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Lots of quilters enjoy participating in a swap. The main aim of
a swap is to get more of the particular object that you are
swapping. Considering we are talking to quilters here, the
things that they like to swap include, charm squares, completed
blocks or pieces of fabric. To organise a swap you’ll need
participants firstly. These are easily recruited through your
own quilt groups. You must have a theme to the swap that entices
more people to join. Keep the rules simple so that people
understand what they are doing. Rules for swaps include the
size, shape, design or colour of the fabric/block to be swapped.
For instance, you could organise a swap of blue and white, 6.5″
nine patches. You find out how many people are interested in
participating, and that’s how many blocks each person makes. One
for themselves, and one for everyone else. Set a deadline for
the swap to be finished and that’s about it. Other things to
consider are these. Is this a centralised swap or not? A
centralised swap is where the swap hostess collects all of the
items on the due date, swaps them all about, and redistributes
them to the participants so each person has one of everything.
The hostess needs to be organised and not mind spending a lot of
time sorting it out. A non-centralised swap is where each
individual sends/gives each other person involved in the swap
their own item. If you are posting, this can become costly. If
there is a person who drops out and doesn’t contribute, then you
don’t always get the same amount back that you sent. Are you
swapping blocks? Give a good description of the block that
everyone is making. Include instructions. Make sure that it is
within every ones sewing ability. Be very clear on the colours
to use, if this is important. Be clear on what the finished
measurements of the block should be. Be prepared to accept
blocks that might not be sewn well, remember that there are all
levels of ability out there, and we should encourage more
quilters to join these activities. Variations on a block swap.
Have the same block every month but change the colour scheme.
Change the fabric every month to relate to a social calendar ie,
Christmas fabric for December, hearts for February. Give each
person the choice of block that they would like, and give them
their blocks on their birthday. Choose a theme for the blocks
such as hearts, stars etc. Are you swapping fabrics? Decide on
what size the fabric should be. Fat quarters are nice, but you
may want to take into account peoples finances. Choose a colour
scheme for the swap. Often it’s hard to find a particular
colour, so if everyone in the swap provides 8 FQ’s of one yellow
fabric, and there are 8 people in the swap, everyone should end
up with 8 different yellow fabrics. An excellent way to increase
those bare spots in the stash. Rules for this sort of swap need
to specify quality of fabric, to pre-wash or not, and believe it
or not, some people are allergic to cat hair and cigarette smoke
and we all know that these permeate the fabrics. Are you
swapping Charm Squares? This is a great way to get lots of
fabrics for those quilts that just need scraps. Decide how many
different fabrics should be in each pack. Then you provide one
pack for each participant. If there are twenty 10″ squares per
pack, and 10 people in the swap, each person will end up with
200 different fabrics. Excellent. Rules for this swap are
similar to fabric swaps. You’ll need to be exact with the
cutting measurements, just in case people want to sew the
squares together as is. A good way to use up the fabrics in your
stash that you may not wish to keep anymore. Other things that
you can swap include buttons, signature squares, or hand made
items such as pincushions, Christmas ornaments and place mats.
The variations on a swap are endless. Just be prepared to join
in, accept what you receive in the spirit it is sent and you’ll
have loads of fun, and make new friends too.