Friday, February 27, 2009

What is Your Experience?

I sent 2 quilts off to Dallas yesterday for the show in a couple of weeks. One quilt had a crease right down the middle from when it was returned from the last show it was in. Last year I entered quite a few shows and I have been really surprised and disappointed with the condition of some of my quilts when they get returned. I send most of my larger quilts rolled in a tube container and the smaller ones in a flat box. Since they usually have quilt a few embellishments they really don't fold very well. I have gotten them back several times just shoved and squished in the boxes with ugly creases to deal with.

I understand that taking down the quilts and repacking them to send, must be one of the worst parts of a show since it is over and all the excitement is done. Now I am not saying that this happens every time but enough to bother me. For the last show I entered last year I sent a note included with the quilts with specific packing instructions and one of the quilts came back folded when I specifically said do not fold. Maybe I am expecting too much but I have been a little spoiled by the return packaging from Houston where they really handle the quilts with care. Has anyone had any similar experiences? Could it be the packaging?

1 comment:

Vivien Zepf said...

Unfortunately, I have had similar experiences. I think one way to help mitigate this is to send a return envelope with smaller work that has "Do Not Bend" or "Fragile" stamped all over it. That way, at least, the mailman won't shove it into the back of your mailbox. (That's what happened once to me with a quilt that was 24 x 24. You can imagine the creases in that piece!)