BethDurand Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 Hi all, I think I need some feedback. I got a quilt back from a customer that she appeared unhappy with. I had done what she asked for, and will now (happily) add more quilting for her. She commented that "there is a lot of open space" because we didn't do SID on the borders, so that's what I'm going to add. She also commented that there is another quilt that has "some large open areas" that I had done a feather meander on. She said that she was "going to wait" on the next two quilts that she had signed up to bring me, and I'm interpreting that as she's not happy with my quilting, and may be going somewhere else. I'm okay with that, I'm okay with adding more quilting, but how to avoid this in the future? I thought that I would ask her if she wants her quilts quilted more densely, but need some feedback on how to express that in English, not quilting terms. Thanks in advance for you help, your support and your friendship. Beth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 Beth, I would think that "Do you want your quilt more densely quilted?" would translate the same in quilting terms as in English!! Try to make her happy, but don't be worried if she doesn't bring you the other two quilts. Sounds like she is dangling them in front of you like a rabbit with a carrot. Oops...there went my 2 cents again! Mary Beth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 Hi Beth-- How about asking "Do you want this top quilted more densely?" I'm a smart a**! My pricing is set up by "density and complexity of the stitching design" as I am sure most of us are. Are you charging like that?-- because anything I take in that requires me picking up a ruler (SID, echo quilting, crosshatching, etc.) automatically jumps the price up at least one step or maybe two! Do you think it is a money issue? Next time have a very specific plan agreed upon, as it seems as if you discussed designs and price so if she is not happy there is a gap of perception (what she thought she said or thought she wanted was not the outcome.) Not your fault, of course! You followed the plan. If she is not happy but willing to pay more for extra quilting, that is good since she understands that there was a communication problem and she DID get what she paid for the first time. Good luck and hang in there! Isn't it funny that we can have thirty thrilled customers and one near-miss will upset us--I get the same way. We want every customer to gush and grin! Love it! Can't wait to see you next week! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted September 12, 2007 Report Share Posted September 12, 2007 Beth, That is really the hardest thing to get across to someone who doesn't quilt either by machine or hand....all they really see is the price of what you quote them, the rest just flies over their heads and out the window. They just don't understand that when we start talking SID that ups the price from sometimes a simple quilt job to a custom one. I very simply would draw out the block or a rough draft of the quilt while the customer was in the studio...yes it took time and yes it made for a bit of a longer break from the next quilt but it did work for me. While I would draw say a quarter of the quilt and describe what I was putting into each area, there was always the point brought up that SID would be needed because of ______________ (whatever the reason)...ie...if we don't put a full design in this border the area will be to open and the batting will wear with time and we don't want that ... If we don't fill this block up to here there or use a SID around it will be to much space around it. Will you like that look? Is that what you are wanting after it has been washed and all wrinkled? Now if the border was a very thin border (up to 2 inches) I would just suggest SID on each side and nothing in the border itself...this would give a resting place for the eye and not make the quilt to busy.... Or if there were a small border and a larger border maybe crosshatching both together making it a whole instead of two seperate units of the quilt. Each case was different, but by drawing out the quilt they each saw what was going to be open and what wasn't...they seemed more involved in the quilting process and they didn't quibble about price afterwards because they knew up front what was needed or not to get to the finished piece. I found that if I involved the customer more and more into the quilting process, I too learned what they did and didn't like....and after awhile it did get to just them handing me one and saying you know what I like....just do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattyJo Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 Hi Beth - Boy, I sure am sorry that you have a disgruntled customer. I think that Mary Beth, Linda and Bonnie have already given you some good ideas on how to handle this. I just wanted to lend you some support. I think that there are just some people out there that have in their mind what they want, and think that they have communicated it perfectly when you haven't got a clue cause they are so vague. I'm a person who doesn't read between the lines very well, so I just really ask a lot of questions so that hopefully I can get close to what they want. I hope this works out for you. A friend once told my DH to don't worry about the jobs he didn't get in our business, cause they probably would have be a headach from start to finish......so maybe this would also be true for the 2 quilts that she is dangling in the future. Well, that's my 2 cents worth. Hope that you have fun at Innovations. I hope to go next year. Just two many Dr bills this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmquilt Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 I had something like this happen I won't go into details. But I told the lady that I simply was not the quilter for her and gave her as many machine quilters cards I could find in our town. I told her that maybe one of these quilters could quilt how she wanted. Fix her quilts and run away from her as quick as possible. Not that this helps you in the future but with this client it sounds like a good idea. I like what everyone else said above. Michele Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beverly Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 Kind of analogy. I was in line in the post office yesterday. The man in front of me had mailed a package and it was returned. He asked why he had to pay the postage again. The postman told him he had paid to have it taken to the address on the package. They took it. The address was not complete or correct. The postal service felt they had done their job. If he wanted to add (get this) the apartment number to it and mail again, he would have to pay again. So in your case maybe this time you can add more quilting, but if she was unhappy with the first one, why didn't she mention something at that time when she brought the second quilt to you? Why does she feel that you need to fix the first one too? Maybe you can work it out and maybe not. I know you did what you thought she wanted but maybe she is going to be one of those where something is always not quite right. Michele has a good point. I