- Do you give lectures?
- Do you teach?
- Do you sell quilts?
- What are your copyright policies?
- Do you sell Patterns?
Do you give lectures?
I do not give lectures because quite honestly, I am not an entertainer. I prefer to engage quilters in the classroom environment where I can share my expertise with them. Most of my quilts are with many owners and I at this time I only own one, which would make for a very brief lecture.
You don't have workshops listed, do you teach?
I am only accepting a limited amount of teaching engagements at this time due to a full family life. I do list my scheduled teaching engagements on my blog page where I can keep information fresh.
I will consider events that book 3-5 day workshops with a single instructor. Contact me via email with any queries.
Do You Sell Patterns?
Yes, I do have patterns in my shop and I will add more as time allows. Currently they are only available for purchase directly from my site.
I do not create patterns that are exact copies of my quilts because my quilts are sold and made to be one of a kind. However, I try to base the patterns on the original and are changed only a little bit in most cases.
My patterns, at this time, are not for beginners or those uncomfortable with hand applique. There are no instructions included for applique technique and construction.
Do you sell your quilts?
Sometimes I do put some of my quilts up for sale, but they usually find new homes fairly fast so I never get around to listing them on the site. Pricing is usually the next question that comes up so let me answer that for those of you who want to know. My quilts are sold at art market prices, which means they are defintiely not priced similarly to Chinese imports. If you are seriously interested in a new quilt I have made, inquire privately.
What are your copyright policies?
I know this always draws groans and eye rolls, but think of copyright as a way to enforce good manners and ethical professional behavior. You do want to play well with others right? So bear with me through this.
If no money is awarded, as in guild shows, I am happy that my designs inspire you to try your hand at creating your own version. The same holds true if you are inspired by my quilts to create your own version for personal pleasure. You can add "no problem" to guild raffle quilts as well.
I am pretty laid back until I see one of my designs copied without consent and entered in a professional competition where prize money is awarded and other professional benefits can be gained. And yes, there are quilting careers and money made everyday off of "inspired by's". There is no one person, or entity, in charge of verifying ownership in any meaningful way, which is why we continually have to drone on about this stuff.
I am never thrilled to see knock-offs (understatement) of my designs being sold as patterns either. Designing is 75% of the work required to complete a new quilt and I am never happy when someone uses my hard work (yes, designing is hard demanding work) to collect a monetary gain and by taking professional cuts in the line to get ahead of others who follow the rules and abide by professional ethics.
Bottom line my policy is this: "No money gain, no problem.....Make money, big problem." It never hurts to ask directly either. I promise I don't bite.
From the Government Copyright FAQ page:
How much do I have to change in order to claim copyright in someone else's work?
Only the owner of copyright in a work has the right to prepare, or to authorize someone else to create, a new version of that work.
Accordingly, you cannot claim copyright to another's work, no matter how much you change it, unless you have the owner's consent.
See Circular 14, Copyright Registration for Derivative Works.
Another way to think of derivatives in quilt-land terms is to substitute the words "new work", aka derivative, with "a work inspired by the work of (fill in the blank)" in the above paragraph. They mean exactly the same thing.
This concludes the unfortunate "need to inform" copyright stuff we all love. Now aren't you glad that's over?
