Fakes, Phonys, Frauds, and the Real Thing

This blog is a bit of a rant.  I haven’t ranted in a while, but a few things have occurred in my quilting world that’s sent my normal, sane self over the edge and I want to share these things with you because I don’t want your normal, sane self to be sent over the edge with me. That, and the fact I dearly love quilt designers and want them to be protected from some of the shady stuff going about online.  This blog will be split into two parts – and depending on the length, may be split into two blogs.

In short, I have a lot to say about these shady shenanigans and about the good tools now produced to make quilters’ lives easier. 

Let me begin with social media.  For the purpose of this blog, I’m not stating which social media platform is more sus than the other but I’m looking at you Facebook.  I’m not even saying social media is bad.  I believe those platforms are like most things involved with the internet – they’re neither good nor bad.  They are neutral, but the way they’re used can make them a force for good or evil.  Let’s start with quilting groups.  More specifically those groups you can join on Facebook or Instagram or X (Twitter). 

I belong to several groups on all three platforms.  I enjoy the tips, and I enjoy helping folks in these groups when they have a problem.  I’ve appreciated the fellowship and the encouragement.  And it’s usually not the quilters in these groups I have issues with (there’s always going to be one or two members who stir the pot, but most of the time the admins shut them down quickly).  However. I do think we need to be wary about the way we share our quilts and sewing projects.  This cautiousness is merited due to the number of scammers who have invaded our quilting pages and groups. 

By this time in our internet lives, scammers are nothing new to any of us.  Most of us have been the victim of a scammer or two at least once or twice in our lives.   My worst scammer experience involved someone who found one of my checks, bleached it with a software program, re-did the check number, my signature, and changed the amount of the check to make herself about $3,000 richer.  Yes, the bank was immensely helpful, but it took hours out of my week to get the problem corrected.  Scammers who invade our quilt groups are just as harmful as the one who took advantage of my checking account.  They ask if they can copy the picture you posted of your latest project and use them on another group’s page. 

At this point, it’s easy to feel flattered.  You think they were so inspired by your work, and they simply want to share this point of inspiration with their friends and other like-minded creatives. 

Nope.

Nine times out of then they want to turn your latest, greatest creation into clickbait.  Clickbait refers to content designed to attract clicks and engagement, usually for financial gain or other shady, nefarious, ulterior motives.  And pretty pictures of your project act as bait to foster their motives, which could be:

Data Harvesting —  Scammers often create fake groups and posts to collect personal information from users.  They use enticing clickbait to encourage users to comment, share personal details, or click on external links which may prompt them to enter sensitive information like email addresses, phone numbers, or passwords.  This information can then be used for identity theft, phishing attacks, or sold on the dark web.

Engagement and Legitimacy – Fake quilt groups may use clickbait to increase engagement, such as likes, shares, comments, and followers.  This can make the group appear more legitimate and attractive to potential victims or advertisers.  A group with a large number of members and interactions may seem trustworthy, even if its content is fraudulent.

Monetization – Some scammers aim to monetize fake groups by using clickbait to drive traffic to websites containing advertisements or affiliate links.  Each click and page view can generate revenue for the scammer through ad networks or affiliate marketing programs.

Spreading Malware – Clickbait in fake groups can lead users to malicious websites or encourage them to download files that contain malware or viruses.  These can compromise the security of the user’s device and lead to further scams or data theft.

Phishing – Clickbait may lead users to fake login pages that resemble legitimate websites (e.g., Facebook, email, banking, PayPal).  Users might unwittingly enter their login credentials, which can be stolen by scammers for unauthorized access to their accounts.

Financial Scams – Some clickbait within fake groups may promote fraudulent schemes, such as multi-level marketing, get-rich-quick schemes, investment scams, or other schemes to separate you and your hard-earned money.  Users who click such content may be lured into making financial transactions or investments which lead to financial losses. 

Social Engineering – Scammers may use clickbait to manipulate users emotions psychologically or politically.  This can be done by spreading sensational, false, or divisive information to influence public opinion, manipulate sentiments or inciting conflicts. 

So how do you avoid becoming a victim of clickbait?  First, be skeptical.  Question the credibility of posts and groups that seem too good to be true (because they probably are) or make sensational claims.  Second, verify information.  Before clicking on links or sharing information, independently verify the information through reputable sources.  Third, review your privacy settings.  Adjust your privacy settings in the groups you belong to in order to limit exposure to unknown groups and posts.  Fourth, report suspicious content.  If you come across fake groups or clickbait, report them to Facebook or Instagram or whatever social media platform you find them on.  They probably won’t do anything about it (which is aggravating), but you can still try.  Fifth, educate yourself.  Stay informed about common online scams and tactics used by scammers to better protect yourself and others in your network. 

