And in the category of things that make Quilt Show Bureaucrats lose sleep:
Kentucky man pleads guilty to damaging quilt (as reported in the Houston Chronicle)
A Kentucky quilting machine manufacturer pleaded guilty Monday to defacing an Elvis quilt with bleach, guaranteeing himself a trip to the jailhouse without the rock.
Daniel G. Puckett, 47, admitted damaging the “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Elvis” quilt in exchange for a six-month sentence in state prison.
Dressed in an ill-fitting suit with a colorful tie, Puckett looked like a tenant in the heartbreak hotel when he stood before state District Judge Debbie Mantooth Stricklin.
“I would like to apologize to Arlene Blackburn for damage I did to (the) quilt,” he said. “I have made mistakes in the past, and over this I have lost everything.”
Blackburn, the fabric artist who created the $6,500 Elvis-inspired quilt, believes Puckett tossed bleach on her quilt as part of a vendetta that began after she successfully sued him over a defective machine in 2001.
The bleach incident occurred during November’s International Quilt Festival at the George R. Brown Convention Center. [Read the IQF report on the incident here]
The good news? Arlene is still showing her work and will have quilts at NYQuilts! this year.
