WWQP Bulletin Board

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Let's Have a "Whopperjawed" Contest




In Ohio when something is very crooked we have been known to say that it is "whopperjawed". (Don't ask me to explain where that word came from ... I don't know. LOL) I would like to offer these photos of a piece of fabric for your inspection and I will claim that it is the most badly woven name brand piece of fabric purchased at a local quilt shop in 2007. This is Benartex fabric purchased at a quilt shop within an hour's drive of Marion, Ohio. I am so annoyed. When I pressed out the wrinkles and was ready to cut some strips from my half-yard purchase I noticed that the selvages didn't want to align properly .... because the fabric wasn't woven properly.

And when I snipped the selvage and tore the fabric to get the straight of grain, look what I got. People warn all the time about buying poor fabric from Wal-mart and JoAnn's ... I've never found anything this bad at those stores.

Any BBer got a more whopperjawed piece of fabric from a reputable manufacturer out there?? I'm certainly not going to trust the name of Benartex any more.

Judy

posted by Judy in Ohio @ 3:04 PM  

11 Comments:

  • At July 21, 2007 at 4:44 PM , Blogger NancyH said...

    Judy - I'd send those pictures to Benartex if I were you (benartex.com). And take the fabric back to the quilt shop (if convenient) so they can also let the Benartex people know. Could have just been a bad run, but they should certainly be made aware. Beautiful piece of fabric though. NancyH

     

  • At July 21, 2007 at 4:50 PM , Blogger Beth in TN said...

    Hey, Judy, as a transplanted Buckeye (an Ohio native, NOT a tree!), I actually know and use the term whopperjawed! LOL! I have seen this same thing with fabric from LQSs, (can't say for sure that it was always Benartex). The good shops will make an attempt to fix the problem as they unwind it from the bolt and see that it is skewed. I would think the shop you bought it from would want to know about this. You got far less usable yardage than what you paid for!

     

  • At July 21, 2007 at 5:09 PM , Blogger Doris W. in TN said...

    I'd take it back to the shop and ask if they would give you a refund. Of course they won't. Next I would write Benartex and post this on as many quilters & sewing forums as possible. Shame on Benartex.

     

  • At July 21, 2007 at 6:22 PM , Blogger Judy in Ohio said...

    I'm not taking it back to the shop ... it's an unpleasant Bernina dealership and I only go into the place every few years to buy a few things on our way to a nearby restaurant. I bought two half yard pieces of fabric to add to the 50+ pieces I had already found in my stash just because I thought I needed a couple of new fabrics for the next project. Hah! At least the Microtex needles and the large spools of Mettler Silk Finish thread I bought that night should be OK. :-)

    I will mail the fabric to Bernina .... thanks for the idea. Judy

     

  • At July 21, 2007 at 6:24 PM , Blogger Judy in Ohio said...

    Whoops .... will mail the fabric to Benartex.

    Judy

     

  • At July 21, 2007 at 8:22 PM , Blogger Judy in Ohio said...

    Here's another "hoot" ... the shop owner knew the bolt was bad because I've measured the fabric as I taped it back together (using blue masking tape) getting it ready to mail it to Benartex. My half yard purchase measures over 21 inches and this store owner has never before done a friendly, generous thing for me.

    Judy

     

  • At July 21, 2007 at 9:03 PM , Blogger judy in ar said...

    It's not always the fabric manufacturers either. A few years ago when homespuns were popular our Hobby Lobby got in 30 or so bolts of some beautiful plaids. I filled a cart (something I never do there) with a dozen or more that I wanted cut from. The clerk cut across the plaid so that my half yards yielded less than 6" of usable fabric that I pointed out to her right then. I told her that plaids, especially woven plaids needed to be cut on the plaid lines. She replied that she did not have time to cut fabric that way. I said, "Then you don't have time to do your job correctly. Every other fabric store in town cuts plaids on the line." (I knew that to be true and had worked in a fabric store myself). I told her I was not buying any of that fabric if she wasn't going to cut it right and left the cart.

    As I was walking out the store I overheard some ladies in the checkout line talking about how rude the clerk was in the fabric department. Then I went home and emailed the company. Naturally I got a call from the store manager a few days later promising that changes would be made. But they weren't.

    I went into Hobby Lobby a couple weeks ago to find the fabric department completely rearranged and nearly everything on sale. I asked about the rumors that they were eliminating fashion fabrics but would still carry quilt fabrics. Another rude clerk kept repeating, I only work here. And she wouldn't say yay or nay or anything else. I only work here. After her repeated comment several times I wanted to say, "maybe you shouldn't!!!"

     

  • At July 22, 2007 at 7:52 AM , Blogger WhiteStone said...

    In Iowa we use the word "cattywampus". I may have the spelling wrong as I've never seen it in print except when I write it myself. LOL.

     

  • At July 22, 2007 at 11:05 AM , Blogger Doris W. in TN said...

    Hopefully those Mettler Silk finish spools of thread will be OK. More than once I've had problems with Mettler's silk finish cotton when, right in the middle of a spool, the thread is spliced, tied into a small knot (at the factory), and the knot refuses to pass through the eye of my needle.

     

  • At July 22, 2007 at 9:52 PM , Blogger Jane in NC said...

    My MIL was a Kentucky native transplanted to MI. When I was still almost a newly wed I decided to make a slip cover for an old sofa we were using. She came over one weekend at my request to help me. When I told her the fabric wouldn't square up she told me to tear it so it wouldn't be "whopperjawed". That was a good word, the meaning of which is obvious given the context and the one rare piece of good advice she ever gave me. Most of her advice over many years was unsolicited and offensive and incorrect, based on old wives tails. This time it was absolutely correct.

    Jane in NC

     

  • At January 6, 2008 at 10:09 PM , Blogger Lustfelt 4 My Rustbelt said...

    My dad always used the term "whopperjawed", but he pronounced it more like "whappajod". I am a native to Columbus, Ohio, so maybe there is a connection. When I moved to Northeastern Ohio, not a soul had ever heard of the term.

     

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