Monday, March 26, 2007

When Ornaments Fail

Like Margie, I fell in love with Hillside Samplings Topiary Ornaments the minute I saw them. I bought II, III, and IV from a shop in Ohio last summer, but decided to stitch this one (III) because oddly enough our Christmas tree last year was white with purple balls. I think I am going to keep the purple theme through out this year's ornaments.

I really loved stitching the border. Repetitive, but with the lovely variegated thread, each stitch was slightly different. I even loved the challenge of the over one 32 count linen of the date. What I did not like was finding out as I was stitching the greenery was that there was not nearly enough variegated green thread to finish. There was supposed to be a 36" length of six strand cotton done with two threads over two. What I got was 18"! It took me the entire 18" to finish the 9 rows I did finish and there are 19 rows in all. I don't think even 36" would have covered it! Thread is cheap. We all have thread left over from kits. Why would anyone try to short you on such a small item?

Luckily there is a website with an email address. I wrote a note expressing my disappointment last night and received an answer this morning. Yes, some of the kits were wrong and were distributed before they could be adjusted. They will be glad to send me any missing threads. If any of you have any of these kits, please check them carefully before you start.

I'm sorry that I will not be able to finish an ornament this month, but was glad to get such prompt customer service.

5 comments:

Margie said...

Your's looks great! Let me know if your new threads don't match - I might have kept my extra bits and if I did, I can send them to you.

Unknown said...

Thank you, Margie. I have checked the other two kits and they seem to have all the threads they need. I also emailed the designer that I would like 36" of the Green Overdyed. She replied to the first email so quickly that I expect I should get the thread fairly quickly also. These are fun designs.

Sharon said...

Looks great! It's wonderful that you received such a good response!

Unknown said...

In good news, I received my replacement thread for my Christmas Ornament from Hillside Samplings TODAY. Not only did she include 36" of the variegated green that I needed, but she included lots more variegated green/purple that is used on the borders. I love that thread.

Chelle said...

Your ornament is looking good Kathryn! I'm glad to hear they sent the thread to you promptly. That's great customer service.