If your LAer sees something "odd" -
 

This is a spin-off from this thread:

http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...p-t269366.html

If you sent a top to a long-armer and then he/she spots something that seems to be an anomaly/mistake - or the borders are extremely wavy - or there is a bulge in the center - or something that "some" people might think should/could be changed -

What would you want the LAer to do?

1) Call you and ask you about it?

(and risk getting yelled at for being a member of the quilt police)
(How the question is phrased does matter - - - - )

2) Just go ahead and quilt it and assume that what was sent was intended?

3) To go ahead and "fix" it without asking you?


(My choice would be #1 - but I have run across people that do not like to be questioned)

I myself have never used a LAer. I quilt on my DM. But if I ever did send something out I would appreciate being called and asked about it. Like what happened the previous thread, sometimes things you don't intend just slip through the crack

I would want to know. My cousin is a long armer. I sent her a message about same post. She has had anomalies/mistakes in some of the quilts sent to her. She calls them outsiders. She usually takes a photo and sends by text for a quick response. They usually ask if she can fix it and thank her for it. after having done this for quite awhile she knows her customers and friends. She states she never takes it for granted. like the saying goes "If in doubt, check it out." Most definitely if a new customer and then always for the regulars. I would want to know. Nothing wrong with fresh eyes and quilt police don't fall in this catergory. That's a whole new breed. And you want your money's worth!!

if anyone noticed a mistake, i'd love to have it pointed out to me. even if the quilt is finished, i'd have to fix it... just the way i like to do things

I tend to see mistakes from a distance more than up close. Depending on the person, I will mention it. Some would prefer to fix a boo boo. Others are more casual quilters and accept these as human imperfections or as I prefer to call them , personality traits of the quilt

I would definitely want to know. I would so appreciate a call or email so I could decide before it was quilted. Sure, my quilts have imperfections, but I would like to fix as many as possible.

I would definitely want to know. It's much easier to fix BEFORE it's quilted.

I would be mad if she is #3. I would be okay with #2. I would prefer #1 (I love the off-beat & really, even if I made a boo-boo, I'm not sure I'd pull my entire quilt top apart to "fix" it).

But that's my opinion as someone who hasn't used a LA'er yet. I guess if I used one on a regular basis, I would hope she would get to know my work.

Either way, I'd be nervous to yell at a LA'er I planned to use again. As it is, I got upset with an EXTREMELY rude embroiderer who messed up a clearly labeled job (I even labeled the fabric itself with what I wanted) & then tried to put the blame on me ... and after I've sent him several customers over the past year. Now I'm scared to go pick-up the re-do. Who knows what it will look like?!

Now, wavy borders or bulges or something that cannot be quilted out, I would expect the LA'er to bring up when I brought the quilt to her. If for some reason she didn't, I would want an apology & a call letting me know that these issues would affect the final results of the quilting & did I still want her to go ahead and quilt it, doing the best she could to highlight my work with her quilting.

Okay, I am not a LAer, nor have I sent a quilt out to be done, BUT in my perhaps objectionable opinion, does this not fall under the old adage of Customer service?
If I do something for someone and get paid to do so, then it is my responsibility to do the best I can every time I do it. If I saw a mistake BEFORE I started quilting, then would it not be good customer service to phone and ask the person if this was part of the quilt, would they like to have it back to repair/fix it or would they like me to go ahead and do the job as planned. I make enough mistakes on my own, and I am one of those who will re-do until I am happy. To have it quilted over without a question asked, would not make me a repeat customer.
Also, as I understand it from being a member of this board, many of the LA quilters that are good, are so busy that it takes a while to get on their schedule as well as get your item back. I understand busy schedules, but I would believe that you could move one quilt forward while the other one is being repaired, and then slip the repaired quilt in where the other quilt was scheduled.???

Happy quilting,
Susan

Perhaps the LA should let the quilter know that he/she will call if there is something that appears out of place on the quilt.

I don't think any LA should 'fix' a quilt for a client. See the first paragraph.

