"Quilt By The Mile"

"The Pen Is Mightier Than the Sword"
As I begin this blog, I'm not sure in which direction I should go.
I have been wronged and in a very public way.
And by someone I considered a friend.
However; looking back, perhaps that was wrong-headed of me.
I am a Quilter.  That is how I identify myself.  I have no formal training in my chosen field, I taught
myself.  I've always taken classes from Teachers I respect and taken advise from other Quilters.
But my work is my own. 
When I first moved to Little Rock (over 14 years ago) and made some friends here - they are Quilters and are in my Quilt Guild - we decided my little techniques needed names.  My friends Marilyn and Mary Jane and I chose "Quilt By The Mile" for one, "Jibbles & Bits", for another and "Century Log Cabin" for the log cabin block I make with at least 100 pieces.  All three of these techniques are in the green/orange Quilt that opens this Blog. And all three are mine, I made them up out of my own head.  I didn't steal them from anyone.
As time passed and others became aware of my work, I was asked to teach these techniques, at first at my Guild and our retreats and then to other Guilds and their retreats. I have traveled to other states and shared my work, shown my Quilts and told the story of how it all came about.
My Guild - Arkansas Quilters Guild - has a retreat every other year, 'Quilt Arkansas'.  I was asked to teach there and this is where I made the acquaintance of this 'guy'.  He is a friend of a friend and so naturally, he became my friend.  When he has been in town he has been to my home.  We have sewn together.  He has always been very complimentary of my work.
Once while he was in my home for a 'sew day' with a house full of other Quilters, I noticed that he was doing something similar to my "Jibbles & Bits", but is wasn't exactly like it so I didn't say anything.  That was probably a mistake.
This 'guy' lives in an area of the country that is full of the 'movers and shakers' of the Quilt world.  They are in the Guilds in which he is a member.  They are his friends.  He has become a popular new Quilter.  He is also a prolific Blogger.  I have always encouraged him and cheered him on.
Until yesterday.
I have an i-phone and yesterday it pinged to let me know there was a new e-mail for me.  I looked and there was a notice that this 'guy' had a new post.  I opened it.  I didn't have to scroll down.  There before my eyes was "Jibbles & Bits"!  Not something like it, but IT!!!  It could have been one that I made.  I showed it to EC and asked him what he saw - He said "One of your Quilts?"  No, this 'guy'
was bragging about his new 'samples' he had just finished for the cruise on which he would be teaching in the new year.
I got that awful sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.  It is one thing to use someones idea in a Quilt that you put on your bed at your own house, but to blatantly steal a technique and claim it as ones own and use it to further ones own career is wrong.  I am stunned.
I cannot imagine the nerve or the conscience of this 'guy'. 
I talked to my friend Marilyn, who also saw the blog, and she recognized it as my work as well. 
I know people who are going on this cruise to learn this "new technique". 
I don't know what to do or say so I decided to write it all down and send it out into the world. 
"Vengeance is mine" saith the Lord "I will repay".  I leave it with Him.
We'll talk later,
Carol Ann, Quilter