Hello She Quilts - yes, it is a like what we called "telegraph" or "telephone a woman". Your original post did not always show up and I'm sure there were those who were just answering without having seen it all.
Please don't take it personal - it was intersting to see the many replies. You brought a for-real problem out into the quilty world, and and most of us said we would do the right thing. However, if it were a friend and not just an acqauintance, I think we would be a little more flexible because we share other things and we kind of know the financial situation of our close friends.
It's really not our busineness what you do - but the question as thrown out was a good one.