Mailing quilts...

A quick look at my list shows that most of the quilts are in the mail even as I type. And a good handful have actually reached their new homes (including both of the ones I got from the swap - hoorah!). Please remember that if you have yet to post your quilt off to its new owner, you need to do so by the end of the month. This should give you plenty of time, including another weekend, so if there is going to be some problem with getting them in the mail by that time, please let me know.

All mailing info now sent

OK, all - I have now emailed everyone (some of you twice, if you had two quilts in the swap) about where to send your quilt to. Anyone who has not received an email from me, please let me know and I will send again.

Mailing info emailed

OK, I have now mailed information to everyone, except in three cases, where I am still waiting on addresses from the recipients. If you are not Penny, Vero or Natalie and you have NOT received info from me on where to send your quilt, first, check your spam folder, but then contact me again as it's obviously gone astray somewhere along the line.

Clarification: Penny, Vero & Natalie - I have YOUR addresses. What I don't have is the addresses of where you ladies will need to send a quilt to! So, you three won't have instructions from me on where to send a quilt. Don't worry, though, you will have as soon as I get the address from the recipients.

Another update

So, I have now double checked my list (like Father Christmas?) and everyone seems to be matched up properly. I am waiting on a few addresses, and then I will begin to email out mailing info to everyone in the swap. It will probably take the rest of the week, as there are nearly 40 people (several people made more than one quilt). I will post here when I've sent all the emails, so you will know to contact me if you haven't had your info, but I wouldn't worry until the weekend or so...

I am pleased to say that everyone will receive a quilt that was on their list (whew!) and that in many cases, I was able to allocate something from the top half of the list. Thanks again to all who played in this round - I have to say, making a final decision was pretty tough for me - there were a number which really appealed to me in a variety of ways.

Oh, and...

I know you are all probably curious about which are the most popular quilts - I am always interested to see which are most well-liked... This round was a little different than the past two in that there were more quilts which only appeared on a few lists than there have been in the past - my theory about that is that it's to do with the sheer volume of quilts received, and the overwhelming popularity of a small handful.

Anyway. The most popular (i.e. appearing on the most lists, regardless of position) was no 17, the blue shibori piece with beadwork, which appeared on over 30 lists. Other very popular pieces include no 20, no 26, no 28, no 34, no 40, no 42 and no 45, all of which appeared on approximately 20-25 lists.

Does this matter? Is it a popularity contest? Of course not. All the quilts enterred in the swap had their individual merits and charms and I'm sure their new owners will be pleased with them, regardless, but I do think it's interesting to see which are the most universally appealing. If you were lucky enough to be a maker of a more popular quilt, it's more likely you will receive a quilt high on your own list - though of course, it's all about balance, so I'm making no promises!

The Great Sort Out

Well, I have lists in from everyone, and I have made a tentative pairing up of quilts with new owners. However, I am going to (not tonight!) check and double check it to make sure that a)I haven't given the same quilt to two different people, b) everyone has a quilt and c)the quilt they are scheduled to receive does actually appear on their request list (which means going back through the emails just to double check everything was enterred into the spreadsheet correctly). If all that works, I'll be ready to send info to people about where to send their little quilts. But expect it to take a few more days!

If you think I may not have your address, feel free to email it to me now. I know I have a lot of them from previous swaps and some of you have sent it when you sent your lists, but of course, I can't ask your new quilt's maker to send the quilt to you if I don't have your address...

When I do send the mailing info, I will also ask if you want to know in advance what quilt you'll be getting - that way, those who want a surprise will get one, and those who don't, won't.

Preference Lists

Hi all - I've received lots of lists now (and have quite a few waiting in my inbox for me which I haven't had time to log yet) - it would be great to get your lists in by the end of the weekend, if you can - I probably won't chase anyone up until after the weekend, though, as I have a very busy weekend, between my son's 8th birthday on Saturday, with all that entails, and meeting up with a friend in London from the US on Sunday (actually - that friend has made a quilt for this swap, but I'm not saying which one!)

