Lost Quilt Come Home

Round Robin Quilt by Wendy Smith-Clark

The photo above shows a progressive quilt in the very early stages. The large block is the theme block and, at this point, it had traveled only to two other people.

Wendy Smith-Clark was part of a group of seventeen women who were participating in a Round The Block Progressive quilt. Each quilt was to be passed twelve times, so not everyone worked on every quilt. Each quilter made a theme block and mailed it on to the next person on the list who added accent and filler blocks and mailed it on to the next person and so on. The participants were from all over the world. Wendys quilt traveled to Port Alberni, BC Canada; Mount Shasta, California; Bellevue, Washington; Auburn, Alabama; Seattle, Washington; Williams Lake, BC Canada; Woodstock, Virginia; Bellevue, Nebraska; Huntington Beach, California; The Netherlands; and France; and was supposed to be mailed back to her. Instead, the participant from France mailed it to another Wendy who was in the group of seventeen, but beyond Wendy’s group of twelve people, so she would not have worked on Wendy’s quilt. The second Wendy was contacted repeatedly, but she said she did not have the quilt. The participant in France said she mailed the package and she was insulted when Wendy asked her to trace it.

“So,” Wendy writes, “I have no idea what happened to my quilt. Whether it was lost in the mail or lost at someone’s home. I did have my name, address, email and phone number inked on everything in my box: on the back of the flannel which we attached our blocks, on the back of my theme block, on my bag of fabric, on my journal, my disposable camera and on everything else in the box. So even if it had gotten separated — pieces still could get returned to me. My theme block was a Piecemaker’s Calendar block from a few years back. It was all hand appliqud and embellished. It was a sewing basket with notions and a cat next to it. I was so proud of it. The swap began in May of 1996 and my quilt was missing in Spring of 1997I keep hoping that somehow some day it will find it’s way home to me.”

Wendy also shared, “I have lost 3 quilt related packages over the last 4 to 5 years. And almost lost a fourth recently. The first was a set of 12 batik blocks from an AOL swap that never made it to Texas. I sent it regular first class mail. I had not insured it, did not ask for a receipt nor did I keep a record of it. I remade the blocks and mailed them priority mail and swallowed my loss. My most recent (almost) loss was a quilt top I had sent to Arizona to be quilted. She finished it and sent it back to me insured priority mail. She took it to her post office the morning of August 9th. I should have had it Monday or Tuesday at the latest. I called my post office daily the whole time. I checked with neighbors to see if it was mis-delivered. I took pictures of the quilt to my local post office and she took pics to hers in Arizona. It finally arrived after more than two weeks to get to me! Priority mail! Just before that quilt, I mailed a box of quilt blocks and other goodies to my friend in Virginia. It never arrived. Had some cash and a beanie baby bear in it. When I called my post office they told me to bring the insurance form in and file a claim. I had not insured it.”

Wendy has kindly shared some of what she has learned (the hard way) about swaps:

1. Document your work. Take PICTURES of everything. Even just quilt blocks. List a complete description of everything.
2. Make sure when you mail it can be TRACED. If you use Priority mail through the USPS (US Postal Service), make sure you ask for a tracking number. You must pay extra and fill out an additional form. This is not automatic –you must request it.
3. INSURE it. It is sticky when you file a claim for quilts. You must show receiptsso, in the case of quilts, compensation would be for fabric and supplies. A written appraisal from a professional source might be helpful for valuable quilts.

If you have any information regarding this round robin quilt, please contact Wendy at Wendyqlts@aol.com.