Hell Hath No Fury Like a Quilter Scorned

I am angry.

Seldom in my quilting world do I get mad, but right now, I am furious. 

Let me explain.  There is this quilt artist that I follow on Facebook named Esther Aliu.  She is an applique quilter extraordinaire.  Her works are beautifully breathtaking and she explains them so well.  And she is extremely generous.  She will work out a quilt pattern and then offer it free as a block of the month for a year.  One of the highlights of my month is the notice on Facebook that announces when the next part of the pattern is up and available for download.  After the BOM is over, she offers the pattern at an extremely reasonable price, available for download.

I’ve never met this woman, but I hope to one day.  I would love just to sit and listen to her talk about her applique.

A couple of years ago, she offered one particular pattern as a BOM that was exceptionally splendid.  No, splendid is not the right word – breathtaking, awe-inspiring, tremendous…all of those adjectives and then some.  This quilt was called Love Intertwined.

If you regularly read my blog, you know I mentioned this quilt a couple of weeks ago as one of the reproduced quilts that quite a few folks are working on.  I faithfully downloaded the pattern parts each month and am currently collecting fabrics to make the quilt.  This pattern took a huge amount of hard work on Ms. Aliu’s part.  The quilt is not based on a previous pattern, but on the actual quilt itself.  The quilt is privately owned, so that means she had to make appointments with the owners to sketch the quilt blocks, take pictures,  and then return to her studio to work out the dimensions, techniques, and the instructions for the pattern.

I cannot begin to imagine the hours she put into this quilt. 

And I cannot imagine “borrowing” any part of this pattern without giving her credit.

But someone has. 

From what I can gather, Ms. Aliu began receiving emails from some of folks that are in her Love Intertwined BOM group.  The emails told her that another quilter was offering the same pattern as Love Intertwined for sale on another website.  The “pattern designer” gave no  credit to Esther Aliu and certainly gave her no percentage of sales.  Instead this “designer” took the credit for the work, all the while stating that yes, the quilt was similar to Love Intertwined, but not really.  The ”designer” had done all the work herself.

Oh really?

Some years ago, I taught high school.  And my students were required to turn in research papers as part of their class experience.  Any student that blatantly plagiarized was instantly awarded a big, fat, red F.  

Do you remember what plagiarism is?  It’s “borrowing” an idea, statement, quote, etc., without giving credit to the author.   “In short,” I would always explain to my students, “it’s stealing.”

So that’s what has me so angry today.  Someone has blatantly stolen from Esther Aliu.  Yes, Esther Aliu used an antique quilt as the basis for the pattern, but the difference here is she had permission from the owners. And she made sure that you knew where this quilt came from.  This “designer” didn’t give anyone any credit, even though is more than obvious the idea wasn’t originally hers.

When you borrow an idea from a quilt artist and don’t give him or her credit or  make multiple copies of patterns to give to friends, you’re not only “plagiarizing” that work, but you’re stealing money from that artist.  Money they have honestly earned.  And let me tell you a little secret – nobody has ever got filthy rich from quilting.  Quilters have earned every dollar they’ve made.

So…when your quilt guild wants to do a raffle quilt, make sure you get permission from the designer and give that person credit on the quilt label as well as in any information you send out with the raffle information.  When you make a quilt, it would be a great idea to have the pattern’s name and designer on your label.  Not only would it give the designer the deserved credit, but it will assist future generations in their quilt research.  Don’t make multiple copies of patterns to give to friends, unless it’s stated you can do so in the directions.  Some designers and authors are cool with this as long as you’re not making a profit on it.  Some are not.

But what should you do if you’re designing a quilt?  This can be tricky, because we’re all inspired by what we see. Whether it’s a quilt or the work by a specific designer, everything we absorb as quilters tends to rub off on us.  I used to tell my students that “Life isn’t created in a vacuum.  Everything we see, hear, touch, taste – it leaves its mark on us.”  That is really true with quilting.  So think like my high school students… when readying my high school students to write that research paper, I would tell them that if it’s a repeated idea among several sources, then they don’t need to give credit for it because it’s general knowledge.  In other words, if the quilt you design has Bear Paws, or Carolina Lily,  or Friendship Star blocks, don’t give credit for that part of the quilt.  First of all, it’s impossible to find out where these blocks came from originally and secondly, you can find them in multiple sources.  Googling Friendship Star quilt block gave me over 274,000 results.  It’s general knowledge.

But if you’re inspired by a particular quilt artist or one of their particular quilts, then you really need to give them credit.  It would be quite appropriate to have on the label, “Inspired by the work of …..”  And if you use a particular idea or part of their pattern, name the pattern, too.  For instance, I am working on a quilt for my guild’s 2017 show.  It’s called “Gimme a Revelation” and the center is comprised of  log cabin blocks, but I’m pretty much taking the idea of how these blocks are arranged directly from another pattern designer.  The rest of the quilt is mine – all mine – but that center is not.  The designer will be listed on my label.  It’s a clever arrangement and I didn’t think of it, she did and she deserves the credit.

And one last thing here about show quilts, while we’re kind of on the subject of borrowing and credit and ribbons…if you’re working on a quilt that you know  for sure will be entered into a show, for heaven sake’s keep it off social media and don’t take it to guild show and tell.  Again, with the ideas and inspiration and everything rubs off on us – someone else could love the idea and use it in their quilt and not give you credit.  And while that may not matter if the idea is lifted off of social media and used in Australia while your guild’s show is in Buck Snort, North Carolina (real place by the way), it does if that person is in your guild!  Imagine two almost identical quilts showing up for a guild show and the person who had the  original idea not getting the ribbon, but a copy catter who simply had better technique?  Hell hath no fury like a quilter scorned.

So I am angry for Esther Aliu.  And for every quilter that doesn’t receive the credit that she or he deserves.  Be careful in your “borrowing” and always give credit where credit is due.  It just keeps us all honest.

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Sam