even though i preach- give it & don't look back...sometimes
07-14-2011, 06:45 PM
#151
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Elm City, N.C.
Posts: 484
I don't blame you either, I would just give the money donation. You would think the quilt would of sold for alot more making a big donation coming from you and making you feel really proud that you could help.
People just don't have any idea the work and time involved. So sorry!
People just don't have any idea the work and time involved. So sorry!
07-14-2011, 07:23 PM
#152
Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 294
Originally Posted by BettyJean
I have admired your quilts and feel some people just don't get what time, energy, and thought we put into making them. I made a crocheted ABC blanket for Relay for Life to auction off and the lady liked it so much she never put it in the auction. I was really p.o.'ed but there's nothing we could do? She asked me to do one the next year, I declined.
I believe that what she did is fraudulent conversion. You donated that blanket under specific terms. The person in charge diverted your donation to a different purpose than the terms you donated under.
It is one of those things where lots of people do it on a minor scale and a few people do it on a massive scale (charities whose "overhead" is 99% of the money they raise, etc).
As I said, you may very well not feel like taking any action and no one would blame you. What a thankless task it would be! But if you did take action, it could help curtail other such minor instances of fraud which end up siphoning lots of money away from charitable causes each year.
07-14-2011, 07:35 PM
#153
Super Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Beautiful Briery Mountain in WV
Posts: 2,551
Originally Posted by MsEithne
Originally Posted by thrums
When I first arrived in TN local churches auctioned quilts and they went for $500 or more. Times have changed. Either people don't have the money or they don't appreciate/recognize the value of handcrafted items.
When I was a child, my mother bought three quilts at silent auctions to benefit the Mennonite Aid society (we had friends who were Mennonites). I can't remember exactly what she paid but I know it was well over $100 per quilt, which was a lot more in the 1960s than it is now.
In the 1980s, that Mennonite Aid society stopped holding auctions for handmade items because people just weren't willing to bid fair prices for the items that were offered. They shifted to food sales (baked goods, jams, jellies, that sort of thing) and found it made more money.
Go figure.
07-14-2011, 07:40 PM
#154
Banned
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Enid, OK
Posts: 8,273
Originally Posted by Greenheron
Mennonite Relief still auctions quilts at their fundraiser in our area. They do well.
07-15-2011, 04:58 AM
#155
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: IL
Posts: 777
I've found that the quilts donated for fundraisers around here are rarely promoted and go for very low amounts and at the last fundraiser I went to nobody even bid on two donated quilts in the silent auction. When the organizers were cleaning up after the fundraiser, one of the men cleaning up said you might as well just toss those in the garbage and the other man said he couldn't do that, he'd just take them home and maybe his wife could figure something out to do with them. What outrage!!! I wish I would have thought quick enough to tell them I'd take them and even make a small donation for them.
A few months ago, a teacher at the school where I work was diagnosed with breast cancer (she's only 29) and was having both chemo and radiation treatment. I thought about donating to a fundraiser, but decided to make a quilt to give to her instead. I had all of her students and co-workers sign the quilt and presented it to her. The back of the quilt is my avatar. She loved it and has said many times how comforting it has been to her.
I think after reading your stories here, if the fundraiser is for a person who is very ill, I will make a quilt, but not for the fundraiser, it will be given to the person and then I will make a small donation to the fundraiser in cash. At least then I will know the quilt is being used to comfort someone.
A few months ago, a teacher at the school where I work was diagnosed with breast cancer (she's only 29) and was having both chemo and radiation treatment. I thought about donating to a fundraiser, but decided to make a quilt to give to her instead. I had all of her students and co-workers sign the quilt and presented it to her. The back of the quilt is my avatar. She loved it and has said many times how comforting it has been to her.
I think after reading your stories here, if the fundraiser is for a person who is very ill, I will make a quilt, but not for the fundraiser, it will be given to the person and then I will make a small donation to the fundraiser in cash. At least then I will know the quilt is being used to comfort someone.
