nineva Posted April 22, 2008 Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 So, remember how I was annoyed that I had spent a lot of time making and quilting beautiful quilts out of scrappy stuff thrown at me for honey\'s church charity, to be given to the needy? And then they decided NOT to give them to the poor because they were so pretty. They held them to have a show, then said they would put them out for charity next fall. NOT!!!:( I got a call last night asking me what I thought they were worth, as a minimum. Apparently "they" have decided to give several of the quilts to the church Boy Scouts to auction off so they can raise money for camp. And some to the young women for the same thing. What??? This is not a low income church. These people live in upper middle class neighborhoods. And what happened to an actual WORK ethic where the little guys EARNED their way to camp? :mad::mad: I guess it is a good thing I moved. I almost gave the lady a piece of my mind, but thought I should just shut up and let it be. I will not do any more quilts for them (I am at 15 and counting). I actually have three more in my possession. I will finish them up and give them to a true charity in their name. These are the same women that couldn\'t be bothered to do 1/4" seams or press anything during quilt classes I volunteered to teach. Ok, I am done venting. I don\'t like feeling negative. Maybe it\'s the migraine, I don\'t know. I do know that God has a purpose for everything. There will be something good to come out of this. Thanks for listening.:) Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncutt Posted April 22, 2008 Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 Nancy, I would politely tell them that you went through all the work and effort for the needy not for a fund raiser. Don\'t think you have to say much more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melora Posted April 22, 2008 Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 I too would be angry. Truly all are deserving as you appear to grasp since you have so generously given of your time and talent so those without could have. My guess is yours will be the ultimate reward even though that is not why you did this. You are a very kind a generous person. As I have once heard you say "smile" Keep smiling!!!!!! Melora Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted April 22, 2008 Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 I think needy people deserve to have pretty quilts just as much as anyone else does!! What? Because they are "needy" that means they aren\'t human nor have wishes or dreams like you and me? I say let the needy sleep under those pretty things! Nancy, perhaps you could tell your church friends that you would be happy to make some quilts (next year) for auction but that you would really hope that everyone sticks to their original agreement to give these specific quilts to charity. You could tell them that in a "positive" note rather than sounding negative. You are such a kind person. I hope your migraine goes away soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltermidwife Posted April 22, 2008 Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 Nancy I would be annoyed. What a sad state of our times when we are forced to place conditions on charity donations but it seems that is what we must do to insure a donation gets to its intended receipient. How self restrained of you not to say anything. I would have to have had some calm but firm words about the situation which is just plain rude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judysmith Posted April 22, 2008 Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 This is a familiar story for when I\'ve worked with quilting groups to produce charity quilts - too many cooks and the original reason somehow flies out the door. Feel good that you\'ve had your heart in the right place. Perhaps it\'s time to rationalise and say enough, I\'ve made my contribution and be very choosy over projects in the future. Judy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltingjoyful51 Posted April 22, 2008 Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 Nancy, I would turn in a bill for the quilting since they were not used for original purposes you should be paid and give the money to the charity of your choice. When they confront you just tell them your charity was abused. Normaly I turn in a bill marked paid in full for quilting, that keeps them from using the quilts for other than orignal purposes. If they change the plan I get paid, (still hurts when people let us down.) Joyce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaR Posted April 22, 2008 Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 In my opinion, this is outright theft.. stealing from the needy.. and I agree, my teeth grind when I hear the comments, "it\'s good enough for a charity quilt". Sorry, am in bad mood... Bless you givers, and May God Bring the Light to the others. RitaR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa Posted April 22, 2008 Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 Nancy~You did a nice thing by quilting those * church charity quilts*. You stepped up, taught the classes, and helped those gals create charity quilts. This is *work from the heart*. Just because the church ladies take your *work* and re-divert it to another venue, doesn\'t mean your *work from the heart* is less meaningful. You\'ve done a GREAT thing here. And, if you choose to go in another direction for your charity quilts, that\'s ok too. Maybe you have met your quota for charity quilting this year? Continue to take the High Road. Yours, Lisa Lisa L. Langlais AUTHORIZED APQS Rep. 6936 Conservation Drive Springfield, VA 22153-1013 (WASHINGTON DC AREA) 703-440-8157 CELL: 703-967-2675 REVEL IN EACH OTHERS SUCCESS KNOWING FULL WELL THERE IS ENOUGH TO GO AROUND. ~~~ANONYMOUS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbi Posted April 22, 2008 Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 Is there a full moon or something? I agree with turning in a bill, getting paid and donating to a charity of your choice. This may seem unkind of me, but I no longer do things for free... I was on boards of directors, served on committees, was president of this that and the other. Got no thanks for it and often was criticized. I gave up... sorry, have to take care of me and my feelings. So, I suggest you examine the group you will donate to. I recently gave a few hundred yards of fabric (some left for my store) and the reason was that the guild I gave it to said they would use every scrap for the charity quilts they do. That did my heart good. they do hundreds of quilts a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lyonden Posted April 22, 2008 Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 Nancy - I totally agree with Joyce in that you should give them a bill since the quilt was not used for the original purpose. I would be really upset and refuse to quilt the other 3 quilts. Sorry but I get so fed up with people thinking we are just sitting here waiting for them to bring us something to do. There are still a lot of people who don\'t look upon us as actually having a job. Believe it or not, years ago I had a lady from another state call me and ask if I would do a free quilt for her as she was giving the quilt away. In talking to her, the person getting the quilt was her daughter. I know that when we start out, we offer to do quilts for free for our friends and such and maybe that is where people get this idea that what we do is just for fun. Sure, let me go out and spend thousands of dollars on a machine, more for thread, patterns, spare parts, insurance, tools etc. just so I can support your hobby. Sorry again for venting. Maybe I should have had some coffee before reading the posts. Retirement in 1 1/2 years. Looking forward to it. I\'ll just do my own quilts for a change!!!!!!!!!! There are many customers I will miss and will still do for them if they want. I love doing this, just not the whining that people can\'t afford what we do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SandraG Posted April 22, 2008 Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 Nancy, I think billing them is acceptable. Even if you do not want to collect the money you can have someone write a letter to attach to the invoice stating the purpose of the quilts. Then you can use it as a tax deduction. Hopefully, that would be a silver lining for you. We have a charity guild that meets at my shop. We have one organization that always gets quilts from us. The organization is a volunteer organization that services foster children in our state. Our charity guild provides a quilt for every child that goes into foster care within two parishes (counties). This guild is so successful that we have had to find other organizations to donate to. It is wonderful. If anyone would like more information on how we work let me know and I will send you the info. Sandra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DB Posted April 22, 2008 Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 Nancy, I have to agree with Carol. There is no way that I would quilt the other 3 quilts that you have in you possession. I would pack them up and send them back with a note saying you donated your time for charity not fund raising. Especially not for fund raising for kids who don\'t need it. It would be one thing if the auction was to get funds to buy school supplies for inner city kids but it\'s not. I would also send them a bill for the quilting that you have already done since they have taken advantage of your good nature. Some people are just greedy and will take advantage of every opportunity thay can. It\'s too bad that there are so many people like that out there, ruins it for the rest of us. Dianne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grammie Posted April 22, 2008 Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 A very dear friend of mine asked me to do something to help raise money for their church trip to Russia which they do every year. They stay I think two week with the orphans there and provide them with some very needy items. Plumbing for instance was achieved this past year. I did a Queen Wholecloth to raise money with. About 60 hours of work. First they sold raffle tickets. Didn\'t sell that many in fact I didn\'t really see the effort. They raised less than I spent to do the quilt. The winner donated the quilt back and they GAVE it to the Opanage Mother. I think she is probly a wonderful person but I did it to raise money for the CHILDREN not to go on someones bed. I would have rather they put it up for auction or saved it for this year to try and raise money with it once again. When I mentioned this to another friend she commented she would have paid $1000 to $1500 for the quilt herself and offered to sell the tickets in her shop. Just bring it by and we will sell lots of tickets. My friend never did this even though I suggested it. Will I do another Charity quilt such as this? Of course I will but I will do the fund raising myself and the money will go where I want it to go. Doing charity work is very important and I do enjoy it. I do more than I should and I get behind sometimes but it give me great joy. I\'m just backing the bus up and now turning these jobs down. I decide when charity is needed and I do it for my own worthwhile causes instead of someone else\'s now. I haven\'t lost heart. Next time I will be very clear what the donation quilt is for and why I am doing it. Good luck. Don\'t loose heart as you did a good thing no matter how it is used. Best wishes and keep on giving. Hugs Grammie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nineva Posted April 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 