hope it works out for you. Beverly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BethDurand Posted September 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 Hello all, Thanks for the support, and the responses. I think I was mostly looking for support, feeling like I had done a lousy job, but I no longer think that. All of the quilts that she has brought me, or we've discussed are wall hangings that do not even meet my minimum of $45. What I mean is, that I'm charging her $45, but at actual rates, it would only be about $20. therefore, I have no problem adding more quilting to make her happy. I think the funny part is that although I may not be the quilter for her, I had someone call me last night with "a quilting emergency". She had a quilter scheduled to do it, but her machine is broken, and she won't be able to meet her deadline. I'll be doing some rearranging, but I hope that all will work out, and that the negative is balanced by the positive. Thanks again, Beth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxooms Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 I have to say I have been on both sides of this fence. When I started quilting and taking my quilts to a LA quilter, I had various results. We moved often so I had exposure to several LAers. I found that the more specific I was, the happier I was with the results. When I said, "do what you want to", I was unhappy. I learned to "interview" LA'ers before I took quilts to them, as I had once went to drop one off and she said "all I do is pantographs, pick one". So in hindsight I saw this as a communication and education issue about knowing what to ask. Now that I'm transferring to the "dark side", LOL, I will know to communicate in detail what to ask/tell them. I think the more information you can give a quilter up front the happier everyone will be...even to the extent of prepping the quilt before giving it to a LAer...i.e. squaring the quilt, how wide to make the backing, batting questions, density of quilting, etc. In other words, the more knowledge the quilter has up front, the easier things should go. Does anyone know of a website that does this? Does anyone have their own website that they refer their clients to explaining all this before they bring the quilt in? It seems like it would save us time and therefore $. I think a lot of quilters are not knowledgeable when they bring in their quilts. I was in a quilt store the other day, and a woman brought in a quilt that was sandwiched, and not sure what to do from there. She didn't even know there were LA'ers out there. We have, in the past, invited LA'ers to our quasi guild/mini group (we're in a small town) to "educate" us about how to prep a quilt for machine quilting. In some instances, there seems to be an abyss between the maker and the MQer. I also think that the quilts we have problems with are done by beginning quilters, which makes it tough on everyone. They expect us to do wonders with their first efforts that they're proud of, but that they have little knowledge of the quilting process itself. It is possible that if a quilter knows up front that the quilt will be LA'd, they may make different decisions than if they were going to do it themself either via hand or DM quilting. So, in retrospect, it seems that the more we can educate and communicate with the makers the easier our jobs will be. Just my 2 cents. I have only done one person's other quilt so far...So, rookie I am. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonmade Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 Sketching a bit of your plan is a good way to make it clear to the customer. Another idea is to do up some samples that are maybe 1 or 2 feet square with different density levels and price structures. Several years ago, I was doing a custom quilt for a client, adding plain squares to antique ones she brought me. I was charging a pretty penny for this so I did several test samples for her to OK before I quilted the actual top. In the end, this saved me a lot of grief as she turned out to be one of the pickiest clients I've ever had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yvonnerenae Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 Beth, Is this a case of someone wanting to get more than they paid for? If you gave her her money's worth the first time around I hope you're charging extra for reloading if not for extra stitching. That would be like a border turning charge. Our minimum is $35.00 just to load a quilt - and then we figure out the per square inch charge on top of that, it helps a lot when pricing those small items that come in way too cheap when figuring just by the square inch. If she's decided to return both of the quilts you did I think she's decided that X sounded good at the time because the price was right, but not she wants Y, and should pay more if she's getting more - period. Just my humble opinion, perhaps showing a bit of my suspicious nature. Too long in retail I guess. Yvonne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CucumberQuilting Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 Oh wow, I'd be saying, "hurray!" We get so many quilt toppers here in our area asking us not to quilt "too much." It's hard to know if they really don't want the look of more quilting or they're trying to avoid paying more. So when I get a customer asking for more, I JUMP with JOY. ~~ of course, I'm known for getting a little carried away with myself. The more the better for my taste in thread! Good luck with your situation. If it's just this one case, with the one individual customer I mean, then I would think it has more to do with her being unsure of what she really wants than it is with your ability to communicate with customers. Sometimes we have to be real mind reading psychologists to get it right and sometimes it just falls right into place. Keep going. There are many, many more quilts left for us to do! ~~ Eva H. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CucumberQuilting Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 PS: I'm picking apart a quilt that was "pre-basted" by a new customer. She did that to save me any "extra work." :mad: They just don't know 'til they know. Right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 Hi Eva-- My first "professionally" quilted top was pin-basted by the LQS owner because she was planning to do it on her DSM as a shop sample. I had just taken a Pam Clarke class and she told us all that she has her assistant pin-baste EVERY top before loading. Of course, that entails a full float, but who am I to fly in the face of success??!! Worked great--especially as new as I was then. I do not prefer a top pre-basted, but they don't scare me if they are basted correctly. Just my experience. See ya next week!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CucumberQuilting Posted September 14, 2007 Report Share Posted September 14, 2007 I wish this one was pin basted. It's machine basted, with extra thick poly batt, no extra backing by the way, and oh yeah, pleats on the back too. Why can't I just say, "No!" when these adorable little ugly pups come in??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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