This information was shared with me late last year: a reader bought a pattern from a booth vendor at the Pacific International Quilt Festival in October 2015, and when she opened it up later, it was a poorly produced photocopy.

She contacted the pattern author, and found out that this is not how the patterns are produced. So somewhere along the distribution chain, it looks like this pattern might have been copied for re-sale.

Obviously, this is theft and fraud, not to mention very damaging to a designer’s livelihood and reputation as well. And just as obviously, a designer like me has no real way to police it. So I ask this favor of you: if you see a poorly produced copy of a pattern for sale, PLEASE contact the designer to let us know. If it’s getting stolen, we need to know. And if it’s a production snafu, we should know that too, so we can get a clean copy into your hands!

Many thanks to Janna Bailey for letting me tell this story, and for carrying the WASWI torch! Her original words (with her permission) are here:

Had an odd thing happen at PIQF this last October (2015). I purchased a pattern from a vendor and took it up to my room and opened it. The pattern looked like it was copied many,many times. Very grayed. I took it back down to the vendor. The owner was not there but the employee pulled out 3 more patterns and they were all just as bad. I wanted my $ back and was going to write a scathing note to the pattern maker. The employee said I had to come back the next day and talk to the owner. I went back to the vendor the next morning and she said she found a better pattern. I opened it and it was just fine. After thinking about it, I emailed the pattern maker anyway…but rather than berating her for a lousy pattern, I explained the situation and asked the question, “did you make the copies or was the vendor cheating you out of profits by making her own copies”. The pattern owner wrote back and thanked me, because she said all her patterns were clear copies. So I’d check patterns before you buy them and make sure they are clean and clear. And if not, I’d send a note to the pattern maker. It’s not fair that they should be losing their profits to a disreputable vendor. 

 

In emailing with Janna about this story, she added that she has since heard from the pattern maker that they have had other complaints about patterns bought from this vendor, and that the vendor isn’t returning calls. If I get word of this vendor stealing my stuff I’ll be prosecuting to the fullest extent of the law.

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