Need some advice.
 

I am a new quilter and inexperienced when it comes to quilting designs. I took my second quilt that I made to a lady who does long arm quilting. I made "The Underground Railroad" quilt and was so happy with my piecing! The colors are beautiful and I am just so tickled with the quilt. It took me almost 5 months to get the quilt back. Being inexperienced I thought the quilt looked very nice. She did a different design in each block and then meandered around the borders. When I took my quilt to the quilt guild that I joined they all agreed that she should have quilted in the sashing that was around each block. She did nothing in any of the sashing. The meandering in the border on one side is probably a good two to 3 inches from the edge compared to the other 3 sides and she has 2 big blurps (folds) in the backing where it was not pulled tight. I was charged $300.00. They just about died when I told them this, said it was way to much. They told me I should not say anything to her. I am just sick. Is it a no no to talk to her about this. She has a beautiful quilt shop that I have bought a lot of fabric from.

If I were her, I would rather have you come talk to me if you are dissatisfied, rather than have everyone talking about it, and not know...It must be heartbreaking to do all that beautiful work and not be happy with the end result. Perhaps you can get referrals from the board for a quilter for future projects..I don't have any as I hand quilt all my work..Good Luck

If you are not happy with the quilting, I would definitely take the quilt back to the longarm business and show her the 'blurps', etc. Mistakes do happen, however, it should not be the customers responsibility to pay good money for them. Just my 2 cents.

How sad to do so much work and not have it quilted right. I agree go speak to her, all of my quilts are quilted edge to edge I have never had it any other way as for the price yes it was high.

That seems a high price even if she had done a good job. I would certainly take it back. Maybe one of her employees did the actual quilting and she isn't aware of the mess.

I have had only one quilt done by a LA because the price is so high. Even though the one I took only cost $150 that is a lot to me, especially as I make a lot of quilts. Also, the one I took came back even worse than yours and I think it was pieced just fine. I started FMQing my quilts. I figured if it was going to look like an amature quilted it I may as well do it myself. I certainly don't do work like Charisma (on this Board) for instance, but I do fine for my quilts. I have several designs I can do pretty well and work okay on my quilts.

Take the quilt in to show her your concerns. Not sure on pricing since you don't say what size it is. You should expect between a penny to three cents per inch depending on the detail in the quilting. Good luck.

I don't understand you stated you liked the finished product to begin with. That to me is a high price but you agreed to it. On second thought if you decided you are unhappy talk to her

I am a quilter and you should say something.Maybe she did not see the blurps-but she needs to know.$300 is a lot of money.

That's sounds like a very high price for the type of work done, even if it were perfect. I think you should bring it back and discuss your concerns. Definitely get references for next time, and be sure to carefully look over your completed quilt before paying in the future.

Based on what you are saying she must have done what is known as "Custom" quilting (3-5 cents per sq in) rather than "All Over" (about 1.5 cents per square in where I am). I do think that I would take it back in and explain that you are a new quilter and that you were so excited that you didn't see the areas that you feel are not acceptable. I would think that she would either offer to fix them or give you a discount. In the future be sure to ask what your options are in regards to quilting and the prices. I really feel that most of the time an all over is fine for most quilts

If it was me, I would take it in and show what you feel is wrong with the quilt...hopefully it will get fixed to your satisfaction. You paid a lot of money, and you should be happy with the work that was done on the quilt.

Absolutely take it back and give her the opportunity to fix it! You paid her very well and you have every right to expect that there be no "blurps" on the back, no any other issues. If she doesn't want to fix it, then ask for your money back and take it to someone else. For future reference - decide exactly what you want and make sure it is in writing. Unless you can absolutely trust a quilters creative sense to "make it pretty", you will have to be specific. Definitely discuss price - it sounds like you were overcharged, but without knowing quilt size it's a difficult call.

You don't mention if anything besides the quilting was provided for that price. Did it include batting or backing? You also don't mention the size of the quilt. $300 would be custom quilting price on a fairly large size quilt. There are many, many UGR patterns out there so we have no way of knowing. So I can't say if that price is out of line or not. It certainly sounds high if you provided everything even if the quilt was as large as 96 x 106 (rough guesstimate based on .03 per s/i).

However, the wrinkles on the backing and large disparity between the quilting in the borders should be brought to her attention. I am surprised the ladies at the guild said to say nothing. I would definitely want to know if a customer was not satisfied with one of my jobs! I would think some form of compensation is in order. But only YOU can determine what is fair. Remember, when you speak to the LQS owner that when you first saw the completed quilt you were happy with it, it was only when others pointed out the mistakes that you became dissatisfied.

I think you should talk to her. That is a lot of money for a job that is not done right!!!

