Ann was not required to delete these posts by the way.
Want to design for QN?. Well you might want to be careful after their sister magazine used Ann Champion’s quilt on their July/August cover and due to a takeover by another company did not pay her for the use of her prizewinning quilt. Quiltmaker then had the gall to ask if they could use some of her wonderful antique quilts in forthcoming editions. They must think quilters are timid and stupid….we are not we are kind hearted and we stick together….and we hate injustice.
Shame shame shame Quiltmaker..….the way you have treated her ...especially on Facebook. Whoever looks after the Facebook Quiltmaker’s page has removed a lot of people’s comments and questions about this matter including my own.
I have long held Ann in high esteem as being one of the most talented quilters I have met through flickr. She is kind and gentle and the only thing that has stopped her being a star the likes of Pat Sloan and Alex Anderson is that she is a gentle homebody and does not like to travel far from home. She is one of the most giving of people online…she shares her talent with no thought of reward and the one time when she does enter a design competition which could and should be a wonderful experience for her it has come to this. I am deeply saddened that the corporate world would do this and that the creative editors attached to this magazine did not have more gumption in this matter.
As I said news is travelling fast now through Facebook…it is only a matter of time before the advertisers in these magazines hear of this….what will their reaction be I wonder? Especially when they hear quilters worldwide are boycotting the magazine group because of this.
Other blogs / sites talking about this now…
Update 9/11/09
New Track Media and Ann have come to an agreement....
I do still have some concerns which I mentioned to the VP of Creative Crafts Group when they contacted me today and also I mentioned those concerns on the Facebook fan page.
Hooray for social networking…long may it reign!
4 Comments
Hi, Kathleen. You need to take a look at Ann’s blog from today.
Hi Joan…I was waiting for “the agreement” to be put into writing
Hello Kathleen! Thank you SO much for your wonderful support and for helping to get the word out about my plight.
I have been contacted and we have come to a resolution that ‘s agreeable to all. I hope their follow through is as quick?
More details here, for those following this story.
http://annchampion.com/
Am delighted to see you problem was solved with the help of social networking Ann. Big business beware… the public have their finger on the pulse through facebook and twitter. The tv networks would ironically be interested in this now!
You know this is going to make an interesting future post for me….I only wish the same result could happen with my complaint and my husband’s workplace complaint with the charity St Vincent de Paul.
The Internet is a wonderful tool in so many ways ~ I’m glad this was resolved.
Apparently there’s a gag order. Ann Champion’s blog had the Quiltmaker photo with a red circle and slash removed this afternoon, but the text remained. I just tried to show a visitor the blog, and it was taken down! I went back to her blog through the link here (Keeping it in the family) and several entries have been purged. I hope she’s not being bullied with legal crap, and at least got paid. I’m done with anything ever published by this company.
I advised Ann to take the photo down but thought it a good idea to keep the post up so that other people could benefit from her experience. She must have decided it best to take down the whole thing….i have a copy of the post on my reader if you would like me to send it to you but not the comments. I fear there may be a backlash against Ann for that…a lot of people do not like it when the time and care they took to make comments is removed.
Ann has been in a difficult position here…she does not want to create ill feeling toward the magazine group …while the public may feel like this has been brushed under the carpet…and may be angry. I even phoned the publisher and asked them to say something else publicly…without admitting any liability …which would reflect well on Ann but it appears they cannot and will not. The blame was laid at the feet of CKMedia even though we all read that New Track Media was giving her the runaround. Maybe that is one reason why Ann took the post down…because she clearly stated that in her post.
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment
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