Rights":

1. All seems must be straight.

2. All fabric must be 100% cotton or wool, or whatever, not slippery stuff, etc.

3. All edges must be square.

4. Top must lie flat when laid flat and not have little tents and wonkies in it.

5. Backing must be ready for quilting.

6. Bias seems must be stabilized with something. I don't know, maybe your DH, if he's being bothersome, whatever, just throw something in there to stabilize those puppies!

7. All materials sent to quilter must NOT have odor attached to them (well, except maybe from lilacs or gardenias or honeysuckles......)

8. Quilters have the right to reject any quilt top not conforming to these standards, unless they decide they want a challenge, in which case any complaints afterwards by the piecer must be accompanied by huge tip.

How's that? I think I'm being redundant here. Didn't somebody recently post something like this? Well, what are they waiting for? APQS should have published it by now! LOL!

[Judi]

Patty those are ALL very great points and standards!! Yes - lets print those

babys up on T-shirts or our aprons!! (back of Business cards too??!!)

[mrsbishwit]

Teresa;

You did the right thing. On the Quilts of Valor's website it states that the top must be in good shape and that if it is not the long armer will send it back to the peicer.

Only the best should be used for our brave men and women who serve in our armed forces since they sacrafice so much for our country to keep us safe and to protect our freedoms.

It also says on the sight if I remember it correctly that if the longarmer dosen't feel right about writing the note to the peicer that the organizers are more than willing to did it for you.

Joann

[Patch]

Ah, Joann! Thank you for posting what on earth QOV stands for, LOL! I'd forgotten that website, silly me. Will have to go there and gander a while.

Yes, let's do quilt tote bags, or machine carriers, or something. Great idea!

[annlittle1]

I think you did the right thing. If the quilt was for a paying customer then I would call the piecer and discuss it with her. I would suggest that she fix it, but if she wanted me to fix it then I would let her know that I would be charging her $20.00 an hour for my time. I will fix a couple of minor things without charging, but if there are a lot of problems then I want to be paid for my time.

You weren't being paid for this quilt, so you shouldn't have to spend your time, which is money, to fix it.

Phyllis

[CucumberQuilting]

I think #8 on the list above pretty much takes care of all possibilites!

You probably did the right thing, Theresa. I've also had to return a quilt, but thank goodness, she was right here in my studio when I first looked at it. We pulled it out of a rumpled paper sack and threw it up on the rollers to discuss the quilting. Right away I could see something was quite wrong with her top, (not just the fact that it was as rumpled as the paper sack.)

She had improvised with row of blocks on each side of a enter pictoral panel and forgot to add seam allowances. How she managed to s-t-r-e-t-c-h those blocks an extra 3" to fit I'll NEVER KNOW! I was able to show her there was no way I could ever just work that in with some fancy, dancy quilting. The only thing I would have been able to do would be to take a huge smiley of a pleat right across the center!

She took it home. I've never seen it since, but she has brought me a few other tops that have worked out just fine.

~~ Eva H.

[countrystitcher]

Hi Patty; what I call a full float is putting the backing and batting on as normal; then I simply lay the quilt top on top of the batting and sometimes tack the top. As I quilt down I line the sides up with a blue tape-mark on the "quilt roller" bar. Sometimes it fudges a little with the degree of problems in the quilt. I feel I have more control of the quilt top this way - but just be sure you tack the sides too as you roll down to keep it as even as possible. Hope this makes a little sense!

Sharon.

[chickenscratch]

Sharon,

How do you establish the width between your blue tape guide marks? Do you measure the quilt in several places and take an average of those, or do you measure top and bottom and try to make the sides match. It sounds like a good idea to me.

[junebug_one]

Hi Patty,

I do a float just like Sharon, but I have attached tape measures that start with a zero in the center and goes to about 60" to both sides. I have stitched these to each one of my ( I use zippers) leaders on my rollers. That way I can tell exactly where the edge of my quilts are at all times from start to finish. When I load the backing, batting and attach the top I make sure it is centered in the middle and the same width on each side, then I put a saftey pin over the tape at both ends where the top ends and I also put a safety pin over the number where the backing and batting ends. Say you are doing a 60 " quilt it would be 30'' inches on each side. first set of safety pins and three to four inches out for the backing and batting. You can tell at a glance where the edges of the quilt and backing are making them even on both sides.

Also, My DH took some old PVC pipe he had and made me clamps for my rollers. When I float my quilt I can put them on the bottom to hold my quilt steady and when I want to roll it up I simply remove the clamps and put them back on when I am through rolling.

This really works for me. Good luck.

Carol c.

[countrystitcher]

Patty; Carol summed it up just perfect. I put numbers via a tape measure right on my canvas from center to each end. The PVC pipe sounds great, I use plastic half-circle clamps that I bought at a local quilt store and just snap several across the quilt/roller. The last 10-15 quilts I've done have been the float method, it's also quicker to get started quilting and no straight pins in the quilt top - yeah!

Try it - you might like it.

Sharon.

[Mary Beth]

Teresa,

You did do the right thing by sending it back.

I wanted to jump up on my soap box and shout "Who would do this to a QOV quilt?" I just feel that these quilts should be our best. These people are putting their lives on the line for us and we want to give them something of poor quality just to say we donated a quilt. Makes me want to scream when someone does that. Even when they make it from ugly fabric or they do not put any thought into it and just throw a bunch of squares together and call it good.