I do longarm quilting and it is very easy to miss something that needs re-done or is incomplete. If it were me, I would definitely want you to bring it to my attention. In fact, I ask all my customers to look their quilts over carefully and please let me know if they find something I may have missed. I also have their quilt hanging up for them to see when they come to pick it up, just so they can see the entire front and back easily, before I bag the quilt. Please do talk to her about your concerns. I am sure she will want you to be happy and in the end you will both be happier. Right now you are not happy, and she is unaware.

Big folds in the backing are not acceptable, and these should be brought to the quilter's attention. Quilting in the sashing could be looked at as a design decision. I prefer to quilt in the sashing unless it is very narrow and the blocks are outlined, in which case it looks okay unquilted. Borders should be evenly quilted all around. I think you should take the quilt back in, explain your concerns, and see what the quilter has to say. I agree that she may have had someone else do the quilting, but she is still the one responsible for the work.

I don't understand why anyone would tell you not to say anything to her. She is in a business, and needs to know when there are problems with that business. Now that other ladies in the guild have seen your quilt, they will be less likely to take their quilts to her - unless they know that she has fixed the problem.

I think you should take it to her and explain to her just like you did here in your post. Give her the chance to make things right, but if she doesn't, just don't ever use her again. If I were doing a job and knew that several people thought it wasn't up to par, I'd want to know because bad word of mouth is a definite business killer. And you of course have a right to the kind of job you paid for (BTW, that does sound rather high if was only for the quilting).

We have a shop here that does beautiful work and she charges 80.00 full, 100.00 queen and 150.00 king. $300.00 sounds really high to me. Maybe it is location?

I sent a huge Queen quilt to Charisma on this board. With shipping both ways (IL to WA & back) and her furnishing the batting and sewing the binding to the front on her machine it was nowhere near that much. And she did a wonderful, beautiful job!

I had a king and sent it out to be quilted. I didn't ask for a custom job, but the gal did it and charged me $280. It looked beautiful but I was in total shock by the price. Now I'm very careful when deciding what I want my quilts to look like. I've never had a bad experience with the outcome of a LAQ. I'm always pleased. But if someone pointed out the mistakes that were made, I would go back in and explain that you didn't notice it at first. I bet she will be very kind and fix it immediately for you. Don't be afraid. She wants you to be happy and use her again and spread good words about her work. So let her fix the quilt for you.

I'm just wondering if the ladies in your quild are friends of hers?

I have had large quilts, queen size, custom quilted and I never paid $300.00. I think that is way to high.

Why on earth would you NOT talk to her about it? Unless she is the only quilt shop within a hundred miles and you're afraid she won't let you back in. But as a customer you have a right to express your concerns. Remember, one unhappy customer can mean a great deal to any business. Look how many of us you have told about this, though not mentioning the name of the shop. If she is a decent person, she will want to make you happy.

Thanks so much for your advice ladies.

I have already contacted her per the majority of suggestions. She said there is nothing she can do about the two folds in the back and she is going to try and run another line of meandering on the one side that is lacking. She said that she feels she can make this look OK without others noticing unless I bring it to their attention which I certainly would not be doing. She is going to do stitching in the sashing after I told her I really would prefer this. She is not going to charge me for this. Some of you ladies were asking what size my quilt is, it is a queen. When I first left my quilt with her I did ask what she would charge but she could not give me a price as she said she wanted to do something special in each block. The ladies in the guild said this was not specialized quilting. Like I said, I am new at this and have no idea. They really feel that I was taken advantage of. Well, live and learn.

I really appreciate all the advice you gave.

I say gently that it doesn't make sense to complain to the wrong people. One needs to calmly explain the problem/dissatisfaction to the person who did the work and see what sort of outcome can be achieved. Otherwise, you are going to be unhappy for a longer time than you should be. People can't improve their game if it is not pointed out. I encourage you to have enough courage to go to the lady and speak plainly. All the best with the exercise.

i would definitly go back & talk to her- and show her the oopsies---
then i would start (shopping around) for a different quilter-
look at other's work & do some comparison price checking-
i paid over $300 to have a quilt quilted once- but it was HUGE! as in 120" x 135"....and he did an amazing, amazing job- he is a quilter who has won prizes at International Quilt Show in Houston---so i was prepared to pay the price- but i've never seen anyone else charge so much on a (local) basis- your avatar does not give us any hints as to where you are- and location does matter- but i'm sure you can find someone you would be happy with who would charge 1/2 that- or less-
but do contact the quilter & show her what you are unhappy with & talk to her- she needs to know you are unhappy-just try to not be----'confrontational-emotional' about it

mommabear, you were definitely taken advantage of. I longarm for others & I wouldn't charge that much for what you say was done to this quilt. When you took it back, what she is doing to fix it may be acceptable to her, but not to others. I agree, shop around, ask others who to take your tops to in the future. This LAer is not doing right.

