Update

Because you all have my best interests at heart, this is what I emailed to simplesimonandco@gmail today.

“This is Mary Etherington, co-owner of Country Threads. This bullseye pattern is our original pattern published by Martingale in Quilts From Aunt Amy and it is not a pattern in the public domain. You need to stop selling it immediately as we own the copyright.”

Thanks for you unwavering support!!!

79 thoughts on “Update

  1. Donna O

    Mary I am curious as to their response to your email. You would think they would know the rules.
    Sorry to hear of your kitty passing a few days ago. Would she be the mom to Colton? I remember playing with Colton the year you closed down your shop. I’m glad Colton is doing so much better but sorry she spoiled your fabric.
    What kind of contraption is Hazel eating from and what popped out of the opening that she grabbed?

    1. Mary Etherington Post author

      Donna – Hazel is playing with a ball launcher called iFetch – it shoots little balls out and then she puts them back in -over and over! Colton showed up here as a kitten so no, Jackie wasn’t his mom.

  2. Charlotte Barnard

    Brava, Mary! Praying that the “cease and desist” stops them in their tracks and that is the end of it!

  3. Alice

    Mary, so glad you sent them an email!! It amazes me that they think they can get by with this! There’s copyright laws for a reason! I know we’ll all be interested to know what their response is!!

    1. Mary Etherington Post author

      Kay – a launcher called ifetch – she puts the balls in and they shoot out for her to chase and then she puts them back in again – over and over and over. Great toy!

      1. Marsha from Kansas

        Mary, what a great device. We had the sweetest, most gentle Sheltie we owned who loved to play fetch. He would wear me out. He had epilepsy and I would do anything to keep him active. Wish they had this back then. We figure his epilepsy was why he was given to the humane society and his owner didn’t tell them. Good thing we went straight to the shelter as soon as we saw him listed. I shudder to think what would have happened if he had a seizure there and we would have missed out having a great dog in our lives.

  4. Jane

    That should get their attention. Hope it helps. Copyright laws are strange at best . It might be a technique you created and that might help your side. Thinking of you.

  5. Marilyn Miller

    Way to go! I’m all about standing up for ourselves, particularly as women in this crazy world. It will be interesting to see their reaction. I hope they are not only apologetic and humbled but that they credit you with the orders and money the receive. Best of luck!

  6. Marilyn from West Bend, WI

    You did so well…..brave woman that you are…told my three flower girls, Lily, the Ragdoll/Maine Coon cat;
    Poppy our Havanese, and Rosey, our Petite Golden Doodle and of course, my husband, too, about that Simple Simon business. Was so happy to see everyone respond to you so quickly about your copyright.
    Congratulations.
    Now, just need to finish the bullseye I started with you on the blog. Thank you for everything you do for us.

  7. Jo in Michigan

    Nice Mary! I wonder if the cheater faces will respond?
    On top of everything else you didn’t need to deal with this. Hugs to you.

  8. Joyce from NY

    Good for you Mary, right to the point!
    I’m going to have to look for that toy for my grand dogs!

  9. Bobbie Woodruff

    Mary, Good for you. I have posted on Facebook about them and on There site. It says keep the comments nice. So I wonder if they will take my comment down. We need to go to other blogs we follow and leave a comment with them. They can say something about it and it reaches more and more quilters.
    This is a horrible thing to do to someone. I guess they thought since you had closed your quilt shop your patterns were fair game to them Wonder how many other they have done this to? I sure hope you get it removed and get apologize to. Even the money she has made off the pattern should be yours.

  10. Jean Elliott

    Very good..nicer than I would have been. Although I wasn’t nasty when I posted on their Facebook page. It was great to see all the support you received!

  11. Sue in Oregon

    Perfect, Mary and Connie! Firm and To The Point! Love it. Hope it scares the pants off of them.

  12. Nancy

    Good for you! It may not end so easily as them just discontinuing the sale of the pattern but I hope you stick to your guns. I wonder if your publisher can help if problems continue.

  13. Marsha from Kansas

    Good for you. Considering their actions, this was a very nice email. Sure hope it works and will be all it takes for an apology and a deletion of the pattern. I did find their blog earlier in the day and there was one comment. I looked a little while ago and that comment is not there, but the blog post is still there. Hopefully gone tomorrow! Sleep well knowing you have done what needed to be done today.

  14. Charlotte Shira

    Nice job Mary! I hope they respond soon to your email. I found my Bull’s Eye pattern that I got from you and it is definitely copyrighted. I have all my squares made but need to put them together now!
    I love Hazel! She is so entertaining!

  15. Pattie Weber

    I went to the website to see if the comments were taken down and they were. Now the pattern is being offered for $0.00. I filled out my info in the shopping cart and received the pattern immediately as a free pdf file. Interesting.

    1. Kathy in western NY

      Well this is interesting Pattie!! Now they make it a free pattern when they could have taken down the entire blog post. Just the lack of being truthful saying they told Riley Blake they knew how to use a long arm and lied, and then proceeded to make it sound like they had no respect for that expensive machine, tells me they need some accountability.

  16. Lynette in Orlando

    Good for you!!! WE ARE HERE FOR YOU AND WE HAVE YOUR BACK!!!! Since Martingale did the publishing, wouldn’t they assist is getting these people to stop this? Let us know what else, if anything, we can do. Xx

  17. Carla

    Short and to the point. As your quilt is published, and on the book’s cover, it should be very easy for the interloper to look it up. I’m kinda hoping it turns out to be an unintentional mistake. I hate to think it was intentional. But lately, parts of humanity have been very disappointing.

  18. Kimberly Lusin

    Your email is perfect, Mary! Keep us posted. I love Hazel’s toy and may have to look for one for my Corgi pup!

