OfflineJust a few notes for all of us and our new members.
1. Each block must be a 12 1/2X 12 1/2 inch block. Scant more if using points.
2. Each block will be agreed upon along with the pattern by all members who join.
3. Prewash your fabric please.
4. Cutting, pressing and sewing each block the best you can. We are not all perfect but please do your best.
5. Mail to that months designated quilter:
A. Your blocks. Some have been putting them in zip locks, this is a great idea!
B. Your blocks with your name label on the back-how ever you want to do it.
C. Return envelope with the proper amount of postage.
6. All the members of the exchange are expected to have the correct size within 1/4" of the unfinished size, with 100% cotton material.
If blocks are received are poorly completed they will be returned to maker of the block. This will be decided by the moderator of the group.
Questions? Don't be afraid to ask any of us. Just remember to post those questions and remarks in that months block exchange.
(we don't want to drive Sue & Madman to crazy! )
This is to be a FUN exchange, so please don't stress about it! LOL.....
If any of you have any other suggestions that I have missed please let me know. And I will add them to the list. I hope this is a big help for everyone.
This forum was suggested by management, and not paid for by the any political party of the USA. It was paid for my the Quilters Political Party of All our Quilts.
No animals were harmed in the posting of this forum. (hehe)
hahaah.......was that Don't stress about it comment for Me? One thing I am curious about. I know when I took some of my quilt classes, some prewashed fabric and others did not. Should we perhaps specify if fabric blocks should have been prewashed or not? Thanks
Quilters choice? What does everyone else think?
Stress.....it was for all of us! I have stressed several times over them...LOL...Less I stress the better I do. It helps to talk it over with Booper to, Being older only by 2 years, she is my rock. She keeps me straight.
I wash my fabric immediately after buying before I fold and store it. There are two concerns with unwashed fabrics. One is shrinkage, which doesn't matter much if all your fabric is unwashed and the other is bleeding. Neither of these things are as much of a concern as they used to be since newer fabrics aren't as likely to shrink or bleed as older fabrics. My preference is that everyone prewash their fabrics, just in case! I'd sure hate to wash a quilt and have something bleed on the white pieces!
I also prewash all my fabric. There is the bleeding problem, shrinkage and also the chemicals in the fabric. I always wash it before it even goes in my sewing room that way I know that it has been done.
I am a prewasher too. I was shocked when the last quilt class I took the teacher said she didn't prewash! Went out and bought some green fabric today. Was the block decided yet?
Thanks everyone! That is a good one!
I was thinking that maybe we should state in the rules for the exchange something like this. You already have this in there: Cutting, pressing and sewing each block the best you can. We are not all perfect but please do your best. I was thinking maybe we should add something like: All the members of the exchange are expected to have the correct size within 1/4 in of the unfinished size, with 100% cotton material. If blocks are received are poorly completed they will be returned to maker of the block. This will be decided by the moderator of the group.
Let me know what you think of this. We all spend a lot of time making our blocks so we should have something about very poor quality, to make it fair to all in the group. Maybe someone can come up with better wording than I did. Please take this idea and go with it for some other ways of dealing with this issue.
We do need to set a rule for the blocks to be within 1/4" accuracy for participating in a swap. This could be overseen by the swap coordinator. I received one block this last round that was more than 1/2" off - it isn't usable. When blocks are off this much, they need to be sent back to the originator & then an additional block of each participant returned to them rather than sent on to the quilter who didn't meet the size requirement. Please, let's add this criteria.
A second comment was about pinning points so they match up. That takes a few seconds longer but helps on the outcome of the finished block. I undo a seam & resew if it's too far off (1/8" difference is my tolerance limit if it's one point on occasion). Sometimes the final quilting will have errors 'evaporate' so I allow up to that difference on occasion. If it's something I'm real fussy about, I'll keep working on getting perfect points.
For prewashing, I usually do if I have any doubt about the fabric quality. I also use a Shout Colorfast sheet in the wash on a first wash always & it catches the dye on the sheet rather than having it run into the quilt or other colors. It seems to work very well. I've heard so many problems about Joann's & other discount fabrics that I'm convinced quality quilt fabric shops are worthwhile - no problems with their fabrics shrinking or colors running. Problems are associated with cheaper lines of fabric. I have a friend who literally buys all fabrics based on the manufacturer line. There is a difference in fabric quality for sure.
I have learned so much from all of you with these swaps! Being self taught, I never washed my fabric, but over the last week have started washing every piece I own!!!! My greens are all washed, now I just have to iron them and get started!! I want them to look almost as good as all of you ladies, so I will continue to try harder and harder! Thanks for all the lessons!! Well, I'm off to start sewing tonight, so maybe I'll catch up with all of you later tonight!!
Out of curiosity.....how often do you do block exchanges here?
well Judy I think that this is the first one we have done on this site. Some of the other ladies have done some. This is my first.
Sue I moved your suggestion to the list.......sounded good to me.
forgive me if this has been answered. I haven't "joined" yet, because I want to know I can actually make the block before I join. Hoping to spend some time sewing this Sat....and I bought new gree (100% cotton fabric....and it is prewashed!!) (giggle) Is it quilter's choice or was a block decided?
We will be making Comforts of Home blocks again, however this time in greens and some of the pieces are reversed. If you look at the pattern, the square around the 9-patches will now be white instead of colored (the part that was blue before) and the parts that were white before will be green. So, the 4 sections that go around the 9 patch are reversed in color (not the shapes). I'll try to make one tomorrow and post a picture so its clear to everyone, Now, I just need to know how many are going to participate in the swap. So, EVERYONE SIGN UP IN THE GROUP POST (or just let me know) and I'll let everyone know how many to make. I want 10 total, so even if we don't have that many participating, I'm going to make 10 and keep what I don't need to send out. That's because I want a total of 30 blocks from the 3 exchanges to make a queen size quilt.