As a former longarmer (for business).....I'd have called and asked her if she meant to have an oddball block. I sent a picture of one quilt's problem to a customer one time and asked what to do. She got mad and said it was fine, to work with it. THEN later she put me down to others because of HER error. LOL Joke was on her, my friends she complained to KNEW I'd called her before hand. I would NEVER have "fixed" a block like the problem one. Who knows why, but some quilters DO do odd things. :)

I volunteered to quilt a queen top that my sister made (started 20 years ago first and only quilt). I made sure she understood that I wasn't a professional quilter (domestic machine, never for money) and this would not be a perfect quilt job but it would be better than tying. She was pretty easy going about it. I motivated her to finish the top. While I was pinning the layers I noticed a bunch of little tucks. I decided not to even mention it to her. I'm in CA, she's in FLA. She understood this was not going to be a perfect quilting and I'm not sure she'd even notice them. I'm not sure I'll notice them when it's all done. I'm so glad I don't do this professionally.

It appears you are all saying the LA noticed the mistake. Sometimes this may not be the case in which case they will quilt not knowing there is a problem, and quilt it without realising any faults.

the quilt when it goes to the La should be checked by maker thoroughly.
The La can check and look over when delivered. If at this stage they should make a quick call
if La doesn't see. Mistake it is not their fault it is quilted over.

Good working relations need exist.

IF the LAer sees the mistake, I'd prefer #1. I'd consider it a courtesy call....

After all, if I looked it over several times and still missed the mistake, why should the LAer take the responsibility of finding it?

I would like for the LA to give me a call if she finds a mistake or something I've over looked.

Quilters know what they create. Calling a client to tell them they have subpar piecing skills that result in in a humped middle and wavy borders? No.

If it is a piecing mistake--a block turned the wrong way or something similar--a fresh pair of eyes will often catch what another pair of eyes has stared at for months. Yes I would definitely want to know and Iwould want to be the one to fix the problem. I would never ask my LA'er to do that.

If it is a case of a humped middle or borders so wavy that it is going to affect the total outcome--yes again I would want to know so that I can make the decision whether to still spend all that money for a sub-par outcome.

As for the LA'er just going ahead and fixing the problem and then telling me or not saying anything at all--absolutely not!!That would be insulting me!!

If that is the way it is told to the customer
Then the LA shouldn't be in business. Letting the customer
know there may be a problem and asking permission
to do the best with the problem is being professional.

A couple of years ago I began long arming for a sewing buddy. I had done several of her quilts with no problem. On this one particular quilt when I got to the end, the bottom border was way too long. I removed it and took out the extra; thankfully it was the last border put on and not a side. I later did ask her how she 'measured' for her borders and suggested she measure through the center of the quilt method - which she wasn't doing. She was grateful for the suggestion and her quilt borders have been better since then. I was leery of bringing it up as I didn't want to feel like I was being critical of her work or knew more then she did (I don't -I'm always learning too,but she was grateful for the help. She makes gorgeous quilts.

I would want to know, then it is up to me to fix or ride that horse at 20 miles per hour durring a thunderstorm!!

If I sent a masterpiece to a LA and they saw a mistake, I would definitely want to know. (They are the only ones I can imagine sending to a LA.)

I would NOT want them to fix it. I would want to do it myself.

I took a two sided quilt to a longarmer and I got a phone message saying they wouldn't do it..to many seams. When I called back I talked to a diff lady and she said she would give it a go if I ok'd it. It turned out beautiful! I did appreciate the call and heads up just in case it didn't turn out..it was my choice!

I'm getting ready to start a longarming business, having been quilting for myself and friends for years, so this discussion is helpful to me.

The longarmers that I've known have developed working relationships with most of their customers. They know if the customer is a new quilter and offer encouragement, along with tips on how to avoid problems in the future. They also know that the quilts from some customers will always have wavy borders, or be poorly pressed, and that previous advice has not solved the problem, so they do the best job they can, just as the customer did her best. Almost all longarmers are quilters too, so they do understand that few quilt tops reach perfection, and they do their best to correct any problems that can be corrected with the quilting.

However these days it seems that many quilts are sent by mail to longarmers who may live in different parts of the country and who have never met their clients. The personal relationship can still be developed over time, but it's not as easy to give a quilt back to a customer to fix if it needs to be mailed both ways. Also it's harder to judge whether a customer would be offended by being asked (in the nicest possible way) whether they want to fix their wavy borders, or instructed in how to do so in the future. I do think the longarmer needs to notify the customer if she doesn't think she can achieve a good result with the quilt. I don't think she should undertake repair without permission.

