Cindy B

I too have animal allergies. I have found pet owners are sometimes not real sympathetic. When I encounter an animal in a store or outdoors, I get more of it is your problem not mine so don't come here attitude.
My friends are very supportive and keep their animals at distance when I visit.

Peckish

Sometimes I'm amazed and flabbergasted at the rudeness and thoughtlessness of some pet owners. (Notice I said "SOME".) My husband and I were in Home Depot a while back, and a woman brought three dogs in. They were all on leashes. A male customer walked by with his dog on a leash. Two of the woman's three dogs were obviously not socialized and went nuts, barking and growling and lunging at this other dog. Even though I tried to avoid her dogs, they managed to entwine me in their leashes and trip me. I was furious at this woman's lack of ability to control her dogs, but she was completely oblivious and didn't even ask if I was okay.

MarionsQuilts

I am always amazed at the sense of entitlement that some pet owners have. I have a long-haired cat, a long coat german shepherd and an african grey parrot.

My cat and dog are never in my sewing room, but my parrot and I share the same room. So, yes, there is a parrot "feathers / dust" in the room, and I can pretty much guarantee that it will be on the fabric, quilt as I am sewing.

I would NEVER and I mean NEVER expect someone who has pet allergies to work on my quilt. Especially from my house! There is probably very little to no cat / dog fur on the quilt, but there is transfer from my clothing I'm sure.

I'm also a smoker. However, I only smoke outside, and I always wash my hands when I come back in. I don't like the smell of it on my hands LOL I have been smoking for 35+ years, and have not smoked in my home for at least the last 20 years.

It blows my mind to see / read about how rude some people can be and their completely unrealistic expectations - especially when you are donating your time!

Please, stand up for yourself - your health. Explain it nicely the first time, and if you have to repeat it a second time, tell them you're done. Your health is much more important than someone having a quilt completed for free.

Good luck!

MarionsQuilts

Peckish - I have a long coat german shepherd. I bring her into Rona because she loves the smells. She's not a "massive" dog (65 pounds), and she is VERY WELL behaved and EXCEPTIONALLY trained. (I invested many thousands of hours working with her!!!! She's a fabulous dog!)

She does NOT however tolerate obnoxious dogs in her face, regardless of size.

We were in Rona one day and we're just walking around looking (sniffing) and the staff are coming up to say hi, and pet her, and suddenly we come around the corner and there are three small dogs on those ever-loving flexi leashes. They went NUTS. Barking, snarling, snapping, growling.

I just pivoted real fast and walked the other way. They are now following us - pulling the owner towards us. I stopped, put my dog in a sit/stay, dropped the leash and walked up towards her and her dogs. I grabbed the three leashes in my hand, looked up at her and said - the by-law states 6-foot leash - not 18. Leash your dogs, or my dog will teach yours a lesson.

I walked back to my dog, called her to a heel, and we walked around the corner. Only when we turned the corner did I pick up her leash (yes, I admit, I was "bragging and showing off a bit!)

My point was this - I can control my 65-pound dog with ease, and you can't control 3 dogs under 10 pounds each? You should be ashamed of yourself.

Funnily enough, she was told to leave the store - when she tried to explain that her dogs didn't like big dogs, they said too bad - her dog is trained, and never makes a sound.

It was a "feel good" moment for me (I have to admit it), but I have worked VERY hard to have a fabulous, wonderful dog that I can bring anywhere, and be confident of her ability to just sit quietly and enjoy life!

Genden

Please don't feel guilty for not quilting quilt tops from homes with pets. Your plan to make your own quilts that you will donate is a worthy service. Many of us have allergies to something that we have to avoid if possible.

Sewnoma

I am very fortunate in that I don't seem to be allergic to anything, so I didn't really understand people with extreme allergies when I was younger. It can be hard to relate to, when you don't have those experiences. But I get it now - my husband is sensitive to a lot of artificial fragrances. He can't go down the cleaning products aisle at the grocery store, his face gets all blotchy and he starts sneezing and almost wheezing. His mom is the same, but worse - she pretty much can't handle ANY fragrances. When I first started coming to her home (been with hubs since high school) she kicked me out once because I had perfume on and it really hurt my feelings, simply because I didn't understand where she was coming from. I thought she didn't LIKE my perfume and was being mean to me, I didn't understand it made it hard for her to breathe!! Now we have a fantastic relationship, and I'm very careful to not even use hairspray if I'm going to be visiting her, and she had me buy special unscented deoderant that I think doesn't work for beans but it's all she can tolerate me to have on, so I deal with it. Small price to pay to visit with loved family members.

So if you find someone who's unsympathetic...don't take it personally. Most likely they just don't understand.

cathyvv

Like you, I could not work on quilts loaded with dog or cat hair. Are the quilts you are getting also starched? That doesn't help me with allergies.

The only suggestion I can make is to ask the QOV folks to have their quilt makers put a note on the quilt tops they make when they are donated. The note should simply specify "from a pet free home" or "Pets in home of maker".

Someone suggested that the quilt tops be tossed in the dryer with a damp towel to remove the pet hair and dander. I don't know if that would work, but it would reduce the problem. I use this method to remove loose threads that my quilts attract when I'm not looking.

As for justifying your long arm - you don't have to justify your long arm. If it gives you pleasure to use it, that's justification enough.

bearisgray

If I was allergic to pet hair and pet dander - why in the world would I toss anything with that in MY dryer?

cathyvv

You can wash a quilt top prior to quilting, but it's a huge pain for very little gain. Hair washes off, but is still in the water. Some of the hair might come off and not be re-deposited on the quilt top, but some might be. It will help with the dander, though. The dryer is less of a problem because of the filter. Ever accidentally washed a pair of jeans with a tissue in the pocket? Most of the tissue winds up in the filter.

I agree 100% with SVAL that it is a big no-no to wash someone elses quilt top before quilting it. God forbid if it came apart during washing or bleed all over the quilt. Plus, you have to press them when they come out of the dryer.

Sometimes I have asked the top maker if could I add a border to a charity quilt to make it a little bigger - almost all of my quilts go to kids in foster care - and that makes them last a little longer as the children grow up. I have 1/4 inch seamed around the edges if there are a lot of edge seams, too, because it prevents problems while quilting.

RedGarnet222

I totally understand what you are saying. I am allergic to cat and dog hair and dander. I have had to stop doing charity tops too. I am sad over it, but when your throat closes up and you can't breathe, that is life threatening. I went through weeks of cleaning out my sewing room afterwards. Now I just do my own charity tops and donate.