iPhone-o-Gram! Today's Mail Haul---

Is winging its way to you!!

Shamu and I are on our way to the Post Office---and then on to my MRI--

Want this leg pain diagnosed and gone!!

An Open Letter to United

From:

Bonnie K Hunter

Winston Salem NC 27107

File # (redacted)

Dear United,

It has taken me a few days to arrive home from my trip to Oregon and then to get the documentation needed to send you regarding my damaged luggage.

As there is no room on any digital form to explain what happened, I hope you won't mind me sharing my story here, because there were many things that combined to make this disaster happen, a whole set of circumstances that were beyond my control.

First off, I am a loyal United Airlines customer. I have been flying United or Star Alliance for many years and this is my airline of choice for all my business travel. I don't know if it matters, but I am a Star Gold customer.

I know accidents happen, but I also believe that some things just need to be made right.

On the afternoon of July 9th I was flying on flight 5550 from SFO to RDM.

The flight was already an hour delayed, and they were in a hurry to get us boarded and out of there and on our way.

My seat was 3A --I chose this seat because I need the under-the-seat storage space for my carry-on which contained not only my laptop computer, but my vintage custom painted 1938 singer featherweight sewing machine, both of which I need for my business -- you see I was on my way to Sisters, Oregon for the Sisters Quilt Show. I am a writer for Quiltmaker Magazine, and I publish quilting books with Kansas City Star. These items are very much attached to what I do for a living.

By nature, being a carry-on, these items are not packed with the possibility of becoming checked luggage. This has ALWAYS fit under the seat at my feet.

When I got to my seat, I found that the under the seat storage area was already taken by a HUGE back pack/duffel bag. My roll aboard that fits under the seat would NOT fit in the overhead bin on this smaller regional jet.

As we were haggling what needed to happen here to make room for my bag, as I was in seat 3A ---the flight attendant told me to pass my bag forward, that it would have to be gate checked, that I was holding up passengers from entering the plane and that we needed to get moving for an on time departure.

She asked me to pass my bag forward three times....and having memorized the line that "customers will adhere to all posted signs and plackards and follow all crew member instructions" I let my bag go.

I never should have.

Upon reaching my destination, I discovered that my laptop had been completely demolished, and even worse, my beautiful prize 1938 one of a kind featherweight sewing machine broken beyond repair. Photos are enclosed below.

I took the laptop to Best Buy to see about it --- it's not under warranty anymore, and they want to charge me $89.95 to give me an estimate on whether it is fixable or not. I consider this a bad investment, because I honestly don't see that it is fixable, and it's sad to say, I kind of doubt there will be any compensation on the demolition of my laptop.

But my machine?

I am attaching the receipt, and a letter stating why it is not fixable, and asking for full compensation on the destroyed machine as this is my business, my livelihood.

Never again will I allow a flight attendant to demand that I check my carry on planeside when it should have been the person who's HUGE backpack was taking up the entire under the seat storage space.

Is there anything you can do to help me?

This will not stop me from flying United ---my business must go on, but I would hope that because of my loyalty to United, that United will in turn show some loyalty back to me, a valued customer.

Please contact me if you need more information.

email: Quiltville@gmail.com

Sincerely,

Bonnie K Hunter

Quiltville.com

Machine damage, showing motor broken from the body of the machine -- this is unfixable as it is cast aluminum.

The extension tray is completely broken off and can not be repaired.

The broken screen on my laptop.

For the Love of Yellow!

There is sill more to share – MUCH MORE!

I have to do this in batches ---it’s much too much overload for one post, and I don’t have the time to sit and edit everything at once.

What I’ve found is that with each and every one I see --- I rediscover a NEW favorite! Just when I thought I knew which one I liked best, revisiting the pictures makes me change my mind!

Okay, truth be told, I want to make them all! Or at least HAVE them.

You KNOW that I automatically drawn to anything chrome yellow or cheddar orange! Guess what my heart did when I saw this beauty sitting on top of the pile! Each and every star is colored differently! I love how unpredictable this quilt is!

OOOOOOOO!!!!

Why is it that the simplest of traditional patterns always make my heart sing?

I just love this! Do you see that the 4 corner blocks are all double pink with poison green? That’s the only “rhyme or reason” to this layout…everything else has the stars colored in as many different ways as possible!

LOVE THIS! Maybe there is a yellow star quilt in m future?

blacks and stripes and black on white with RED! Whoopee!

Sweet pink dots and poison green and a diagonal plaid in the corners.

More sweet plaid star points with a fun black/blue and a GREAT polka dot center!

Yellow is such a happy color. And I have to laugh at the “Quilt Police” who caution us about going overboard with “too much yellow” You CAN’T go overboard! Let it play, let it sing….bring that sunshine in!