More on picking your faves

Thanks so much to all who have got back to me so far - I will confirm later tonight that I have indeed got your list of preferences.

For those who haven't yet sent in theirs, what a number of people have done is sent a list of quilts they like in a kind of two tier system (i.e. 5 or 6 absolute favourites with 5 or 6 more ones they like and would be happy to give a home to) - either sending them as faves/second faves or "here are the 15 I like best, within those, these 5 are my absolute faves" - this system will work brilliantly for me and make juggling much less complicated.

Thanks!

That's it! Now what?

OK, so that's all the quilts up. If you haven't had a chance to send one, I'm sorry, but I don't want to extend the deadline as I have a complicated & busy month coming up.

So, now what? Well, now you get to tell me which quilts you like, and I get to try to pair them up with new owners.

What would make this task and therefore my life really easy is for those of you who like a bunch of them, but don't have strong preferences, to simply send me a list of 10-12 quilts in no particular order of preference. This makes the distribution MUCH easier. Or if you would be happy to take any of the quilts, that's fine too - I had a few people say that last time, and it's also really helpful logistically. If you do have strong preferences, that's fine, you are welcome to send an ordered list, but I know a lot of times we think - ooh, I really like that one and that one and that one and that one - that really works for me...

Please try to send me a list of a decent length - 10 to 15 is best. If you really don't like 10 quilts, you can list fewer, but I find it hard to believe that you wouldn't like at least 10.

If you have made more than one quilt for this swap, you don't have to send two lists, one is fine.

Once I have all the lists, I will try to pair up quilts.

In the event that no one puts your quilt on their list, I'm afraid you get to keep it. That's the way it goes. All the quilts in this swap are nice pieces of work, but sometimes one may not quite fit the mood of those making selections, so I wouldn't worry too much if yours doesn't get picked. I've not had this happen before, but you never know.

Any questions, just ask.

Oh, and I'd like to have all the lists back by Sunday evening (my time) next week (that's the 6th of Feb). I won't have time on the weekend to work on them anyway. That gives you a week to decide which ones you'd be happy to rehome.

In case you wonder how I will assign quilts to new owners, well, it's complicated! If there are particular quilts which are widely popular, the preference on those tends to go to the folks whose own quilts were also popular. But honestly, it's complicated and takes several days of switching, swapping and balancing!

Quilt no 45

The quilt is made from cotton fabrics, a few of them hand dyed. Batting is cotton. I've also used some beads and pieces of ribbon.


The quilt is made from cotton fabrics, a few of them hand dyed. Batting is cotton. I've also used some beads and pieces of ribbon.

Quilt no 44

A center medallion with pieced frame, and a little machine piecing.

This one doesn't show very well in the photos, but if you click here to go to an online album, I think you get a better idea of what the quilt looks like.

Quilt no 43

Sashiko Still Life

It is fused applique on an improsivationally pieced background. Some of the fabrics in the background are covered in gold chiffon for some extra gold. Every single piece of fabric, from both the front and the back, is from my Asian scrap stash. It's hand quilted in a traditional Japanese Sashiko pattern.

Quilt no 42

Twirling Tree

It's reverse applique of an original design, using some batik fat quarters from my stash. It's quilted along the tree and in diagonal lines across the quilt.

Quilt no 41

It is hand appliqued with freezer paper on top and then machine appliqued with complimentary colours on the motifs and freehand in cream to flatten the background - all in batiks.

Quilt no 40

Doodle

I'm calling this 'Doodle' as that's what it started as! I traced the design onto smooth cotton sheeting pressed onto freezer paper for support. I coloured using wax crayons and pressed to set the colour. I've only recently discovered this technique and love the mottled and shaded effects you can get by layering 2 or more colours. It is backed with one of my hand dyed fabrics and is free motion quilted with cotton and machine embroidery threads. I added some beads for extra interest.