Stolen Quilt Blue Waves

December 2016:

This is the story of my stolen quilt Blue Waves. It is now more than 10 years  ago since the quilt disappeared in mysterious circumstances from an exhibition in Italy. I have little or no hope that I will ever see it again but I have decided to put this information here on my blog to make it virtually impossible for anyone to either exhibit or sell it. The write ups down below were written at the time it all happened.

Feb. 2006:
From Feb. 12 - 26, 2006 the quilt called Blue Waves was meant to be hanging in the Sala d'Arte of the Town Hall, Via Roma 31, Luserna S. Giovanni, a town approx. 45 minutes from Turin, during the Winter Olympics. It was originally exhibited as part of the Rhythm 'n Blues competition at  Le Carrefour Européen du Patchwork 2005 in Alsace and then the competition quilts became a travelling show.The entire exhibition was shipped from France to Italy by a French courier company in one big box, which it turned out did not have a tracking number. It might not have helped in this case but I am quite disturbed that my quilt was being shipped around Europe in this way! On arrival at the town hall someone (no idea who!) signed for the box which apparently looked undisturbed. However on opening the box (and this might have happened some time later, again I don't know how long) by the Italian quilt group who was in charge of the exhibition at this venue,  it was discovered 5 of the quilts had disappeared, mine being one of them. The Italian police are now investigating this theft. It could either have been an opportunistic theft (which seems unlikely, as the box was closed again and looked as before!) or a planned one. If the first there is some chance the thief might dump the quilts and they might be retrieved. If the second I don't hold out much hope of seeing the quilt again. I was not informed about the theft till the 16th Feb, which was probably already a week after the discovery of the theft, by Mr. Crupi, the person in charge at Le Carrefour Europeen du Patchwork.

After several more e-mails  which went unanswered I once again phone Mr. Crupi on the 20th March. He tells me that he went in person to the Town Hall in Luserna San Giovanni where he was shown the alarm system and was assured that the box had been secure while in the Town Hall. That only leaves the possibility that someone slit open the box while in transit, removed 5 quilts and closed the box up again. I have to say I find this highly unlikely. Unfortunately there is no way I can be sure (1) that the quilts were in the box when they left France, (2) that no one had access to the box in the Italian townhall and (3) where the box was while in transit as it had no tracking number.

Feb 2007:
19th February 2007 It's now more than a year ago since I first heard the news about my stolen quilt. In that time a lot has happened, most of it good, but there has been absolutely no news about my quilt or the other 4 quilts stolen at the same time. I've heard nothing further from the organizers of the European Patchwork Meeting and don't believe the theft of our quilts was even mentioned at their next exhibition in September 2006. I'm still really angry as this was a totally avoidable event if only a little bit more care had been taken. 26th May 2006 Here is the latest and probably last update about the theft of this quilt:   I have now received the insurance money for the quilt together with the police report which was filed about 3 weeks after the quilts were actually stolen. Ironically it states at the bottom that no man hours were used in pursuing this theft! No doubt it was already much too late! I don't expect I will see the quilt again but as everyone has been most helpful in publicizing the theft I'm hoping that should it ever turn up somewhere, someone will recognize it and hopefully contact me.

Although this has been a most unpleasant experience which has certainly deeply dented my confidence in the Carrefour Europeen organization I have also been amazed and pleasantly surprised by the many message of support and offers of help I have received. Thank you for these, everyone!!!

The quilt measures 122 x 217 cm (48.1/8 x 85.1/8") and was finished in May 2005.It is hand and machine pieced, hand quilted and embroidered, and extensively beaded. It has a label at the back with all my personal information.

If you have any information regarding this quilt please contact me at my e-mail address (as shown in the sidebar of this blog).