Saturday, October 29, 2022

Tenor Ukulele Case, and Life Lesson

It's finished - the case for my Enya tenor ukulele. 

I've loosely followed a 2012 tutorial by Mommy by Day, Crafter by Night, as she made soprano (small-sized ukulele) cases for her daughters.

Installing a 40" double-tabbed zipper wasn't any more difficult than installing a 5" zipper. It just took longer. 

Honestly, the most difficult part was joining each front and back piece to the side piece. I used a zipper foot to get as close to the cording as possible, but I did a lot of restitching in attempts to get closer. It was challenge sewing with all those layers: fabric, fleece, foam stabilizer, and extra firm stabilizer - times two! - and the cording edge. My Bernina was up to it, but it was a struggle for me.

Prior to sewing, these Clover Wonder Clips bent and broke as soon as I attempted to clip them to seams. I'm sure I've tossed at least 20 of these in the past few months. I've owned them for about seven years, and find it very disappointing that they don't hold up. 

Friday night fun was hand sewing the lining, backed with fleece, to the inside. I made sure to include my Flourishing Palms label on the inside.

One of my favorite labels is on the outside: You Can't Buy This. And, "No I won't make these to sell!" 

The zipper, purchased from ZipIt on Etsy, came with a plastic button tab. Cute enough. 

But I had to replace it with one I've been saving for something special. It's a glittery palm.

I'll head to Peace, Love, and Ukulele Club with this next week! In the meantime, I'm trying to practice twice a day for at least 20 minutes. Any more, and my fingertips get sore. Gradually, very gradually, I'm hearing some improvement in my picking ability. 

I've had a frustrating experience that I'm sharing to not only vent, but also hopefully prevent this ever happening to someone else. 

Every year, the MQG sells a QuiltCon magazine about the show. It's designed and produced by Golden Peak Media. Late each summer, MQG members are invited to submit original quilt designs and story article ideas, with the understanding that if a quilt design is accepted for publication, it will also appear in QuiltCon. Quilt designs submitted may not have been shared on social media. 

Each ideas is to be emailed, separately, directly to Golden Peak Media "submissions." 

In August 2021 I submitted, via email, two ideas:

1) an article about circles, and the prevalence of that shape in modern quilts; and
2) this quilt, my original design made for our Central Florida MQG 2021 Chips and Charms Challenge. 
51½" X 62½"

When, by late October 2021 I hadn't heard anything about the two emails I'd sent, I contacted the company (by email), forwarding each emailed-in-August submission and asking the status of them. The editor replied that neither submission had been seen by them, and the magazine was already put together. 

To say the least, I was disappointed. My emails had not bounced. 

Fast forward to August 2022 when the invitation for QuiltCon magazine submissions arrived from the MQG. I immediately returned to my two 2021 submissions, submitting them with a comment at the top of the email saying:
Please note: I submitted this idea for QuiltCon 2022, and later learned it had never been received or considered. Acknowledgement of this submission is appreciated!

I received acknowledgement that the article submission was received, and though I didn't receive acknowledgment that the quilt submission had been received, I assumed that the reply covered both submissions. 

I was so wrong.

On October 8 I received an email telling me my article submission would not be accepted. Assuming they hadn't made a decision about my quilt submission, I waited for a response about it. 

On Friday, I sent an email to Golden Peak Media asking the status of my quilt submission for QuiltCon magazine. Can you guess the response I received?

"I received your note regarding your Chips and Charms quilt submission. I’m afraid we did not receive it. All of the articles and quilts for the 2023 issue of QuiltCon Magazine have been selected and contracted."

What happened in 2021 happened AGAIN! Can you believe it?! I sure couldn't. "Frustrating" doesn't begin to describe how I've felt about this whole experience. 

It'll accept fault for not confirming that the quilt submission was received. But where in the world do my emails to them go?! They sure didn't bounce. I can only conclude that the company has a problem with their email system. And this must surely be happening to others who submit to their publications.

All this has taught me to verify, verify, verify. Do not assume.

I will not again attempt to submit this quilt to QuiltCon magazine. 

It's a good thing I'm in Bible study right now! From the Glory Days study by Max Lucado I've learned about strongholds (sins) in my life - admitting them, facing them, and dealing with them. This experience has me confronting and being held accountable for my stronghold of "pride." Lord, I have certainly learned a lesson. 