07-15-2011, 06:31 AM
#156
Super Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: eastern Oklahoma
Posts: 1,873
Your heart and hands were in the right place. I agree, do not give them anymore quilts thou. Did they not have something called a reserve bid? No low bids are allowed . It hurts to give your time, knowledge,artistry and then be treated like that. You have a right to vent. Bless you.
07-15-2011, 08:51 AM
#157
Junior Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Crossville TN
Posts: 182
Our church that has this same issue will not make a min bid or allow raffles due that being too much like gambling. There needs to be at least a min but then they fear they won't get any bids. Go figure... Yep, give money or baked goods. They sell at our church for unbelievably high prices.
07-15-2011, 10:01 AM
#158
Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Bloomington, Indiana
Posts: 23
A nearby town, Nashville Indiana, had a small shop that used to sell American-made quilts for hundreds of $$. They were one-of-a-kind, hand or machine-made.
When I went there about 2 years ago, all the American quilts were gone and in its place were cheap Chinese-made quilts. The owner said that most consumers do not want to pay the high-price of American-made textiles, but would be willing to pay for the cheaper Chinese goods, even though it is visibly of lesser quality. (Large uneven stitchery, imprecise piecing, cheap backing).
The American public, now used to seeing Chinese and other imported quilts, blankets, comforters, which we can purchase for much less, will NEVER realize just what goes into a hand-made American quilt. In the back of our minds, we think "I can get this for $25 at Target/K-Mart" etc.
When I went there about 2 years ago, all the American quilts were gone and in its place were cheap Chinese-made quilts. The owner said that most consumers do not want to pay the high-price of American-made textiles, but would be willing to pay for the cheaper Chinese goods, even though it is visibly of lesser quality. (Large uneven stitchery, imprecise piecing, cheap backing).
The American public, now used to seeing Chinese and other imported quilts, blankets, comforters, which we can purchase for much less, will NEVER realize just what goes into a hand-made American quilt. In the back of our minds, we think "I can get this for $25 at Target/K-Mart" etc.
07-15-2011, 10:06 AM
#159
Super Member
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Illinois
Posts: 1,322
I am making one for our woman's group to raffle. I made it plain up front that they should be able to sell $700 of raffle tickets or I wasnt making it. There are 35 in the group and that means they each commit to selling or buying $20 worth of tickets. They will have a couple months to do it.
I am going to have it LA'd so I will have a couple hundred into it.
I am going to have it LA'd so I will have a couple hundred into it.
07-15-2011, 01:31 PM
#160
Power Poster
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Ohio
Posts: 17,068
Originally Posted by Loretta in Indiana
A nearby town, Nashville Indiana, had a small shop that used to sell American-made quilts for hundreds of $$. They were one-of-a-kind, hand or machine-made.
When I went there about 2 years ago, all the American quilts were gone and in its place were cheap Chinese-made quilts. The owner said that most consumers do not want to pay the high-price of American-made textiles, but would be willing to pay for the cheaper Chinese goods, even though it is visibly of lesser quality. (Large uneven stitchery, imprecise piecing, cheap backing).
The American public, now used to seeing Chinese and other imported quilts, blankets, comforters, which we can purchase for much less, will NEVER realize just what goes into a hand-made American quilt. In the back of our minds, we think "I can get this for $25 at Target/K-Mart" etc.
When I went there about 2 years ago, all the American quilts were gone and in its place were cheap Chinese-made quilts. The owner said that most consumers do not want to pay the high-price of American-made textiles, but would be willing to pay for the cheaper Chinese goods, even though it is visibly of lesser quality. (Large uneven stitchery, imprecise piecing, cheap backing).
The American public, now used to seeing Chinese and other imported quilts, blankets, comforters, which we can purchase for much less, will NEVER realize just what goes into a hand-made American quilt. In the back of our minds, we think "I can get this for $25 at Target/K-Mart" etc.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
babyfireo4
Pictures
14
10-13-2011 04:44 PM
Fab-ra-holic
General Chit-Chat (non-quilting talk)
42
06-22-2011 09:23 AM
