GingerK

I thought you might like to see this beautiful top. It took a bit more time than I expected, and I could open a candy shop with the amount of fudge in it, but it hangs straight and even, and will be going on the longarm tomorrow.

Thank you, for all your comments. We actually have a special guest coming to our one day retreat, who will be walking ALL of us through a skills building workshop.

tropit

Your problem reminds me of my introduction to a long-armer when I first moved here. I was tired of quilting on my domestic and thought I'd give her a try. I drove about 1 hour and 20 minutes to her studio and she didn't show up to our appointment. The next time, she was there, but she was really arrogant and rude. She looked at my quilt, folded into quarters and examined it to see if it was perfectly square. I think that it was about 1/4 inch off, maybe even less, but other than that, it was a very well-made quilt. At that point, I was not a beginner.

She then looked at the quilt with disgust and told me that she would not quilt it because it wasn't perfectly square. She did finally agree to quilt it and she did an OK job, but I never went back to her. I got the feeling that she was playing the "I'm local" card.

I know that you would never treat a customer that way, but it is food for thought. I think that she could have been a bit more tactful, or just said that she was booked up and couldn't do the work. She could have explained why a quilt has to be relatively square in order to fit it on the machine. In other words,she could be a kind and gentle educator.

toogie

The top looks good now and I hope it raises a lot of $$$ for your cause.
There is a lady in our group that has the patience of Job. She takes apart tops and re-sews them when things are a problem. It’s mostly from the same piecer. While it then ends up good for the longarmer, it doesn’t solve the problem with the one piecing. I feel if told in a way that’s not confrontational, not only would the piecer gain knowledge but the ‘Job’ wouldn’t have to spend time ripping and remaking.
I will give you two examples I experienced.
Negative example:
When I was asked to join my group there was a woman there that was rude to me, when I suggested an idea I thought was pretty. I can’t even remember what I suggested. She had been showing off a sampler quilt. Anyway her remark was something like Our veterans deserve better than that, my idea wasn’t good enough. We all have different taste and I was very embarrassed as she said it in front of the whole group and it was my first time there. I didn’t go back.
The lady Martha that ask me to join knows my niece. Martha ask my niece weeks later why I didn’t want to join. I told my niece to tell her I didn’t appreciate the remarks from that woman. If I wanted to be abused I could just stay home-lol So when Martha heard she told my niece to give them another try bc that woman hardly ever comes. Needless to say, I did go back and I have been a member of Bobbins and QOV since 2019.
Positive example:
I was very new when I made the panel quilts. One particular quilt had a very wide border. I measured and cut and it fit to my sides. However, I had cut width of fabric and when the longarmer tried to quilt it , the top had puckers, really was bad. However, when she bright it back to me in our group she ask me to come in another room as she had my quilt, quilted. She was very nice and showed me the problem puckers. She asked me how I had cut the borders. I told her I had measured the sides and cut the borders by width of fabric.
She very patiently explained that cutting the width of fabric has more ‘stretch’ than if I cut down the selvage length. Also, when I measure it is better to measure the center of the top and adjust my sides or top and bottom accordingly. That advice has helped me improve and hopefully made me a better piecer. It was given, not to embarrass me or not in a ‘better than you’ way. I did have to fix the puckers or pleats Lynn longarmed in the top, by taking tiny hand sewn stitches. It was a tedious job but the quilt was presentable.

Also, we have a very large binder of patterns for our QOV quilts. Most use from there. One lady used the same pattern so much that we all called the pattern her name instead of the pattern name-lol. She since then decided to branch out and make others.
Since making my first quilt I have been given free rein to make whatever I like. I appreciate that beyond measure. I have used a few of the binder patterns but mostly I either go by a picture I have seen online or I make up my own bc I don’t want to piece a quilt twice. I like a chance to improve or a challenge to try something different.
Martha was correct when she said the judge mental woman hardly ever comes. Secretly I am glad. I try not to let her remarks bother me but she has done several others negative things that I don’t like. I try to stay clear of people like that.
One instance, she brought her mom to our Christmas party. We were supposed to each make a gift. I made 2 runners. All the gifts were numbered. You were supposed to draw a number and get the corresponding number. Her mom and her got a gift. I did not bc ‘someone’ didn’t bring a gift. I guess no one noticed and I didn’t say anything. I didn’t ‘need’ a gift but it was just the gall of the gal. Another reason I have a dislike of the woman and I hate to feel that way about anyone. I need to work on ‘me’ whether she works on ‘herself’ or not. Enough said.
I do like my group and I do think most of them like me. I try to be a happy person and 3 or 4 of the older ones come to me for help. I don’t mind helping anyone but I feel unworthy as they have more years on me.
Well, I have rambled on and got off the main subject I guess. If you stayed to the end, bless you. Have a nice day! Toogie

tropit

Some people are just rude. Perhaps it's due to insecurity, or maybe they have something going on in their lives, sometimes it's just a nervous faux pas. I dunno.

GingerK

I really like my group. We are new and formed because of some distasteful confrontations in the last much larger local guild. And because none of us wanted to do the nighttime driving anymore--especially in winter. We are only 27 right now, and try to keep things pleasant and non-confrontational.

I worry about this lady. Her DH has significant mental medical issues and she has her own medical concerns. That is why I wanted to 'fix' her top instead of handing it back. I have another one from the same lady and it is well pieced. Her seams are bigger than I make mine but they are consistent so that is not a big deal.

No matter how long we have been quilting, I think there is always something else to learn.

Toogie, I love your QOV tops. They are always fresh and innovative. I hope your arm is healing well so that you can get back to creating.

petthefabric

Each circumstance is unique.
That quilt is very traditional and calls for the finish to be traditional.

In one of my mental clarity moments, a messed up quilt was appropriate. It's called "Words hurt more than sticks n stones".

cashs_mom

You are so nice, Tropit. I find people are rude for their own reasons. I don't really care what they are. There is no reason to be rude to people who have nothing to do with your "problems" and I don't have much patience with it. When people are randomly rude to me, I usually just move on or tell them what I think and then move on. I'm trying to just do the first.

tropit

Thanks. I'm not always nice, but I try.

Gemm

I don't have much to add but as I still feel I have so much to learn as a quilter I wanted to say how much I appreciated the responses in which people/guilds/groups provided opportunities for gentle feedback and support with skill building. I agree that the right thing to do in this particular instance is exactly what was done, but sometimes mistakes happen because the person just didn't know.

As an additional thought - I've had to do that tiny hand-stitched "tucks" fix and didn't enjoy it at all. I think it was Toogie who pointed out that borders cut WoF will do that but I've almost always cut my borders like that and it's only been an issue on one quilt. Is this likely because the fabric was exceptionally stretchy and most fabrics, if you handle them carefully, won't misbehave as much?

GingerK

Gemm, I also cut my borders WOF simply to save fabric. But I also run a staystitch all the way around the edge of my tops. I use my regular stitch length. It has two purposes--to keep those WOF borders from stretching too much and to lock in any seams that end on the edges of my tops. And yes, fabric with a looser weave does tend to have more stretch.

As a lomgarmer. there are several solutions for wavy borders, because everybody has to deal with them occasionally. There's gentle easing when the difference is small, misting and blow drying, or steaming with an iron when the difference is larger, or taking a tuck if absolutely necessary.

Just after I got my longarm, a friend handed me a bag of smallish donation tops. She is a wonderful longarmer for herself, friends, QOV and our guilds. She smiled and told me the bag contained my 'lessons' for the month. Each top had an issue of some sort. I had to figure out how to fix or camouflage or work through each one. I learned so much and will be forever grateful to her.