OUCH $300 is difenently high. That being said talk to her and ask that the blurps be taken out and redone. It can be done, I've done it myself. Riped out all of my first quilt on my long arm, thank heaven it was my own quilt!

My sentiments exactly! Well written jtkaau

Should take her the quilt, tell her how much you love to shop there, but express your concerns/disappointment over the end result and tell her what you would like done to fix it. Then once all issues are resolved, just dont let her quilt anything else and chalk up the inflated price she charged to a learning experience. That way you can still get your fabrics there if you feel her prices on the fabric are fair.

I am concerned about her not giving you an estimate because she wanted to do custom quilting in each block. That alone sounds fishy to me. I have my own longarm and though I am far from being good - I do my own qults. One tme I sent a quilt (queen size) to be quilted and the longarm quilter went through the whole quilt with me - first showed me some of his previous quilts and how they were quilted -then we used some of those ideas to incorporate into my quilt. After that he told me how much it would be according to what I asked for - it was around $ 150.00 for a custom quilt - also we signed a contract spelling out what would be done and how much - there were no surprises - I feel bad that you were taken advantage of - it really doesn't speak well about that person not being up front about the fees and then not wanting to fix the "burps" - that being said - I hope that your quilt is beautiful and you will enjoy it - I thnk this is a lesson that we all need to learn about getting things in writing and being clear about what is expected. Hope all is well.

Mommabear, thanks so much for letting us know the outcome but a few comments I would like to add, just so you are more well informed...

1. Regarding the folds/pleats in the back and what the LA told you (nothing can be done).... I call BS!! It can be fixed. It is a royal pain in the butt as it involves ripping out all the quilting that has been done and re-doing. No LA-er wants to do this, it is a lot of work, so we go to great pains to avoid it from happening in the first place. She should have offered monatary compensation in the form of a partial refund or discounted future quilting. So strike one against this LAQ

2. Trying to run another meander down the side to "make it look" ok?!?! Strike Two!!

3. She could not give you a price up front?!?! STRIKE THREE!! Do not use this LAQ again! There are waaaaaay too many really good, honest reputable LAQ out there that you can send your quilts to that WILL give you an up front price for custom quilting (different design in every block) and stick to it even if they put more work into it than quoted (I have done this myself!). There are also LAQ that you can say I want quilting in the .02 per s/i price range, show me samples of what you can do in that price range and they can and will so you won't have a surprise bill to pay.

The comments of the ladies in your guild is subjective. In THEIR opinion it was not specialized. Actually any quilting that is not an all over panto-graph or end to end repetitive design (like an all over meander, cross hatch, baptist fan or any other number of design repeated over the entire quilt with no regard to the piecing) is considered custom quilting. The quilting was customized to that specific quilt. Even if it was just SID that outlines your piecing or different stencils designs in each block, it would be considered custom. There are varying degrees of custom. I have no idea what their idea of "specialized" is unless they are thinking of Trapunto or some other labor intensive technique.

TAKE IT BACK! Ask her to quilt in the sashings (No problem adding here) and try to fix the fold issue. I have seen my LQ take out stitches and fold areas of quilts...it can be done.
Diana in TX

$300 is a lot of money esp. for quilting that doesn't meet your expectations. I would definitely talk to the LA quilter.

As I'm retired and make quite a few quilts, I cannot afford to pay a LA quilter to do each quilt. So I do my own quilting on my Bernina -- works well but is a challenge on large quilts. I have two king size quilts ready for quilting that will be nearly impossible to do on the Bernina. So in June I'm taking LA certification classes at two of the LQS. Then I can rent time on their LA machines to do the larger quilts. I'm hoping that will work out well.

Take the quilt back to her and show her. $300 is a lot of money to pay for something that you are not happy with.

Anita in Northfield, MN

If you don't think you could recommend her to another quilter with a clear conscience then I agree with the rest...go and speak to her about your concerns. If she's any kind of good business woman she'll make it right. After all, she is really after your return business.

I do LA quilting as a business and would want to know if my customer is not happy. For starters...there should be no burps on the back, that is not getting the back loaded on the quilt frame correctly. The quilting should be evenly spaced over the rest so that it lays nicely. You really do need to talk to her, have her fix it or if you're willing to live with it as is, she needs to give you a large discount. The amount you spent was a little on the high side for the amount of quilting and mistakes. JMHO

I would hope that it was just an over sight on the LA's part, I would hate to think that you were taken advantage of because you didn't know what to expect...take it back

You paid high end for your quilt to be done. So sorry you didn't get what you paid for. I definitely would mention it to the lady in private and in a calm manner explaining how disappointed you were. Doesn't sound like a professional job.