Everyone, thank you so much for the support. I just wanted to cry. I believe in helping the less fortunate. I even told these ladies when they handed me a pile of mismatched blocks that the poor deserve beautiful things as they have so little. I took the blocks and sorted them into colors, and went to Hancocks and Joannes with my coupons(not enough of them), bought coordinating fabric to add to the blocks, bought border fabric, binding and backing, out of my own pocket. Put the quilts together and made them beautiful. Then I used MY batting, since they gave me scouring pad batting, did the quilting, and handed them in. I quilted three others that one lady made for the same cause. They were gorgeous quilts, actually had matching fabric and awesome patterns. One was supposed to go to an Iraq Veteran\'s widow. Yeah right. I used metallic thread (nightmare) to make bursting stars in the border and other patriotic designs in the blocks. I have no idea what happened to that one, but it disappeared from view. I am not going to whine anymore. It is done, and I am done. Here is the good news. I did 6 quilts for American Hero Quilts. They are so very thankful for the service. The quilts go to injured vets that are actually IN the hospital recovering from their wounds. Each quilt is used daily. They ask for the quilts to be quilted dense enough that medical equipment won\'t get caught in the threads and that is all they require. They provide the backing, the finished tops and they bind them. All I do is quilt them. It is a great time to try out new designs, to perfect my spacing, to rock out to the iPod, to relax and enjoy. My entire family is military. My son is a Navy Doc, now taking an extensive cardiology training course, which will probably send him back to war. It is what he wants and if he saves lives, well then, it is worth it. If anyone else wants to truly give to our servicemen, contact Sue at helpinghands@americanheroquilts.com. You can do one or you can do a dozen. They don\'t care. They have many people piecing for them, but few doing quilting. I checked them out. Truly worthy. Melora, I am smiling. Migraine is gone. Sun is shining through the snow. Life is good. Just a down moment there. I love this group. Y\'all are wonderful. Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewfriendly Posted April 22, 2008 Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 Nancy, I think what they have done is nothing short of theft. You quilted them for free, so some needy soul would have comfort and warmth. The fact that they are going to raise funds without your permission is appauling. At minimum you should be paid for your work when they auction them off. I understand why you would feel violated. Perhaps we as quilters have the right to say weather or not something we work on is allowed to be a money maker. I don\'t really think we would be upset about it if we were told about it up front. I must tell you though they must think highly of your work to want them in the show, and to think they will be able to auction them for a tiddy sum. So focus on the complamentry side of this equation and tell them NO in the future. They shot themselves in the foot. Best to you and your future charities! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattyJo Posted April 22, 2008 Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 Hi Nancy - I\'ve just finished reading this thread and the only thing that I know for sure is that God is in control. He knows what has happened and what the motives were behind them. Yours was to quilt for those who really needed it and theirs, well - we can guess. From now on, pick the charities that you want to quilt for like the American Hero Quilts and continue to support them and others as you can and as someone else said here, Take the High Road. Yes they took advantage of you, but I truely believe that they will have to answer for that someday. You are an awesome lady and a gem. Don\'t forget that my friend. Luv Ya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randijoy Posted April 22, 2008 Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 It\'s not your migraine it is the steam shooting out of your ears!!! Or at least it ought to be. If anything, it is this situation that probably gave you the migraine in the first place. What a nerve! I had a similar thing happened to me several years back . I own a bed and breakfast and got a telephone call from a radio station who said they have a travel show and if I donated several gift certificates they would advertise my business for free during the radio program. Since I was new to the business I never asked how much airtime I would get or any of the things I ask now. They called me and told me how successful the gift certificates were, how much buzz they generated, how our phone would soon be ringing off the wall and would we be interested in doing it again. Of course I eagerly agreed. Then one morning I received a call from an elderly gentleman who was inquiring about the cost of a stay etc. He had an urgency in his voice which I took to mean he wanted to book the room so when I asked him if he was ready to make the reservation he said no, he wanted to hang up so he could go bid on the certificate being offered on the "Travel America" weekend radio program right now. I quickly tuned in to see what on earth he was talking about and was shocked to hear that these gift certificates I donated were being auctioned off for their profits. The only advertising I was getting was in their pitch to get people to pay top dollar for what I gave them for free. Additionally, the demographics of this show were clearly not my target audience as was described to me. First thing Monday morning I called the radio station manager and demanded that all of the people who purchased my gift certificates be given a full refund as I would not be honoring any of the certificates issued to their radio station. I