As someone who travels with quilts for a living, this just makes me sick and livid.
I received word yesterday that Nancy Rink’s studio was broken into for the second time in approximately 10 days ---and this time the perpetrators made off with 16 or more quilts.
WHAT is with this?
Are they selling them for drug money? Are they giving them to others as Christmas gifts?
Who knows..but my heart hurts for Nancy and what she is going through right now. I want you to help me get the word out to be on the look out for these quilts. Those in the Bakersfield, California area…PLEASE be watching for these quilts. They may show up on Craigslist locally.
When I think about the number of hours, labor of love, time, sweat, tears, and the cost of the fabric involved….I just can’t fathom this.
She wites:
I am MAD as Hell! Thieves broke into my studio over the weekend and stole virtually every quilt (see the album What the Thieves Stole). This is an oh so wonderful follow-up to the break in a week and a half ago in which one quilt was stolen.
We had beefed up security but the thieves paid no attention. They just ripped the alarm from the door and busted the security lights. Am I paranoid or am I just being targeted?!
I have posted images of the main quilts stolen (there are probably more) just in case you see or hear of anything. Please call the BPD 661-327-7111 or 661-852-7850 if you see or hear anything suspicious. I have trunk shows booked at guilds and it makes it very difficult to give a trunk show without my quilts.You will find Nancy’s missing quilts below.
Bring These Quilts Home!
My heart is deeply saddened, as we all are.If you have any info please contact Nancy HERE.
Please help spread the word by sharing this post through all of your social media channels, flickr groups, email lists, message boards, twitter, facebook, and instagram. Let’s see if we can bring these quilts home.
That's just terrible and heartbraking!!
ReplyDeleteHope they catch the thieves!!!!
So maddening and frustrating! What is with people? I don't know about being targeted but I do know that if you are broken into often they will come back a second time to grab things they saw but didn't have time to take before. Hoping these quilts are found and the thieves prosecuted.
ReplyDeleteLooks like the low-life scum have discovered quilts have monetary value, doesn't it? I sure hope Nancy gets her quilts back and the scum who took them find out what the inside of a jail cell looks like.
ReplyDeleteI saw it on FB this morning, it is horrible and why?? Disgusting! Living in The Netherlands there is not a lot I can do except hope, HOPE the quilts will be returned to Nancy one way or the other, that is the most important thing.
ReplyDeletehow shameful. what is with people? I hope her quilts come back and quickly and in perfect condition. I can only imagine the pain Nancy is in.
ReplyDeletetook the pic and posting from quiltville and re-posted, we are up in the Northern California by Sacramento, so hopefully people will keep an eye out for your lovely quilts! hope to high heavens we can find them and figure out who and why someone would do this to you!!!!!
ReplyDeletelow life turds.....may they get what is coming to them....
ReplyDeleteWhat part of CA - thieves are lazy and try not to venture too far out of their comfort zone?
ReplyDeleteThis is absolutely terrible. No-one but a quilter understands that quilts mean so much more than the monetary value associated with them. I'll keep my eyes open. I have family in Bakersfield and will send them these pictures. I pray she gets them all back.
ReplyDeleteArghhhh! They WILL be caught. Wait till they find out the VALUE of their booty - no longer petty theft! QUICK return them, unscathed, repent- you miserable MONSTERS! Would super enjoy seeing someone in the pen, serving 10 years for violating a creative space and stealing QUILTS! WE ARE ALL WATCHING...AND WE ARE MANY.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard anything like this before. I have heard of the occasional quilt going missing at a show but never a workshop broken into and everything stolen. What sort of lowlife does this sort of thing? How will your friend be able to honour her teaching commitments without her examples? Just dreadful!
ReplyDeleteThis is so wrong, why would someone do that, I have heard of a quilt being taken form a quilt show, and even that is rare, but to break into someone's work space and take what they have made and need to earn and teach with, that is just to cruel. I hope that the quilts are found and returned to her
ReplyDeleteAm so, so sorry to hear of her loss. Devastating. As security systems go, a cop told us a long time ago to get wrought iron BARS on the windows and a stout security door made out of metal. See that on a LOT of businesses in Albuquerque. Sad commentary on the world we live in. Hope she can get her quilts back and soon.
ReplyDeleteI have shared it in Northern Michigan,we have a ton of snowbirds here that travel all over. I have asked that it be shared over and over again. Such a shame,but Quilters are good detectives with great memories.We love our Quilters and their quilts,they are our babies...