Book Recommendation
The Tobacco Wives by Adele Myers takes place in 1946 in a small North Carolina town called Bright Leaf. As her mother goes husband-hunting, 15 year-old Maddie stays with her Aunt Etta, working as her aunt's assistant seamstress. It's time for the big annual task of making gowns for the affluent wives of the local Bright Leaf Tobacco Company. When Aunt Etta becomes ill, Maddie is taken under the wing of the dazzling and beloved Mitzi Winston, wife of Richard Winston, Bright Leaf's owner. Just as Maddie moves into the Winston home, and Mitzi sets up a studio for her, with a new red Singer sewing machine, a cigarette and ad campaign is launched, promoting new mint-flavored Moments cigarettes, designed for women.

As Maddie draws on her design and sewing skills to fill Aunt Etta's shoes, she discovers a confidential document that could change the lives of the entire community. Concerned for others, she unburdens herself to two friends. When both her life and Aunt Etta's are threatened, Maddie knows she has to reveal everything she knows, even at the risk of forever changing her life, and Aunt Etta's.

Once again, I was pulled into a fascinating story that I learned, through the author's notes at the end, is based on historical research about the tobacco industry. The author mentions another books that I'd like to read: The Gilded Leaf by Patrick Reynolds and Tom Schactman, based on three generations of the R.J. Reynolds family. 

Linda's score: 4.1/5.0

Linda

12 comments:

  1. Your ukulele case is awesome! I think you will get many requests for one once others have seen it! So sorry to hear about your QuiltCon experience. Email is wonderful when it works, but when it doesn't you have no idea why! As you say, its probably happened to others too!

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  2. Such a fun finish, and so useful, Linda!!! Like wrapping your uke in a quilt. And you'll save yourself a lot of words by flashing that "No I won't make these to sell", because everyone who has a uke and sees your case is going to want one! I know what you mean--how it can be tricky getting the stitching close to the cording. Bummer on the wonder clips. I love the palm tree and the reminder of your blogging Bible verse. I'm speechless on the Quilt Con correspondence.

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  3. Wow! Love the pretty ukelele case! Great fabric and too cute palm pull! I wouldn’t want to make any to sell either. I would have thought the Quilt con people would have their system correct, people are counting on it!

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  4. You conquered plenty of challenges making the case and I'm sure others would be interested in having one like it. Most people have no concept of what it takes to make something like that, so your little sign tells them right up front! Clever. The little charm looks right at home there. The e-mail issue- who'd have ever thought??? It does sound more like a problem at their end as you'd likely have received any message that bounced. How disappointing.

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  5. Hi Pamela! Thank you for your compliments on my ukulele case, and glad you agree about NOT making them to sell. People who don't sew have no idea of the cost, time, and effort involved in making one. I wouldn't make one for someone else for less than $500! :-) I am not blaming QuiltCon for the problem with my magazine submission, as I sent it to Golden Peak Media. I just wish GPM recognized there's a problem (am I the only one this has happened to?) and change their submission format. Sorry I can't email you directly, but you're a "no reply-commenter." Linda

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  6. Your ukulele case is so you . . . especially with that extra special zip pull. I can only imagine how hard it is to put together. You have every right to be frustrated with the way your submissions were handled. It's been years since I've submitted anything but one thing I remember is that usually they say they will contact you so please don't bother them by following up on entries. Makes me wonder what's really going on behind the scene.

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  7. You did a wonderful job on the ukulele case! Other folks have complained of the little clips breaking. Plastic wears out, I suspect, though at the price I would hope Wonder clips would last longer! MQG needs to take responsibility for monitoring their contractors—remember the year of the awful QuiltCon registration? I belong to MQG only because I like the people in my local group.

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  8. I'm really sorry about your submission problems. One would think that after finding they had a problem with their system last year they would have done something about it before this year's submissions opened up. Shame on them! It certainly doesn't give their company credibility.

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  9. Love your ukulele case! It looks awesome!

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  10. Your ukelele case is awesome. Fun labels. How frustrating about the quilt/article submission! Yes, I have had some of those wonder clips break like that too, but I figure seven years is probably a good run for something like that.

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  11. I’m sorry that happened to you. Maybe they were so swamped with entries a heap went to spam? You would think they would check that folder regularly as well though, during the article call. Your submitted quilt is fabulous!

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  12. Thank you, Rachel, for commiserating about my experience with the magazine business. Indeed, it's quite likely that my emails went into their spam filter. I am fearful that it's happened to other quilters too. In any case, I'm not trying again with Golden Peak Media. I learned my lesson! Thanks for liking my submitted quilt. It's a favorite that was fun to make because blocks were hand-appliquéd. Sorry I cannot reply to you directly, but you're a No Reply-Commenter... so I have no way to respond to you. Did you read this?

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