guess they must have because I never had anyone try to use them. Additionally, now when I give a donation I set stipulations and guidlines that must be adhered to. I would be donating $200 gift certificates to raise money for charity and people were getting them for $50-$75. Now the minimum bid must be 50% of the value or it needs to be returned to us. If not theft, it is certainly out and out deception. Who ever came up with this idea certainly should have asked your permission before moving forward. I agree something needs to be said to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted April 22, 2008 Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 It\'s too bad we know what happens to the quilts after they leave our posession. If we could just make it/quilt it, and give it to the organization thinking that they are going to do what is honorable and worthy of such a prized piece, then that would be great. Just like when we put $5 in the Salvation Army pot at Christmas or when we drop our tithe into the plate at church. We have given it in good faith that they are going to use it to bring honor or whatever. Then we have done the right thing....it\'s on their head if they turn around and do the wrong thing. In my heart I think that someday they will meet their maker and I want to be there to see how they talk their way out Another thing, maybe we volunteer just a bit too much. Some people think a whole cloth quilt is a once in a life time achievement - me included. And yet we do works of art like that and donate it. Maybe we should tone down a bit. Maybe we should offer to do a nice edge to edge - nothing too fancy - but enough to attract attention and make a few bucks for the organization. Maybe we are the problem in thinking that since we can do it, we are going to shine and really make that quit fantastic, and we are going to way, way too much trouble. Then when not enough tickets sell we feel like we were wronged. In my opinion do a dontation quilt here and there...but don\'t get carried away. They are taking advantage of you and you are letting them....Just say "No"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nineva Posted April 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 MB, you are right on. I am going to do one charity quilt per month from now on. I think a CQ E2E is just fine. I have chosen the organization I will work with. Since I have the luxury;);) of not doing customer quilts, it will not take away from anything for me to do this. It will make me feel like I am contributing to someone else\'s happiness. That said, I too have learned how to say "NO".:) Now, it has finally quit snowing at least for the moment. I can actually see blue sky interspersed with the clouds. Wahoo. Let\'s see is MQX only 19 days away? Nancy:D:D:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted April 22, 2008 Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 Nancy did you move away from Vancouver and are now permanently to Idaho? What? No more living between two homes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seakitten Posted April 22, 2008 Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 One advantage to living on an island is that we realy do get to see where the charity quilts go, and can have some control over this. A disadvantage, as noted above, is that we get to see where the auction quilts go. I have yet to have one sell for what it costs to make it, so now I just donate the cash. If these groups, worthy causes all, want to have "stuff" for their auctions, they will have to pay my price to get me to quilt it. A few do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted April 22, 2008 Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 Hi Nancy Jo, I can understand why you are upset about this situation. It is not so much that you resent doing the work--the resentment stems from the fact that in the middle of the process the "rules" were changed without you having a say. I always feel some degree of "ownership" with any charity work that I do--I feel good after doing my part, like to be acknowledged for my contribution, and want the recipient to be pleased. It sounds like you feel you are on the right track now after being burned by the church ladies! I would send a carefully-worded bill for your quilting along the lines of--" After cheerfully agreeing to quilt the top for charity I have become aware that the original recipient has changed. A raffle quilt does not meet my criteria for a charitable contribution no matter which deserving group receives the proceeds. Thus I am forwarding a bill for my charges for quilting the top. I hope you understand that being a major contributor to the finishing of the quilt allows me to make this decision. I will of course be willing to wait until the quilt is raffled before expecting payment." Too prissy? Or indignant? Who cares! You probably won\'t see any payment anyway--but the bill will make you feel better! Your generous nature and giving heart will be better put to use in the new direction you are going. Love ya! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smockingRN Posted April 22, 2008 Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 Hi Nancy, Thank you for the info on quilting for injured soldiers. I called and talked to Sue, a very sweet lady and she says they will send me some quilts to longarm! I am excited! I tried to contact QOV, but didn\'t hear back. Thanks, again, Karen in La. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SandraG Posted April 23, 2008 Report Share Posted April 23, 2008 I am doing American Heros too. I ask for 4. The quilts are beautiful and well pieced. I got a response right away. I can not wait to get started. My brother is retired Army and his son in active Army, both career. God Bless America!! Sandra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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