Recovered!
Sampler Quilt Top
On August 18, 2003 Beth Kitts mailed a Sampler Quilt Top via the US Postal Service in Ruston, Louisiana. Somehow USPS lost the package and could not trace it. On September 10 Beth received the good news that the package had finally arrived at its destination. The box was squashed flat and very badly damaged, but the quilt top was intact. There was no indication of where it had been or why it took almost a month to travel what usually takes three days.
Beth writes, "The Post Office still has no idea what happened. I have to say they were of almost no help during this entire thing, although I did learn several intersting facts. Even though I had purchased insurance on my package and was provided with a tracking number, because the insurance amount was below $100, they couldn't track it. I was told that tracking must be purchased separately, basically meaning that the tracking number on the receipt is worthless, and my insurance was a joke."
Beth did discover that the US Postal Service sends lost packages to one of three "Mail Recovery Centers" to be sorted through and auctioned off, either on-site or on Ebay. These centers are in Atlanta, St. Paul, and San Francisco and they can be contacted to ask about missing items. For more information can be found at these two sites: http://www.failuremag.com/arch_flop_mail_recovery_center.html and http://www.usps.com/auctions/.
The quilt top that was lost is 88" by 72". The hand pieced blocks include Bow Tie, Churn Dash, Flying Geese and many others. The colors are very bright and all of the blocks have white backgrounds. The sashing is sky blue. Beth estimates this quilt top was made around 1990.
Beth summed up her experience with this, "I count myself VERY lucky that mine was found, and I will certainly think twice before using the post office again to ship anything, much less my precious babies."
Posted September 8, 2003. Updated September 12, 2003.
|
