WHEN PAST BLOG SWAPS DON'T WORK, CREATE ONE THAT WILL!
First off, let me say that because my Block of the Month....with a Twist is put on hold for a short time due to no sewing space, I wanted to pursue the "perfect" Fabric Swap to keep my blog active, lively & fun.
For those of you that have been following my blog, you know that I have tried a couple of Swaps on my blog. I tried the RAINBOW FAT QUARTER SWAP & the DESIGNER FAT QUARTER SWAP. There wasn't alot of interest nor participation. I really wanted to do a regularly scheduled Swap on my blog that would be successful that people want to participate in while staying with the Fat Quarter theme because many of us like working with larger pieces of fabric & I didn't find any other sewing/quilting blogs doing them. For anyone organizing anything on your blog or socially where you live, you will find that sometimes things don't work out the way you hoped or planned and you have to make adjustments.
I want to keep things super simple. With the 2 swaps I did in the past, the fabrics came to me, then I personally put the bundles together and mailed them out to everyone, which incurred 2 shipping charges. My NEW Swap takes me out of the picture as the "middle man" and there is only 1 shipping charge instead of 2, saving time & $$.
So a few nights ago while falling asleep, I was asking myself: "How can I keep the aspect of receiving new & exciting fabric from someone else, keep it simple, have only 1 shipping charge, have the aspect of being surprised when opening the package and making the swap a social type of experience? Then it hit me! Match participants up in pairs of 2 and let everyone decide & choose which 4 Fat Quarters they want to send to their "FAT QUARTER FRIEND"! This would be a great opportunity to allow participants to add their own personalization if they choose by decorating the outside of the package, using decorative wrapping for the fabric itself, including a personalized note/card, including any small gifts that their FAT QUARTER FRIEND would be totally excited to receive.
You don't have to include any extras but some ideas are maybe:
- A Matching Spool of Thread
- A Cute Sewing Notion
- Sewing Pattern we no longer want/need
- Anything else you would like your new friend to have!
THE DETAILS / MEAT N POTATOES / INS & OUTS OF THE SWAPS
* The Fat Quarter Friends Swaps will be open to Canada & USA Only. Canadians will be paired up and Americans will be paired up.
* This will be a monthly swap but you only sign up for the months you want to participate.
* There are no fees other than buying Fat Quarters, extra goodies & shipping costs.
* The Sign-Up Sheet will be on my blog from the 15th-last day of the month (I.E. you will sign up at the end of May for the June swap). I will include 3 slots on the online form asking for favorite colors, favorite designers and favorite collections which will help you pick out Fat Quarters that your FAT QUARTER FRIEND will love! I chose the end of the month to sign up because many people get paid on the last/first day of the month and I want to make sure that you know ahead of time to put money aside so you can participate in the swap as most people that get paid once a month are broke by the end of the month. I've been there so I know. This also gives you time to look at your finances and decide if you are able to participate in the next swap.
* I will then pair everyone up by the 2nd or 3rd then send out emails to let everyone know who their FAT QUARTER FRIEND is.
* Please make sure that you ship your package by the 10th, which gives you about a week to go shopping from your local quilt/fabric shoppe.
* Send 4 Fat Quarters that are unwashed & are quilt quality. You can send Fat Quarters from your own stash as long as they are in like new condition and are full sized & not trimmed off. Or buy new Fat Quarters.
* If for some reason you are not able to participate after signing up, please let me know by the last day of the month so that I can rearrange pairs.
* I will ask that all participants email me when they receive the package from their FAT QUARTER FRIEND so that I can keep track of who has/hasn't received theirs.
* For those participants that have blogs, I think it will be awesome to show in a blog post what our FAT QUARTER FRIEND has sent us !
HOW I CAME UP WITH THE DESIGN FOR THE GRAPHIC
Last night when I was falling asleep, the idea came to me so I sketched in on a notepad so I wouldn't forget when I woke up. I like squares so I imagined 4 squares which represent 4 Fat Quarters. The colors I chose are in my banner image. I wanted to keep the boy/girl colors caddy cornered and the citrus colors caddy cornered. The font, can't remember what it's called but it looks like satin/embroidery stitching if you look closely at the larger picture at the beginning of the post.
SO WHO'S IN?! THE FIRST SWAP WILL BE FOR APRIL SO I WILL POST THE ONLINE SIGNUP FORM IN A BLOG POST THE MORNING OF MARCH 15TH. FEEL FREE TO GRAB MY BUTTON BELOW!
This sounds like fun. I am always looking for new fabrics to build my stash. Thanks for hosting and organizing.
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