Here’s a Crazy Anne in Browns and yellows! I love that one block part way up on the right that has the pink wing triangles! Perhaps someone ran out of polka dot! Or maybe she was a free spirit who simply wanted to play a bit differently! Whatever the reason, it is the simple substitution of fabrics that give this quilt life and interest.

Yellow paths on this Grandmother’s flower garden shine in the morning sunlight.

Ooooh! I want them ALL! But today is a busy day and I’ve got to get going. I’m packing the car for leaving for PA tomorrow. I have an MRI this afternoon. More book orders are ready to go ----and so we fill up this beautiful Wednesday as full as we can get it.

Have a great day everyone!

iPhone-o-gram! The good, the bad!

Bad:

Took the laptop to Best Buy to find my warranty had run out.

Bad:

They want to charge me $89.95 to tell me if my computer is fixable or terminal.

Bad:

If it's not under warranty--and the airline won't reimburse, do I want to be out $89.95 MORE on a laptop that isn't worth fixing??

Unlikely the airline will reimburse that fee even if they did replace the lap top.

Good:

After letting it run a long time and hooked to the big monitor---we heard it actually boot up and at least I can get my files off of it.

It's running rough like it isn't happy.

And that's all I know from here for now.

iPhone-o-gram! Off to the PO!

Lots of order filling around here today!

No time to stop and chat either--I'm dropping these off on my way to the chiro, then a run to the bank, followed by a stop at bestbuy to get an official form on the demise of my ruined laptop to submit to the airlines.

Then more book order filling tonight!

Holy Time Zone Change, Batman!

I just slept until 10am.

I know that is only 7am West Coast Time, and that is right on normal for me, but this whole flight home fiasco kicked my butt! I NEVER sleep til 10am! All I can say is I must have needed it.

On my goodness. Time to kick it into gear over here!

I want to share some of the other antique quilts that we saw at sisters.

While each quilt is a work of art in itself, I really love seeing them displayed next to each other in groupings. They have three beds that you can feel free to take a quilt off the rack, and display it on the bed to see the quilt better, so while people are doing that, there is someone always folding and re-hanging and the displays of quilts on the racks are ever-changing – I wish I could have a slide show of just those quilts changing position!

The one above I took of what was BELOW the princess feather in yesterday’s post. I love the simple broken dishes with red and green sashing, and of course the hand quilting on the blazing star quilt was fantabulous.

How about this display!

Ocean Waves, Evening Star, Irish Chain, 9 patch with 9 patch cornerstones, hearts & gizzards and a really cool drunkards path with white alternate blocks…don’t the colors make your eyes dance?

I fell in love with this simple 49-patch block! The alternate block has ONE cornerstone in each corner, so it has more of a snowball appearance than a chain to me. Oceans of double pink! YUMMY! How would THIS quilt work as a leader ender project?

Baskets seemed to catch my eye wherever I sawe them! I love how the scraps play in this one!

The flag quilt was made from cigar silks! And that 9 patch below with more double pink….do you see the rounded corners? This would be another great leader/ender choice.

Which one catches YOUR eye first? The applique? Or the broken star above it?

I had an interesting conversation with a newer quilter who didn’t know that the “tan” leaves on the applique were once really dark green!

The colors in this tulip quilt rocked my socks. And look at that quilting!

Such patience in hand piecing these tiny triangles!

And that’s it for today! This girl has book orders to get OUT!

From The Mail Room!

I’m Home!

I’ve even had a nap. MUCH NEEDED!

Now I’m sitting in my basement with a stack of mail to go through and book orders to start filling tomorrow after I’ve had a good night’s sleep!

There are a couple of things to go over.

I know everyone is anxious and excited about their books, as I am – believe me! I want them out to you as quickly as is possible.

I have received several mails asking if their book has shipped and when they could expect it. I feel your waiting-pains!

I want to take this time to reiterate that anything that has gone out prior to TOMORROW is an EARLY DELIVERY.

When we started taking pre-orders I originally expected delivery Mid-July to Early August --- and stated so on the book order page and in the posts announcing the book release.

In the mean time, the books showed up the DAY before I left for Vermont Quilt Festival the end of June, a bit over 2 weeks early. I got out a batch that night, and we mailed them. I came home from Vermont and filled book orders Monday Night, and Tuesday, mailing those..and on Wednesday the 4th of July, I left for my family reunion in Idaho.

Yes, many have received their books but there are many more waiting. We are RIGHT ON TIME with the expected delivery dates of all the others that are still waiting.

I am home tomorrow and Wednesday to get out as many as I can. My next trip on Thursday to Pennsylvania is a driving trip, so my mobile office will be going with me and I will likely be filling and mailing book orders from all across the state of Pennsylvania, working on them in the evenings after my classes as time allows.

After the Hershey Show, I head to Williamsburg for the Quiltmaker Block Party! I will arrive a day or so early, because it’s not worth the extra driving time to go all the way home and turn around the next day to drive BACK to Williamsburg—so I will be filling book orders and mailing them from Historic Williamsburg as well!