When I start to work on a quilt top, I do examine the top and back in some ways. I measure all 4 sides, look at the pressing, look for open seams or loose threads, etc. These are just things that affect my ability to complete the quilting. This discussion has made it clear that it would also be a good idea to look at the top as a whole, trying to spot errors in orientation of the blocks, or fabrics clearly wrong side up, etc. While I don't really think this is the longarmer's primary responsibility, it is something that would benefit the customer. However, even if I try to spot construction errors of this type, it is possible that I would overlook them, just as the piecer did, especially in a complicated piece where small mistakes are not as obvious, and probably not as important.

I always called and tried my best to explain the client's options. it is a difficult situation to find yourself in.

There are ways of phrasing things that MIGHT go better than others -

Examples -

"I noticed that one of your blocks is turned differently than the rest of them - was that a design choice?"

comes across a bit differently than "You screwed up one of your blocks - how could you have missed that?"

"If you take out some of the fullness in the borders, I can do a better job of quilting them and it will look nicer" as compared to "For crying out loud - these borders are about 15 inches too long for the center out of this quilt and it will be difficult to try to get it to look decent."

I don't have any great ideas for volcanoes and pleats in the middle of the quilt.

The mailing of quilts back and forth is expensive - and to a certain extent, risky. I don't know the "best" answer - but it it was a conspicuous error/difference that jumped out at one - I would want to know - and it might be worth it to me to pay the extra shipping back and forth - or ask the LAer to fix it if he/she was willing (and I would expect to pay extra for the work).

I would never expect my LA'r to do a repair without consulting me first. I would however, hope that she/he would call and ask if a block appears to be turned the wrong way. I am sure that if the LA'r is busy, she may overlook an error the same way that I overlooked it, but if I were the LA'r, I would call, and risk being accused of being among the quilt police.

thanks for starting this thread. I do long arm for others and have to say I've found that it's best to look at the quilt with the piecer to see what may be challenges in the quilting--i.e. she wants lots of stitch in the ditch (which is NOT a long arm favorite and many charge extra for that--use your domestic machine if that is what you want cause it works better) but the seam pressing would no allow this. Or there are obvious waving borders even before I get it on the frame, or seams that aren't closed, etc. Obviously, this works with local customers. Then we decide together what he/she wants to do. But I'm looking to increase my clientele with via social media and that may mean more quilts in the mail, so this thread has me thinking about the way to handle this.
That being said, I do think we need to remember in the original post the quilting was a panto which if it wasn't computer/robotic guided, then the quilter was standing at the back of the machine and looking down at the panto and likely did not see the mistake.

I longarm and I would definitely tell the customer if something wasn't right...I had a lady send me one by mail and the borders were very wavy ...it was going to be hard to make it square...I called her and she said to go ahead and quilt as it...she was a very picky customer and I didn't want to be at fault if the job didn't come out right...I had to pull the top and stretch it more than I wanted and this caused some boarding on the back...I was happy I had advised her ...

As the person providing the quilt I would want to be consulted (in a straightforward, but not insulting manner).

As the longarmer I would expect to consult the customer before doing anything (or as soon as the difficulty is noticed, if partway through)

I don't think it is reasonable to expect a longarmer to catch/notice/fix any and all mistakes/oddball design moments - they are being engaged to quilt the thing, not evaluate/improve it. Some things are so bad that it can make the quilting impossible to do (e.g. monster wavy borders) others are easily quiltable (e.g. a reversed block) and may not be that noticeable (to anyone - the longarmer is human too). I haven't read the post that inspired this one, so don't know what the original issue was, but there are *many* different things that can come up - and they are all at various points on the 'noticeability' scale.

Of course there are always going to be people who will complain regardless of what you do. Anyone who has ever had a job dealing with the general public knows that!! ;)

Just had this happen to me. I had turned one bearpaw corner the wrong way and didn't notice it. I wish she had called me and I would have fixed it, instead she quilted it and sent it back to me.

I am a longarmer. In a ideal situation, when you take your quilt to a longarmer. The longarmer should look the quilt over before the customer leaves the quilt with you. If the borders are wavy, the customer has a choice to either fix them or pay the longarmer to fix them, wavy borders cannot be quilted out. If there are seams that have been missed same thing. I would hope there is a good relationship between the customer and longarmer. As a longarmer you never want to make the customer feel like their work is bad. If we didn't have quilters we would not have any business. Hopefully it can be a learning experience. I am just one longarmer, but in the quild that I belong to we usually all agree that things that make work for the longarmer and are not going to make the customer happy should be discussed with the customer.

I agree. Communication is key.