ReplyDeleteLou Wolf
I hope the thieves are found and punished. I also hope she had appraisals on at least some of them. It will not replace the love and creativity that she poured into her quilts, but it may keep her head above water as she begins to replace these beauties. Stealing art is a low in human decency.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone researched the validity of this? I checked Nancy's FB and her blog -there is no mention of it on either...
ReplyDeleteI was just on Nancy's blog and it is posted there, so Annon I don't know why you would doubt it.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the word will be spread quickly and hope there will be good news soon
ReplyDeleteBonnie I hope don't make you angry with my comments. We all adore what you do for us but sometimes you are so open about your whereabouts that if this could happen to her it could happen to you and we would all be just ill. I don't know the answer unless you build a vault to store your quilts. It is none of my business I know but if thieves are now targeting quilts maybe a good investment would be security systems for your home and your cabin. I think this is the most evil thing. Quilts even made the 2nd time are not the same as the first one. I can't imagine her pain at this time.
ReplyDeleteWith much appreciation, Diane
dkmurphy@longlines.com
This is such a horrible thing. But after thinking about it, does a disgruntled employee or customer have something against her. Someone knowing that she can't do her booked trunk shows without her quilts? They knew where to go to knock out the security? Just sounds suspicious to me. I hope the authorities will look at all possibilities.
ReplyDeleteThat is terrible!!! :(
ReplyDeleteJust disgusting! I cannot believe people, I hope they are found and brought to justice!
ReplyDeleteI, too, am sick. What in the world is wrong with people; don't you just wish you could get your hands on them! Our home was broken into a couple of years ago and one of the things we were told was to be SUPER VIGILANT for the next several weeks. We were told that burglars quite often return soon after a break-in because they've cased the place and know what other things they want and have a better idea how to break-in and how much time they have to do their deeds! Yep, almost 2 weeks to the day, someone was discovered creeping around the backyards in our neighborhood. Thankfully, he was chased and though not captured, he must have realized not to come back. Scumbags!!
ReplyDeleteJust to let you know my guild(in Somona Co. CA) has an e-mail blast system in place and I've asked that a notice be sent to all our members and to the other guilds in the area. Hope it helps get her quilts back intact and quickly.
ReplyDeleteIt sickens me to think of all that beautiful workmanship in her quilts then to have them stolen in such a brazen way. I hope everyone is keeping an eye on Ebay and other outlets....prayers for the quilts safe return.
ReplyDeleteIt's positively disgusting that anyone could take these precious treasures and works of art. Well, you 'reap what you sow' (not sew, SOW). What goes around comes around. My dear sister-in-law who is 90 and lives in Anchorage had two stolen at the airport. They were insured and went with the luggage and never made it to their destination! The woman who had machine quilted them had pictures of them to justify their worth. Some weasel who worked at the airport must have known the value of them since they were insured for $2,000. After a fight with Delta A/L, they finally paid her $1500. It's not the same as the original quilts. I can't believe people like this exist, but they do. I'm very sorry for the owner, and pray they are found and returned to her.
ReplyDeleteCan't believe this . . . just terrible.
ReplyDeletePoor Nancy! I hope they catch these idiots quickly and recover her quilts. I cannot imaging losing something that personal and to have it happen twice. My heart goes out to her.
ReplyDeleteThat is crazy...people have gone off the deep end. I hope that the person is found and she gets the quilts back.
ReplyDeleteJust Dreadful, Hope she gets them back.
ReplyDeleteI have to say, the thieves have excellent taste - too bad they're nasty little slime. I hope they're found and thoroughly punished; it's inexcusable to steal these things have have so much heart and work in them.
ReplyDeleteThis is a terrible thing to happen. Everyone needs to keep their eyes open as they would not steal so many quilts unless they had a buyer or a place to sell them. I am in Wyoming but I will be going to a quilt show in Colorado and will see if any show up. I hope that you find them. Perhaps a security camera will help.
ReplyDeleteJust a nightmare! Is harde this on Facebook, and even though I live in the Netherlands, you'll never know where the quilts might pop up.
ReplyDeleteso very sad. I live in Bakersfield ca and am a photographer and I walk a lot of places to take pictures. Ill keep my eyes open when I am out and about. As a fellow crafter and have a mil who quilts I know how horrifying this is.
ReplyDelete