Originally Posted by janRN
BrushandThimble: I wasn't questioning the integrity of the quilters. I recently read an article about a "rift" in the group of quilters regarding money. I guess that happens in a lot of families when large sums of money is involved.
I repeat, I really admire the women and they used what they had and thankfully made a living out of it. My real question is who "owns" the rights to these kits? Who came up with the idea to package their quilting style but make it more in line with what others see as "real" quilting (not MY definition)? I agree that they, and our grandmothers, used what they had and would never be having the debate about Walmart vs. LQS fabrics as is going on on another thread here.
Thanks for continuing this thread and your thoughtful responses.
Jan, the day after I wrote my response, I spoke to the two ladies manning the booth. They both are within the group that "founded" Gee's Bend. They explained to me that the money from the quilts goes back into the community (Gee's Bend is in Alabama). A person connected with some of the members and convinced them that they would get more by working through that person. That person is the one who profits from the kits (this person is from Atlanta ...Georgia...get it?). I guess the women who moved in that person's direction were flattered and that is where the difficulty came in. The original group, still working with whatever is available is GeesBend.net. I hope this clarifies what went on...at least according to the ladies I spoke to. They informed me that they were the family...mom, daughters, aunties, etc. that began the movement. They were very calm in telling me about it, and were probably more hurt that the original idea had taken a partial turn to kits.