I drive home from Williamsburg on August 4th. I don’t leave for Bali until August 20th. We WILL BE CAUGHT UP completely by early August!

And that is how things are running around here.

So please give me some time to get these orders out in the order that they were received. Before I leave for PA on Thursday, I’ll post the last invoice number that was filled along with the date the order was placed. That should help you find out where in the queue you are because I won’t have all my records with me when traveling, I’ll be unable to look up each and every order for those who want to know where in line they are.

When I get back home after Williamsburg I’ll be able to give an update on where we are invoice number wise as well.

If you sent in a snail mail order with a check – it takes 2 weeks for check orders to clear, and there is no invoice number to track those, so just be watching your own bank for your check to clear.

And on we go!

Now there is one thing I have to do, hate to do, but must do.

Each and every book out there can have errors in printing.

A couple of small ones have been brought to my attention in the past week or so and I want to make you aware of them.

At any time, if you think something is not right…please check the ERRATA TAB at the top of the blog. I will be listing known errors there.

Before emailing me to ask me a question about something, please check the tab first to see if it is already listed. If not, I welcome emails because there might be something that others need to know about that we may have missed.

Admitting errors is like hanging your undies out to dry for everyone to see in public.

Be gentle with me, I take it very personally!

Just know that things happen even with a team of 8 or more people working on a book.

One of the errors in String Fling is the numbers being scrambled on the paper foundation for Pineapple Crazy. I have no idea how that could have happened because it wasn’t that way before, but weird things happen.

So check the Errata Tab, print it, keep it with your books, and let me know if I need to add something to it.

All errors will be corrected in subsequent printings.

iPhone-O-Gram! Ice Cream Cures All!

I'm still at Washington Dulles airport.

My flight was supposed to leave at 8am. Then they said. 11am. Then they said 12pm. Then they said 2pm

Auughh!

Then they said they were bringing in another plane from Richmond and our latest departure estimate is now 2:45pm

When we got the notice that the Richmond plane was airborn, I decided to celebrate with my good buddies Ben & Jerry!

It's a Chunky Monkey dance and a Cherry Garcia celebration

Oh, and a mint chocolate cookie lip balm just for surviving this day.

Get me home please!!!

PS---I am SO not making dinner tonight!!

Best Laid Flight Plans ---

Are often interrupted!

My 8:15am connecting flight from Dulles to Greensboro is still on the ground, and now not scheduled to depart until noon. AUUGH.

4 hours in Dulles when I haven’t slept much all night? I’m a complete zombie. I am likely to start babbling and talking to strangers and start walking home at this point.

So I’ll come up with something better – I’ll do the photos in stages instead of one full swoop ----smaller, shorter posts are easier to load on iffy airport wifi and easier for those with slower connections and dial up to view.

Here is Randy, talking to the booth owner about this fabulous quilt! It’s got a couple mouse holes, very fixable, and just the beat up country style that we love, so Randy scored this one!

How about a lovely 1930s Pickle Dish?

The tent walls were hung with all kinds of delectable quilts --- Lone Star, Grandmother’s Flower Garden, Appliqued Rose and Log cabin all so pretty!

Ladders also displayed various tops and quilts just ready for adoption!

The colors and the patterns will catch your eye and hold you hostage! I really REALLY like that basket quilt!

Folded and stacked quilts seem to say “pick me up, unfold me, discover me!”

Loved this pretty pink and blue Kings Crown Variation! Love those indigoes ---always!

Closeup of the sweetness! I loved the peachy polka dot setting squares!

This cheddar “Rolling Stone” was also a fave last year ---

It was hanging on the rack along with a Carolina Lily, a Mariner’s Compas, a Rose of Sharon -----but that cheddar is what called me!

Can you imagine this Princess Feather in it’s usual red and green when it was new?

There are more to show ----It’s almost time to finally board the flight that should have left at 8am…..so I’ll send this and catch more later!

Still In Flight ----

I’m still flying home as this posts --

My red eye flight left San Francisco last night at 11:15pm West Coast time, and lands in Washington/Dulles at 7:39am. One more flight after that…Dulles to Greensboro gets me into my home airport at 9:15am. I’m going to be one tired puppy!

I occupied my time in San Francisco by wandering through the vintage sewing machine display on loan from the San Francisco Museum!

This was SO COOL to see…..

But I nearly wept when I saw that they had a featherweight under glass right there in the terminal….*sigh*

There isn’t time to write a description on each one – my flight boards in 30 minutes and I want this to post in the morning. So I’m putting this on slide show

And I promise I WILL get to more pics from the Sisters Show as soon as I am able….

But I know one thing….as soon as I am home --- I am going to BED – my OWN BED! And I’ll catch you later!

		Vintage Machines at SFO, July 2012 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL