Originally Posted by
Nanoo
Fabulous quilting, and I agree that when one delivers a quilt top to the quilter, the responsibility for the piecing lies with the customer. I do not expect whoever quilts my quilts to spot and report any mistakes that I have made.
Most longarmers are also quilters (piecers). Those of us that are know and realize the love, time, and sometimes even a tiny little piece of our soul that goes into piecing a quilt top. The longarmers that have that connection to quilting will treat every top that comes into their studio with same reverence we treat our own tops. Or at least I would hope so. I know I do. Every top I get, I know I am getting something that someone really cared a lot about. They spent a long time selecting fabrics, preparing fabrics, deciding placement, cutting and sewing the ever elusive scant 1/4" seam allowance. They toiled and watched the top come together and I am sure they felt a great accomplishment when it was done. Often the top is a gift for someone extra special so I can practically feel the love oozing out of it. The maker is entrusting me with a part of them and I realize this. When I quilt a top they are paying for my services but they are also getting a little piece of me via my art, especially in a custom job. As Maniac said in a previous post, sometimes it takes a second pair of eyes to see a piecing mistake.
When someone is that close to the work and often emotionally vested into it and has looked at it for so long it is very easy to not spot a mistake. Sometimes the longarmer will spot it, sometimes not. But it is, in my opinion, awful to not at least question if the block that looks off is intentional or not. A call to the client can mean the difference of getting a lot of referrals and repeat business or a very unhappy client that will most likely share her or his displeasure with all their quilting friends. To not expect a LAQ to report a mistake is fine but I can bet you surely would appreciate the LAQ questioning something to make sure it is the way you intended prior to quilting. I am confident, whether you expected it or not, it would make a world of difference to YOU. Here are some posts about this exact scenario.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...t-t219675.html
http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...e-t270498.html
http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...d-t269452.html
http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...p-t269366.html