  19. Elizabeth McDonald

    Yay! You were remarkably restrained, Mary! What a classy generation we are! I was SO upset about this!

  20. Jeanne H in Finger Lakes of New York

    So glad to hear that your email to them was effective, Mary, although I think they are getting off lightly.

    I know a knitting teacher who had one of her handouts appropriated word for word by another for a class on a cruise, and she had her attorney send the cease and desist letter. The perpetrator seemed annoyed that it happened, like what was the big deal!

  21. Angie from Baltimore

    You should have someone try to buy it and make sure they have stopped selling it.

    Hopefully they will take it down.
    Totally not fair or legal.

  22. Luci in Georgia

    It was definitely the right thing to do, and now the ball is, as they say, in their court. I hope you get immediate satisfaction, i.e., the end of the pattern selling, and all profits from the past sale of this pattern forwarded to your company. Good luck, Mary.

  23. Ruthie

    Wow, can’t believe this happened with your pattern . They really should take the whole ad down, because its still showing it as their pattern ,they just are not charging for it. Your email was perfect , I’m sure it will turn out in your and Connies favor. Now I have to go back and find the post with the toy must have missed that one.

  24. Kris in Naperville

    Hi Mary — This was the message I received from them on Facebook…. “Thanks for your message Kris. We had never even heard of the original pattern or had seen anything like it. We are in contact with the ladies and will respond shortly. We are both right now running our kids around to after school activities but are responding as soon as we can. 💛”

    You and Connie are like our Sisters… No one messes with our Sisters !!!! Stay warm !!

  25. Sue in Marion, IN

    Glad you sent them an email but I’m still mad about it. On the blog whoever wrote about the pattern release said something like, “it’s an old favorite, I’ve made it several times”. Really? Where did she think it came from in the first place?

  26. MaureenHP

    So now they think because the pattern is free it’s ok??? They are still stealing your pattern. Sadly, I don’t think this is over, Mary. While they did what you asked–not sell the pattern–they are still making your pattern available free on their website. Perhaps a strongly worded letter from your lawyer is in order.

  27. Jeanine from Iowa

    I don’t feel like it is right for them to be allowing anyone to download the pattern for free. They need to take it off their website. It hurts Mary and Connie’s sales of the pattern. I have the book the pattern is in.

  28. Jan Frank-de Ois

    Yeah, for you!! I can’t tell you how many times I refused to photocopy craft patterns @ the library.
    I’d share with them that a person had created the pattern–working hard on it & to get it published. The reply? “But it’s only for me!” How much money do you, the creators, lose on the “only for mes”???

  29. Norma

    I hadn’t read posts for a few days so just became aware of the Bullseye infringement. I checked out their FB page. They said”Until today we had never heard of the quilter, their site, or their patterns.” They also said this has been on their site after they saw it nine years ago at a quilting expo.
    I have been involved in quilting for years. The pioneers of quilting eras fascinate me. I own the very first Quilt Sampler with two smiling gals on the cover! Sad to think that today’s commercial quilters want to throw a pattern on a site without knowing much history of quilting. There are designer names that have taught us so much over the past decades. New designers will hopefully realize the foundation that was laid for them.
    Thank you for all of your beautiful patterns and quilts,Connie and Mary. I have admired your quilts, your lovely shop and your business ideas for years and I would eagerly go to Quilt Market annually to see what new ideas you developed.

  30. Judie Wookey

    Hi Ladies, As others stated, the pattern is still up today. I left a note that had “shame on you” in it but could not find any other comments. If anyone is registered on Quiltingboard.com putting a notice there could help. Hang in there….we ladies are on this!

  31. Ann in PA

    Sadly, those gals just don’t get it. They posted about “all the vicious comments, emails, and messages accusing us of being something we are not…” They asked that” the threats and harassments (to ourselves, our business, and families) stop. They are unwarranted and untrue.” They claim that their tutorial was 9 years ago; however, your copyrighted pattern was from 1999! They are looking for sympathy from others because of all of us posting about their copyright infringement; but they are not remorseful. I can’t believe they are now offering a copyrighted pattern for FREE on their blog/website.
    Enough about them….thank you for sharing that adorable puppy toy. I just might have to get one for one of our granddogs who will be coming here in a few weeks. I love seeing Hazel! (I remember a hurricane named “Hazel” when I was young. It was a doozie!) Keep us posted on your wonderful furry family! Sending hugs!

  32. Kim

    Some people just don’t get it and apparently some business owners can’t grasp the concept of copyright laws and the reason they are researched before publications happen. I wonder how much it would cost her financially and business-wise if she was made to legally defend her actions. It’s always a good idea to be very careful of what you show and say on the internet as it lives there forever. Could be she’s cooked her own goose so to speak.

  33. Mary Ann

    So glad you did that.

    Here in northeast ND……I think wind chill today is -30 below!!! Glad I am a homebody!!
    I have my quilting, books to read and lots of series to watch on Netflix and Amazon Prime……
    survivor972002@midco.net

  34. Virginia M

    So sorry this is happening to your pattern(s). It is also happening in the painting world also. Don’t know how they can get away with it. See a lot of this on Pinterest also. Be vigilant.

  35. K8m

    Perhaps you should order a FREE copy of their Bullseye pattern. Might be interesting to see just how far they went if they copied your pattern for sale.

  36. Brenda Ks

    Left a comment on their website this morning and it was immediately taken down.
    They should remember “If you can’t take the heat get out of the kitchen “

  37. Marylou Krish

    I’m proud of you for the wording of your letter and for sending it. By now, they know they have done wrong. Many of us have sent messages letting them know they’ve infringed on your copyright. I pray you don’t have to take this further and get a lawyer involved.
    Stay strong Mary. Your many friends are here for you and supporting you.

Comments are closed.