Wednesday, September 26, 2012

The quilt show entries that aren't

Do you remember my post about possibly entering a few of my quilts into a local guild's show as suggested by a quilty friend?

Well with every one's encouragement, I did just that, submitted 4 quilts for the show.

Me nervous? You betcha.

But alas it was not meant to be.

You see, I mailed my entry forms and my check and as of yesterday, still have not heard back at all. I never received in the mail the numbers that would have been attached to the backs of my quilts. I've tried calling the person that the entries were mailed to and she never calls me back. I have no email address for her so that contact option isn't actually an option.

The quilter that suggested I enter in the 1st place has tried to find out what is going on. I know she feels horrible about this. But I don't blame her at all. She did nothing wrong. The person that is in charge of receiving the entries is totally at fault here. It does blow my mind that the lady hasn't even had the common courtesy to return my phone calls.

The entries are supposed to be dropped off at the show site one week from today. I had decided that if I didn't hear anything back by the end of this past weekend, I would consider my quilts not in the show. To say that I am a bit disappointed is accurate. I was looking forward to seeing my quilts hanging for others to see and I was curious as to what the judges would have thought. I'm sure the suggestions to improve my craft would have been very helpful. At this point I'm still planning on going to the show and I hope to get to speak to both the guild's president and this lady who was receiving the entry forms.  Having a guild represented this way certainly isn't good at all.

Oh well. Lesson learned I guess, though I'm not exactly sure what sort of lesson that is for me. Yes I will enter a show again, at some point, and I hope that none of you ever go through this situation yourselves. It stinks!

Update: My quilty friend has actually forwarded this entire post onto all the important people in the guild including the person responsible for receiving the registrations. As soon as I hear something back from someone, I'll let you all know.

15 of you added your own colorful comments:

Vroomans' Quilts said...

I would certainly contact someone else involved with the show - guild, sponsor, etc..... Don't let it be overlooked - especially if you sent a check (and I don't care what the amount was).

beaquilter said...

is it a type of show where you just show up? where, once you've submitted your quilt entry you're IN, and they attach the numbers once they get them?

Rachel said...

I totally agree with Sharon on this. Contact another guild "official". I would add that if she is not returning phone calls, perhaps she is not taking care of other responsibilities and it would be really sad to get there and find out they had accepted your quilts!!

Michele said...

I'm definitely going to get to the bottom of this. The guild's officers need to be aware of this problem so that they can assure that it never happens to anyone else again. I can;t help but wonder how many others are still hanging not knowing like me.

Michele said...

No the entries had to be submitted in advance. My quilter friend got her quilt numbers a few weeks ago. I thought mine would show up a day or two later. Obviously they didn't.

Michele said...

That is what my quilter friend is trying to do for me. I don't have the contact info for any of the other guild officers. Plus she is a member of that guild.

Needled Mom said...

Like everyone else, I would try to contact someone else too. It is a real thrill to see your quilt hanging in a show. I hope it works out for you.

Annie said...

Has your check been cashed? I would think by now that SOMEONE from this guild (other than your friend) would have contacted you one way or another by now. It certainly doesn't sound like a guild I would want to be part of.

sew.darn.quilt said...

This really ;O( sucks! Thank goodness you weren't to the point of sending your quilts and never knowing what happened to them.
Someone is definitely NOT doing their job,and needs to be held accountable, maybe they have a reason but you would think another member would answer your quiries.
Best of luck. Keep us abreast of how this pans out.

Michele said...

My friend has actually forwarded this post onto the important people of the guild. It will be interesting to see what sort of response comes back.

Michele said...

I don't know if the check was cashed yet or not. And knowing what I know about other sorts of craft shows, many times the checks aren't even turned in until the end. Time will tell as to what I hear back.

Michele said...

That is just it....if my quilts weren't accepted for whatever reason I expected that I would have been made aware one way or another, by phone, by mail or by email. Hmmm.

Anita said...

I would definitely check on the status of your check to see if it was cashed. I was involved with a quilt show (what a nightmare) and we deposited our checks almost as soon as we received them from vendors or anyone. The quilt show chair person was horrible and didn't feel she needed to answer to anyone, so you may have a similar situation or your application/check may have never made it to the person. I've only had items lost/missent a few times in the hundreds of times i've done things but this could be your "one time". Good luck and don't be discouraged from entering again somewhere else :)

Kathy said...

Michele that bites...I would definitey call the bank and put a stop on the check. I know it costs some money but you will never get your money back from someone who treats people like that. just a thought

Kathy said...

PS...by the way I LOVE the new header. The colors all look so fresh with the white background. Great job!!!