Sorry, I should not rant. Just a personal problem.

[gaildrake]

Teresa ,

Sorry to hear of your heartache. Believe me, sometimes these quilters think we can work miracles. That's just how much faith they have in us. Always remember, "when in doubt, do without" Never feel bad about this choice because the headache is not worth the time.

[mxley]

Teresa,

You absolutely did the right thing. These Quilts of Valor are a labor of love for those of us who quilt them (yes, good practice too, LOL). I don't normally do them for other quilt toppers, I do mine start to finish.

I recently, and perhaps foolishly, posted a QOV on an internet quilting forum I frequent, and the positive response was overwhelming. I suggested that if 12 of them would like to send a block, I would do the rest.

Well, 125 blocks later, LOL, I have enough to make 10+ quilts. And many were kind enough to send a couple of yards of backing fabric, or some money to help defray the cost of batting. Quilters are wonderfully generous.

BUT - there are several block so badly put together, so undersized, so whatever! that I did feel a bit of resentment. This is a Quilt of Valor! It deserves one's BEST effort, and I think some just sent along their "practice" blocks. I probably will do a bit of stitching on some of them, and possibly sash the dreadfully under-sized ones. But I'm not holding down a job at the moment, so I have some time, but if one really irritates me, I will send it back.

So I totally get where you're coming from. You're putting in a lot of effort into quilting a QOV, and your efforts should go into a quilt top that is worthy of that effort.

[icolorize]

After viewing the QoV Website, in 2005, I became motivated to sew 5 patriotic quilt toppers (that were quilted by other wonderful longarm volunteers, like Teresa). I actually sewed my very first quilt topper in 2005... for a valor quilt.

Quilts of Valor are not charity gifts! They have been well earned through bravery and selfless sacrifice. QoVs show our brave, wounded troops (used to be troopers) that their sacrifices are appreciated and that they have not been forgotten

The lap quilts must be at least 50"x60" to be useful and well sewn (with love and prayer) to convey national gratitude and pride. (I also prefer 100% cotton fabrics in shades of red, white and blue...somehow other colors don't convey "made in the USA" to me).

MANY MORE VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED!

Teresa, you probably were concerned about discouraging any well meaning person from contributing to this much needed cause. I know that it would have been difficult for me. But, you were right to send it back (with a gentle note explaining why a haphazardly sewn or too small topper is waste of everyone's time).

It would be wonderful if every hospitalized and/or psycologically tramatized hero could receive a QOV of their own to cuddle into. Quilts can provide a source for comfort, much like a child's teddy bear, when hurt, lonely, and away from home.

THANK YOU, from me, FOR VOLUNTEERING YOUR TALENT, TERESA! The need for more QOVs, unfortunately, grows daily.

[Judi]

Very nicely said Bette! I agree with the red, white and blue - we are after-

all in the great U.S. of A. and that has always been our colors!

I personally have not made or quilted any yet for such a cause, but will get

at it soon! Our Quilt show is next weekend and we are also taking in

donations for the group "Minnesota Nice". If you are around Mankato next

Sat. or Sun. we will be at the new National Guard Armory..... come one...

Come All!!

[tinams]

Just looking at the other side of things, could those blocks and the top have been the best that person could do? I'm not saying you should use them or fix them just that maybe the person did the best they could and that their heart was in the right place.

Tina

[icolorize]

Tina-

I thought about that too...perhaps it really was the best topper that she could piece and (bless her) her heart was in the right place. That would be a tough call. It would seem ungrateful and not very empathetic to send it back.

However, after selling real estate for over 21 years (retired the end of 2006), I learned that sellers almost always knew about most problems...visible or not.. even if they did not initially disclose them. Since bad piecing and unsquare blocks are visible, not hidden, the piecer probably knew that her topper looked a little stranger than others that she'd seen. It's even possible that she believed that it'd improve greatly after the quilting was sewn...so there really wasn't an issue.

It is also possible, though hopefully not the case, that the topper was contributed because it wasn't something the piecer thought was worth keeping...give it to someone who's needy and that person will feel grateful just to have "something".

The QOV site clearly states that the quilts are to be quality (though not perfectly) made. The Quilts of Valor are not "charity". They are badges of honor that recipients can use and possibly display.

It's just a tough call...but I suspect that the piecer knew there were problems prior to sending the topper tp Teresa.

I actually feel badly for Teresa being put in that position. No one wants to be in the bad guy position in a situation like this.

[mxley]

Tina,

I'm afraid Bette is correct - these are not charity quilts! And chances are the quilt topper knew the top had problems.

Maybe it was her best effort - but that's so not the point!!

My first QOV I pieced with perfect points, and then I quilted. I decided it was not good enough to send off. It's in my dog's bed. It just wasn't quilted well enough to be a Quilt of Valor.

Quilts of Valor should be everyone's best quality work.

[Mary Beth]

Well said!!

I have had some quilts that were pieced by new quitlers, that had some problems and made them a little tricky to quilt. I'm sure most of us have had. But if it was so bad that Teresa had to send it back, it must have been pretty bad.

Yes, the piecer is to be commended for making a quilt for such a worthy cause. But like Mary said, it should be their best quality work, and I'll take it a step farther and say, it should be fabric you would want in a quilt and not just some really bad quality fabric thrown together.

Oops...there went my 2 cents again.