And last, learn to protect yourself.  Be cautious of the groups and pages you join.  Just because a group has lots of posts and comments doesn’t mean it’s legit.  Look for multiple administrators and observe the groups before joining and posting in them.  Also consider adding a watermark to your photos before sharing them online (any photos – from your dinner to your quilts).  Watermarks take time for a scammer to remove and instead of dealing with all the work it takes to remove it, the scammer will bypass it and go for another one without the watermark.  A watermark is a faint, semi-transparent mark or text that’s superimposed onto an image.  It’s placed in a way that doesn’t distract from the picture, but it makes it difficult for others to steal or misuse the photo.

There are several apps and websites which can be used to add a watermark to your photos.  An easy and free one to use is Visual Watermark.  It’s a simple process and only takes a few easy steps.

From social media, let’s take an abrupt U-Turn and talk about quilting tools.  I know there seems to be no correlation between the two, but trust me there is.  Just hang with me for a bit.

Almost every year, at some point, I give you a list of quilting tools you may want to take a second look at.  Some years have great strides made in quilting notions and other years, not so much.  This year is a mix.  So listed, in no particular order – the tools you probably want if you don’t already have them:

• Wool Mat – These retain heat, come in various sizes, and are portable.  The texture does keep fabric from stretching.  Wool mats also have a few cons, the primary one being the odor.  For a while, a wool mat can smell like a wet dog.  I use my mat almost every day, so either I’m nose-blind to it or the smell goes away after a while.  I know some quilters use an essential oil, such as lemon, on their mat to offset the wet dog odor.  These mats must be stored flat and avoid keeping a hot iron on them.

• Clippies – I loved these little gadgets from the moment I bought my first pack – which didn’t contain but maybe a dozen.  Initially I used them to keep block units together, but then I discovered they work great with binding quilts.  When I began to teach my two grand darlings to sew, I didn’t give either pins.  I supplied them with this cute little tin of clippies:

Now they come in various sizes – from small to large – and the long ones have quarter inch and half-inch increments listed on them.  Now instead of the packaging containing only a couple dozen clippies, there may be 100 in a box, and the price has come down.  The tin of 100 clippies I purchased for my grand darlings was only $9.99.  The only cons of these little wonder tools are they may not work for thick fabrics and some clips may be broken during shipping.

• Savina Seam Roller and Stiletto – If your home improvement projects ever included hanging wallpaper, the seam roller may look just a bit familiar.  A very similar tool is used to seal the seams of wallpaper.  However, in our case, it’s used as a substitute for an iron, and it really comes in super handy when you’re paper piecing.  Instead of taking the time to press the seam with an iron, you can run the seam roller over it and keep moving. 

A stiletto is a tool every sewist should have in their sewing kit.  The pointy end can hold fabric steady as it’s fed over the feed dogs and beneath the needle.  This particular stiletto has a wooden handle with a blunt, sloped end.  That blunt, sloped end is the perfect tool for opening up a seam allowance in order to press it open.  Both have an ergonomic design (meaning it’s easy on your hand muscles), they have versatile applications, and are compact and portable.  However, both of the pressing tools do not take the place of a regular iron.  You still need one of those.  The wood needs to be treated with a food-grade oil (other oils may transfer to your fabric), and the pressing end of the stiletto and the seam roller may not work well on thick seams or fabrics. 

• Wonderfil Doublesided Instant Applique Paper – At last – an applique paper which is sticky on both sides.  If you love to applique (and especially if you use the Apliquick method), you realize that glue can be part of the equation – especially if you use the Apliquick or freezer paper method. Typically with either of those, the sticky side of the Apliquick interfacing or the shiny side of the freezer paper is pressed to the wrong side of the fabric, the shape is cut out, leaving about a ¼-inch or less of fabric margin around the shape, and then that margin is glued to the backside of the interfacing or freezer paper. 

But not with Wonderfil’s Doublesided Instant Applique Paper.  Both sides are sticky, so no glue is needed.  This is a brand-spanking NEW notion just recently offered by Wonderfil.  I ordered a roll (around $20 for a 180-inch x 11-inch roll) and will let you know how it works.

• Wooden Clapper

I’ve mentioned these before, but they’re worth another mention.  After you have  pressed your seam and the fabric is still hot, run the wood clapper down the seam line.  The cool wood will push out the heat and your seam will lie perfectly flat. 

• Karen Kay Buckley Scissors – These scissors have been on my cutting table and in my sewing kits for years.  The tiny, serrated blades grab fabric, and the microscopic, pinked edges keep fraying to a minimum.  The ergonomic, soft handles mean they can be used for hours at a time without hurting your hands. 

