Wherever there are humans connecting, there can be love, support, friendship, shared experiences. There can also be ridicule, meanness, shaming…i.e., bullying. We all hear and read about experience after experience of thoughtless (at best) exchanges and downright cruel and belittling treatment. Even in our q-niverse, where we are united by our love of cutting up fabric and sewing it back together.Social media can be especially cruel, but quilt shows, guilds and other gatherings are not immune.
We’ve quietly been banging the “no bullies” drum for some time now. For example, our first No Q-Bullies pin debuted at Fall Quilt Market, 2014 (see above). We refined the button recently, and have begun sharing readers’ actual bullying stories and hurtful comments through ads in our pages. Here’s one:
This ad says it all. The quilter to whom this gem was lobbed? She’s an incredibly kind, talented, supportive and generous person.
And just for fun, we made a few No Q-Bullies notebooks for our staff. (You know, working on a magazine as well as other jobs should have some perks.) So, while traveling to Quilt Market in St. Louis a few weeks ago, Community Editor Teri posted this picture on her Facebook timeline, no big deal.
Teri’s off-hand photo share coincided with general furor about a secret FB group that was targeting high-profile non-traditional quilters with various sorts of meanness. (Check out our Notions piece, Secrets, Lies & Quilting, where we write about the secret group. This bullying episode is particularly egregious in its depth; it actually made its way to a BBC podcast!)
But back to the notebook. Do you want to fly your No Q-Bullies flag, too? After many requests, we’re taking pre-orders for the No Q-bullies Notebook at a cost of $8 plus $4 shipping. (On orders of more than one notebook, shipping will be adjusted). Once we have orders for 75 notebooks, we’ll fire up the presses. Let us be clear: We will not process any customer orders until we have 75. Order yours here!
Quilt. Sew. Live. Breathe.
COMMENT #1
Would you consider using gridded paper rather than lined?
COMMENT #
We would consider that! Will mention that and let you know.
COMMENT #2
Just wondering what the status of the “No Q-Bullies” notebook production is? I’m looking forward to my notebook order when you’ve received enough orders!