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Quilting by mail? Something I read about....
StacieG2002   Advanced Beginner IL USA Member since 4/12/07 Posts: 209	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 6/18/12 3:28 PM Hi all! Over vacation, I checked out a bunch of quilting books at my local library for by-the-pool reading. One talked about ways to make quilting more of a group activity- quilting bees and such. Sounds fun, but I am the only person in my group of friends who quilts. But another idea in the book sounded interesting. I don't recall all the details, but something like you get a group of people to each make a set number of blocks in a chosen pattern and then they mail out the blocks to the others in the group and, with enough people, each member of the circle ends up with enough blocks to put together to make a very unique quilt. My question to you is, have any of you tried something like this? How did it work?
Mufffet   Intermediate VT USA Member since 8/14/05 Posts: 8909	Login to reply to this post In reply to StacieG2002 << Like this post Date: 6/18/12 3:44 PM HHmmmmm...we actually did this on PR a few years back. Someone lost or misplaced or whatever our blocks and it had to be re-done. Whoa....too many pitfalls. It was a bit different than your plan, but you know that along the way someone doesn't pull their weight or have time, or whatever, so it is like asking for bad feelings. Perhaps others are all for it though - you never know! ------ "Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." --Dalai Lama I have sewing machines
quiltingwolf Advanced MD USA Member since 12/15/02 Posts: 4986	Login to reply to this post In reply to StacieG2002 << Like this post Date: 6/18/12 3:48 PM That is a swap. About quilting use to have a lot of swaps. Problem with them is everyone had to be very committed or someone in the swap loses out. Sway can be finished blocks, or fat quarters, themed fat quarters. Usually there is a hostess responsible for the entire swap making sure everyone had everyone addresses etc. But it can be time consuming as if you doing a block swap you have to make enough blocks for the entire swap that can avg 20 people or more. And your usually under a time frame. I have never done it as I couldn't either afford it or have the time to make all the blocks. But I would imagine if everyone does what they are supposed to it would be quite fun. ------ quiltingwolf.blogspot.com
TessKwiltz   Intermediate TX USA Member since 9/21/07 Posts: 1313	Login to reply to this post In reply to StacieG2002 << Like this post Date: 6/18/12 4:21 PM I have participated in swaps, on other forums that are more dedicated to quilting. It wasn't as much fun as I thought it would be, so I stopped doing it. ------ Tess On threadpainting flowers: "How many colors are in a flower? ... How many do you have?" - Ellen Anne Eddy
JEF   Intermediate VA USA Member since 7/27/05 Posts: 2438 Board Moderator	Login to reply to this post 1 member likes this. Date: 6/18/12 9:11 PM I've done a fair number of swaps/exchanges. The one that worked the best (IMHO) was the one where each person made a set of blocks. For example, the "set" was 6 blocks of a very simple pattern. You could make more than one set. All sets got mailed to one person. She sorted them out and distributed them so each recipient got as many different participants' blocks as possible. You got back the same number of sets that you mailed in. You had to include a postage paid envelope within the package you send your sets in. Many people also include a small gift for the hostess (sorting all those blocks is a lot of work) but that was not required. One suggestion, if you decide to organize something like this, is to keep the block VERY simple or pick one that can be sized down. For example, ask everyone to make a 7 inch pinwheel block and then square it down to 6.5 inches. If you don't do that, you will get blocks that range from 6-7.5 inches. I eventually dropped out of a block lottery group b/c the blocks I "won" were SO far apart in size they just couldn't be worked together. JEF ------ "The trouble with quotes on the Internet is that you can never know if they are genuine." --Abraham Lincoln
Sonoma33   Intermediate CA USA Member since 5/10/09 Posts: 1653	Login to reply to this post In reply to StacieG2002 << Like this post Date: 6/18/12 11:29 PM I have not done a quilt block swap, but I do swap regularly on ravelry with either handspun yarn or knitted projects, or both. I have been the organizer in swaps that included over 30 participants with a deadline--the trick is that you have to plan for 'angels' who will fill in for someone who doesn't fulfill their part. I've also found it much more fun to swap within a group of people where most communicate regularly and participate a lot in the group--it seems things go better then, with less drop-outs. I personally think a quilt block swap would be a lot of fun. -- Edited on 6/19/12 0:47 AM -- ------ Berninas 830LE ♥ Artista 630PQE ♥ 930 Record ♥ Juki TL2010Q ♥ Pfaffs Creative Performance ♥ Passport 2.0 ♥ Singers 221 ♥ 301 ♥ 500a ♥ Kenmore 1040 ♥ Elna 'Grasshopper' ♥ Tacsew T500 ♥ Babylock Evolution
goodworks1   Advanced IL USA Member since 7/19/03 Posts: 3298	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 6/19/12 0:40 AM I did this quilt block swap several years ago. It was an interesting experience. I was glad I didn't have a lot more blocks to work into a pattern that made some sense.... ------ blog: goodworks1.wordpress.com
goodworks1   Advanced IL USA Member since 7/19/03 Posts: 3298	Login to reply to this post In reply to JEF << Like this post Date: 6/19/12 2:34 PM Quote: JEF One suggestion, if you decide to organize something like this, is to keep the block VERY simple or pick one that can be sized down. For example, ask everyone to make a 7 inch pinwheel block and then square it down to 6.5 inches. If you don't do that, you will get blocks that range from 6-7.5 inches. I definitely agree about the simple block hint. The 3 strips on the swap I did were fairly easy to resew/trim if they were too large... And the swaps I've done that were most successful had a hostess as described above. Otherwise there're too many things that can go wrong. -- Edited on 6/19/12 2:34 PM -- ------ blog: goodworks1.wordpress.com
LauraTS   Advanced Beginner CA USA Member since 7/10/06 Posts: 1952	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 6/19/12 3:43 PM The about.com site has a quilting forum that I used to hang out on. They did a lot of swaps of fabric cuts on various themes, as well as block swaps, etc. I once won the block lotto that they had monthly and got a bunch of blocks (that are still sitting unsewn in a ziploc!). They've got a good group of consistent posters and conscientious hostesses, so I would suggest them if you're interested in this sort of thing. I know there are also blogs that host these sorts of block swaps and projects. ------ I've moved! Visit my new sewing blog at http://chiralcraft.wordpress.com Do you sew from KnipMode? Join us at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/knipmode_english/

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