• Cutterpillar Light Box – There are lots of different kinds of light boxes on the market and they can run the gauntlet of price points from under $50 to over $200, depending on the size and the accessories.  And technically you don’t have to buy one – you can use a window, a glass top table, or — if you have a Lucite extension table for your sewing machine – you can place a light source under it (like the flashlight app on your cell phone) and use it as a light box.  However, if you really like applique, you’ll probably want to consider a Cutterpillar.  I have two of them.  They are wafer-thin and the smaller one has both a self-healing cutting mat and a heat-resistant pressing surface which can be used on top of the lighted surface.  Both have nice carrying cases.  I wish I could find one as large as my dining room table as I seem to be appliqueing more and more borders.

• Rotating Cutting Matt – I think – and this is my personal opinion – a quilter needs three cutting mats: a large one for their cutting surface; a medium-sized one to take to classes and retreats, and a rotating cutting mat.  The rotating mat just makes it easier to trim blocks because you’re spinning your mat around, not your block.  And they are a great tool to have if you like to foundation paper piece.

• Roxanne Basting Spray – If you quilt your tops on a domestic or mid-arm machine, the quilt sandwich must be held together by some means – thread basting, pinning, or basting spray.  There are several different kinds of basting spray on the market, but the Roxanne Basting Spray is perfectly Ph balanced, meaning it will cause no long-term harm to even your most heirloom quality quilts.  

• Blade Saver/Thread Cutter – These little things are a great way to get the very last life out of a dull rotary blade.  While the blade may be too dull to cut fabric, it’s still perfect for cutting thread.  Just load your dull blade into the stand and use it to cut your block units apart when you chain piece.  By the time the blade is too dull to cut even thread, it is well and truly used up and ready to be tossed.

• Washi Tape – I use this tape to mark my rulers.  For instance, if I am cutting out a quilt and I need to cut out a lot of 3 ½-inch squares, it’s much easier just to mark the 3 ½-inch line on my ruler than trying to find it every time.  A strip of neon orange Washi Tape is easier to find than the 3 ½-inch stamp on the ruler.  I also use it to mark angles on the ruler, so I don’t goof and cut a 60-degree angle when I need a 45.  It does sound like a picky, little thing, but after you’ve worked all day and you come into your studio a bit tired, any visual cues are welcome.  And yes, you could use masking tape or painters tape, but masking tape leaves a residue and Washi Tape is prettier than painters tape.

• Rulers – Rulers to use in rotary cutting are now a given.  When I began quilting back in the early eighties, you could find quilt patterns which gave directions for both cutting out by template and scissors and rotary cutting.  Not so much any longer.  Every pattern has rotary cutting directions, meaning you need a mat, a rotary cutter and a ruler.

There are literally hundreds of rulers on the quilting market.  Some are better than others.  Some are “one trick ponies” – they’re more templates than rulers and can only be used for one type of block.  Avoid these unless you plan to spend the good bulk of your quilting career only making that one block.  There are always other ways to make a block without spending a lot of money on a ruler/template. 

Ruler choice is a personal preference.  I prefer Creative Grid rulers because they have grippy circles on the back and along the edge of the rulers, so they don’t slip out of place while you’re rotary cutting.  I think quilters should have a square ruler the same size as most of the blocks they make or a bit bigger (just in case they go up a size in blocks).

A long ruler to cut across the width of the grain of the folded fabric.  My personal favorite is a 24-inch long, 4 ½-inch wide ruler with the locking lip at one end so it won’t wiggle out of place as you cut out fabric strips.

A shorter ruler to keep at your machine or toss in your sewing bag to take to class, sit and sews, or retreats. 

I also like this ruler:

The Creative Grids Multi Size Triangle 45- and 90-Degrees Quilt Ruler.  It allows you to cut triangles out of any size strip of fabric – including jelly rolls. 

There has been an awesome phenomenon happening with domestic sewing machine quilting.  Ruler designers have now come out with sets of rulers you can use on your domestic sewing machine which mimics the look of long arm quilting with rulers.  If you have a ruler foot for your machine, and you are pretty comfortable dropping those feed dogs and freestyle quilting, you may want to invest in some of the quilting rulers for domestic sewing machines.  I will warn you; these are slightly expensive and (once you get the hang of them) highly addictive.  Angela Walters has several in the basic shapes needed to get started. 

No matter who you purchase them from, make sure they will work with a domestic machine and one which allows you to do straight line quilting is a great place to start. 

This is a lot of information for this fairly long blog, so I will stop at this point.  Next week I want to discuss what to look for when choosing quilting tools and how to avoid purchasing the “knock offs” which are greatly inferior to the real deal – but can look enough like them to confuse you.

Until Next Week,

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix