Another Little Quilt Swap

Round 6 Grand Reveal

2012-01-02T16:50:00.000Z

OK, it's time - past time - to do the grand reveal and show who made which quilt and who received it in the end. So, we'll start with Quilt no 1, which was made by Barbara and sent to Francine.

Francine made this tennis themed quilt (no 9), which went to live with Sandra, who made this

interesting multi-textured piece (no 3), which ended up in California with Julie.

Julie's quilt (no 11), which only didn't make my list because I already own a quilt made by Julie, went off to live with Jay, who made this piece, (no 4):

Jay's quilt (no 4) ended up in Arkansas with Ramona, who is one of the people who has been in all of the ALQS swaps - there are a few. But I can always count on her to produce an interesting piece and well within the deadline. This round, she made this quilt below (no 7)

which went to live with Vero, in Chile. Vero has also been in many rounds of the ALQS, if not quite all of them, and although I am always slightly nervous while quilts are travelling to and from Chile, we've never lost one in either direction. Touch wood!

Vero's quilt this time (no 34) went to Linda in DC

And Linda's superstitious quilt (no 16) went to Michelle.

Michell's quilt (no 13) was the one that caused me quite a bit of agony by taking a long time to reach its new home in Australia, with Melody.

Melody's lovely abstract tree (no 22) went to Anne in Norway. Anne is lucky, because Melody's quilt was one of the most requested pieces in the swap, and it's easy to see why.

Anne's own piece (no 23) went to live with Catherine, while the piece which Catherine made (no 24, below)

ended up wending its way to Lynda in the UK. Lynda's quilt (no 26), also one of the most requested pieces, is the one piece which still isn't with its own, because it is travelling to various shows and being photographed for Lynda's new book. Such is the price of fame!

However, Margaret, to whom it is eventually headed, is happy to receive it, even if it means a wait. And speaking as an owner of some of Lynda's work, it's definitely worth the wait. I have a trio of pieces on my stairwell which Lynda made for me in another ALQS swap, and they still bring me great pleasure every day.

Margaret's quilt (no 15), which was another I considered allocating to myself (to be honest, there were loads of them I liked this time around), went to Germany to live with Nicole,

and Nicole's colourful flower (no 17) went off to Texas to hang with Cathy.

Cathy's piece (no 35) which I like a lot, and which is one of those pieces which, given the colouring, almost certainly looks a lot better in person (what is it with photographing purples, anyway?), went to Marie.

Marie's quilt (no 33, above) is the baby sister of another quilt she made for herself, and went off to Susan in Florida.

Susan's Lone Star (no 8) travelled off to Ann's place,

while Ann's Mariner's Compass (no 19) went to Misha.

The quilt that Misha made (no 18) - don't you love the wavy border fabric and wavy quilt edges, to go with the curved piecing? - ended up with Mary,

And Mary's 3D flowers (no 5) went to Kerstin in Germany.

Kerstin's redwork piece (no 25) came to the UK to live with Pam,

while Pam's piece (no 12), which also features stitchery, went to Barbara in Northern Ireland. And that completes that ring of quilts.

Some times there are lots of small loops - this time it all goes in two loops, one larger and one smaller. Not that it matters, but it's funny sometimes how it works out!

And so, on to Loop 2...

Penny's quilt (no 2) left sunny Australia to go live with Maya in the Netherlands,

while Maya's fun portrait (no 32) went to live with Diana.

Di's quirky Runaway Chairs (no 21) came to live with me (hurrah!) and is very happily residing right near another ALQS quilt, so it's not lonely...

My quilt (no 27) went off to Alaska to Natalie - hopefully the brightness will help dispell some of the winter dark out there!

Natalie's own Gee's Bend-inspired quilt (no 30) went to live with Sheila

while Sheila's piece (no 28) went to live with Kjersti in Norway.

Kjersti's piece (no 29) went to Shawn

and Shawn's newts (no 20) went to Singapore to live with Vreni.

Vreni's colourful quilt (no 10) was another that didn't go on my own list, despite my liking it, because I was lucky enough to get a piece made by her last time around. Instead, this quilt went to Sharne

and Sharne's piece (no 14), which I liked almost as much as my Runaway Chairs, went to Jan in New Zealand.

Remarkably enough, Jan's quilt (which was another popular choice - no 6) stayed in New Zealand - very unlikely, since the vast majority of the players are not from New Zealand - and travelled to Glenys, which brings us to the end of the second loop, as Glenys's quilt made a short (well, shorter than to the US or Europe) hope across to Penny in Australia, where we started loop 2...

And that's that. I hope you'll all consider joining me the next time around, which will definitely be in 2012, but not for a few months as I like to have a little rest between swaps...

Happy New Year to you all!

Good news

2012-01-01T18:13:00.003Z

OK, so I still haven't got around to doing a grand reveal - maybe tonight or tomorrow - but the good news is, the one quilt which was wandering about potentially lost in transit is NOT lost and did make it to its new owner yesterday. Which means that all quilts are home (except the one, famous, travelling quilt - but we know where that is and what's happening to it, so there's no panic involved).

Happy New Year!

Grand Reveal ... coming soon

2011-12-24T14:33:00.002Z

I know you are all (well, maybe not right at the moment as I'm sure everyone is very busy!) eagerly awaiting the post which will show who made what, and who received it, and I am hoping to get to that over the Christmas holiday. We have, unfortunately, one quilt which doesn't seem to have made it to its new owner safely, but she has encouraged me to go ahead with the Grand Reveal anyway. I'm hoping it's just very slow - we've had slow ones before - but there's a chance it's gone walkies. Sigh.

One other is travelling out and about to a variety of shows and being photographed for a book and what not before eventually making its way to its new home, but the recipient of that quilt knows all about it, so a Grand Reveal won't spoil any surprises there.

Anyway, many thanks again to those who took part and made this swap successful, and especially thanks for the effort almost all of you have made to keep me in touch with what's happening!

Nearly there now!

2011-11-26T23:15:00.003Z

Only 3 or maybe four quilts not yet received - two were actually mailed within the past week or so, so I'm not worried about them. One I think may have been received and I just haven't heard about it, and the other is going off to a show before going to live with its new owner, who has been tolerant and patient (she'll be rewarded though as her quilt is fabulous!). Almost all safely home, which means I'll soon be able to breathe again. Most of the ones travelling long distances have made it, which really takes a load off my mind! As soon as they are all home (except perhaps the one being shown), I will put together a showing so you can all see who got what, and of course, who made what!

Another quick update

2011-11-14T17:18:00.009Z

updated Monday, 20 November.

33 quilts mailed
2 people not mailed (but they've told me)

Quilts received by:

Misha
Cathy
Vero
Maya
Pam
Ramona
Francine
Jay
Anne Kari
Lynda
Nicole
Susan
Ann
Mary
Kerstin
Barbara
Kate (me)
Kjersti
Sharne
Jan
Glenys
Penny
Sandra
Catherine
Shawn
Linda
Natalie

Quilt mail update

2011-11-08T23:29:00.005Z

Hello everyone! An update on quilt mailings:

There were 35 quilts in the swap this time around. So far

28 quilts have been mailed (that I have been told about)
3 people have not yet mailed because either they are away or for another reason, but they have told me about it (if you are due to receive one of these quilts, I have probably emailed you to let you know not to worry)
which leaves 4 people who I haven't heard from that their quilts have been mailed (or will be delayed) - if you think you are one of these four people, can you please let me know what's up!

Of the quilts mailed, I have so far heard that 18 have reached their new homes: Pam, Ramona, Francine, Jay, Anne Kari, Lynda, Nicole, Susan, Ann, Mary, Kerstin, Barbara, me, Kjersti, Sharne, Jan, Glenys and Penny. If you aren't on that list, but have received your quilt, can you please let me know!

May I take this opportunity to remind everyone again to please contact the maker of your quilt to say a quick thank you. If you need contact info for the maker of your quilt, please let me know.

In general, people in this swap are very good about keeping me posted, which makes my task much simpler. Thanks!

Quilts mailed?

2011-11-04T23:12:00.003Z

I've now heard from quite a few of you that your quilts have been mailed off to their new homes, which is great. A few of you have also let me know about the quilts not being mailed yet for various reasons, and that's great, too.

If you have mailed your quilt off to your partner and not let me know, could you please drop me an email to let me know when it was sent?

And if you haven't yet mailed (and haven't communicated as to why not) can you please do so as soon as possible and let me know?

Some quilts have actually reached their owners already (including mine, which arrived today, yippee! - I am just off to drop an email to the maker in a moment), which is also great!

Mailing info

2011-10-24T23:29:00.002+01:00

I have now begun to send out mailing info for your quilts. It's a fairly long email, which contains general instructions about what I'd like you to do in terms of the swap and some advice about mailing, particularly international mailing, in general. It's essentially the same letter to everyone, so please just ignore the parts that don't relate to your particular case.

I'm going to do as many as I can tonight, but in some instances I don't have mailing addresses and I may not get through them all anyway - it's not the most exciting task in the world - mostly cutting and pasting... Anyway, if you don't get your instructions tonight, don't worry, I'll finish later in the week.

If you still haven't had an email from me by Friday (subject should read "ALQS6 mailing info"), please let me know and I'll try again.

Sorted!

2011-10-24T00:58:00.003+01:00

Well, it's done. I got the last set of preferences in this morning (Sunday - it's gone midnight here, though, so this will post as Monday!) and have now gone through and allocated quilts to all the players. I had done some preliminary playing about earlier in the week, leaving gaps for the last few sets of preferences, and once those were in I juggled things about a bit to come up with two options (slightly different, but not substantially so). I then did the whole allocation from scratch again and came up with a third, interestingly (to me, anyway) very similar to the first option!

[In case anyone wonders, I do it with a spreadsheet and start from the restrictions: quilts which appear on the fewest lists, people who send the fewest choices, any quilts with mailing restrictions - something I've not had before (though I always watch for things like plant material used in art quilts, can't be received in Australia from overseas), but which this time, I had to factor in - one quilt which couldn't be folded and therefore, couldn't really travel internationally without likelihood of damage - luckily, I found a nearby home for it! Once I've made the most restricted allocations, I work outwards towards the most popular quilts, which usually end up being allocated last because they are the easiest to home! Then, after I've done an allocation, I go back through all your emails about preferences and make sure the quilts I've assigned you are actually on your list - i.e. that I haven't made a mistake transferring your info into my spreadsheet in the first place...]

Anyway. Enough of that. I'm happy to say that all the quilts appeared on preference lists - and many of them on lots of lists - and that I was able to send many quilts to places where they were near the top of the preference list - either in the top tier, or ranked fairly high on a ranked list. No one will receive a quilt not on the list they sent me and no one will have their own quilt back. And I was even able to let myself have my favourite quilt (the perks of being a hostess!) - I had a good dozen or so on my list that I would be delighted to give a good home to, mind you, but one in particular really tickled my fancy this time around. Of course, I have another advantage as hostess, which is that I know who made each quilt, so I didn't even put on my list some quilts I really liked, if I already have a quilt by that person - thought I'd share the wealth a bit! I am lucky enough already to have quilts made by Julie W in California, Lynda in the UK and Vreni in Singapore, among many other wonderful pieces I have received in swaps.

In case you wonder (as I always do) the quilts which appeared on most lists were:

no 6, Nikaus (on 25 lists)
no 22, untitled (falling leaves) (24 lists)
no 26, forursula (24 lists)
no 15, Ever Decreasing Circles (20 lists)
no 29, untitled (batik with hearts) (19 lists)

But don't worry if your piece isn't on that list - many others were very popular and all were lovely in their own way.

It's rather late here now, and as tomorrow is my daughter's birthday (12) and I am taking her and a friend up to town (by which I mean London) for the day - we have a half-term holiday this week, conveniently - I probably should get some sleep. I may or may not get your partners emailed to you tomorrow and Tuesday we are driving up to my mother-in-law's house for the day, so I may not get them done then either. However, rest assured I will get to them all by the end of the week.

If you don't think you have sent me your address (some of you I will have from previous swaps) or if you have swapped before but have moved since - I know that's true in at least one case - please email me your postal address so I can send out your partner emails as soon as I have a chance. Details about mailing and so forth will be included in the email I will send with your partner's name.

Many thanks again for joining this swap - I really do enjoy running them and am glad that enough people always want to play to make it such an interesting swap with so much variety and choice!

Preference List Update

2011-10-19T00:08:00.003+01:00

Just a note to say I've had preference lists back from all but 9 people - if I have had your list, I have tried to email you back - so if you haven't had a confirmation from me, you may need to send your list again. Those of you who haven't had time to make your choices yet, no problem, but by the end of this week would be great...

I am pleased to say that all quilts have been put on a preference list at least once so far (and actually, my spreadsheet still needs a few more additions to catch up to my email). It's always surprising to me how well the distribution works out, given how different some of the quilts are. Why it should surprise me, I don't know, because each piece is lovely in its own way, and someone is bound to want to own it!

OK, what now?

2011-10-11T22:03:00.002+01:00

So, that's it. All the quilts have been posted, where possible with size, information and detail photos. It's up to you all now. If you have made a quilt for this round, you will need to assemble a list of preferences for the quilts you would like to give a home to. There are 35 quilts in this round; I would hope everyone would be able to put 10-12 quilts on their list. I hope to be able to find a home for all the quilts and to give everyone something they would like to receive.

If you feel very strongly about the order of quilts on your list, you are welcome to number them 1, 2, 3, etc, but as it's easier for me if you are less specific, feel free to simply send a list in no particular order, or to do what many did last time and do a 2 tier or 3 tier system - e.g. several absolute favourites, followed by other ones you like a lot, etc.

My life is probably going to be very busy between now and the end of the school half-term (the 21st of October), so I think it's unlikely I will get to sorting things out before that weekend - so shall we say, I'd like to have your lists back by the 21st, with the hopes I'll be able to begin sorting that weekend (and if I don't finish, I have a week off after that!).

Enjoy! And any questions, just ask.

Quilt no 35

2011-10-11T20:54:00.001+01:00

Early Evening

20x16.5"

"Early Evening" is pieced entirely with cotton batiks. It is tightly quilted in a variety of patterns -- free-form quilting using a variegated cotton thread. Note: binding is being re-worked before swapping ...

One more to come

2011-10-10T23:55:00.002+01:00

I think most of the people who were able to meet the deadline have now sent in photos, but I know of one for sure who is going to email me later today with her photos and it's possible there might be another I don't know about. However, as today is nearly at an end over here, I am going to go to bed and finish any outstanding quilt uploading tomorrow.

So, while you are welcome to browse through and see which quilt you might like to give a home to, don't forget there will be at least one more to ooh and aah over...

Quilt no 34

2011-10-10T23:52:00.002+01:00

Planetas

23x21.5"

Made from 100% cotton fabrics and silk varigated thread (Gütermann.) Traditional patchwork, paper piecing and reverse applique. Mostly machine quilting with a little hand-quilting.

Quilt no 33

2011-10-10T23:50:00.000+01:00

Baby Rainbow Bright

22x22"

This quilt is the baby sister to my original wall hanging 'rainbow bright'. The quilt is machine pieced and quilted. It has a sleeve across the top of the back for hanging.

Quilt no 32

2011-10-10T23:25:00.003+01:00

Summer Face

19.5x20"

It's made of cotton fabrics, raw edge machine apliqued and machine quilted. Face is painted with acrylic paint. Some beads are used and a poem is written around the face. (the complete poem is written on the backside)

Quilt no 31

2011-10-10T23:19:00.004+01:00

untitled

20x20.5

It is made of 100% cotton fabric, using canvas, silk paper, embellished felt with organza and paper. (The leaves are not real; they are silk paper and embellished organza on felt).

Quilt no 30

2011-10-10T23:07:00.001+01:00

untitled

25x25"

The last few weeks I have been reading about the women from Gee's Bend, Alabama and their quilting style. They have a bold, and sophisticated quilting style based on traditional American (and African American) quilts, but with a geometric simplicity reminiscent of Amish quilts and modern art.

Quilt no 29

2011-10-10T22:49:00.001+01:00

untitled

approx 17x24"

The quilt top is made from batiks. The back is hand dyed cotton. Batting is cotton. Free motion quilting. The open areas are stitched on water soluble stabilizer. Embellished with beads and yarn.

Deadline looming!

2011-10-09T22:58:00.002+01:00

Tomorrow is the deadline for quilt photos - I hope I'll be getting a few more photos in (I have at least one more waiting in my email) - the ones I have so far are great - I'm not looking forward to having to make any decisions!

Quilt no 28

2011-10-08T23:04:00.001+01:00

Through a Rainy Window

approx 17x22"

Made with microwave dyed cotton calico. Raw edge strip pieced with organza, bead, sequin and dyed plastic and wool embellishments. Machine quilted with 80/20 cotton wadding and dyed cotton calico backing.

Quilt no 27

2011-10-08T22:57:00.003+01:00

untitled

24x24"

Bright shapes from hand-dyed fabrics fused and free motion stitched onto a machine pieced scrappy background.

nb: closeup photos were all taken before the black background was quilted

Quilt no 26

2011-10-05T23:01:00.002+01:00

Forursula

18x24"

Lutradur, Foil and Acrylic Paints

Quilt no 25

2011-10-05T22:52:00.001+01:00

Sew Red

37x45cm (approx 14.5x18")

This quilt features machine-embroidered red work. Machine-sewn and machine-quilted, using cotton thread.

Quilt no 24

2011-10-05T22:39:00.000+01:00

untitled

18x18"

Silk flowers are machine appliqued, (raw edge). On cotton fabric, with cut and folded border. It was made for a the APWQ challenge this summer. The background fabric was supplied to all challenge participants, and I made a fantasy koi pond, with flowers drifting down through the moonlight.

Quilt no 23

2011-10-05T22:34:00.002+01:00

Snippets

18x18"

Hand quilted with thread a bit thicker than quilting thread.

Quilt no 22

2011-10-02T22:48:00.001+01:00

untitled

20.5x19"

I was inspired by Kellie Wulfson of Don't Look Now's exquisite raw edge applique, and Allison Harris of Cluck Cluck Sew's Stash Buster Pillow. Here's a stylized leaf-dropping tree, with shadow quilting. The tree trunk is Indonesian batik, the leaves are from a charm square swap I did several years ago, and the backing fabric is a batik I bought in Antigua almost a decade ago when I was doing Peace Corps service in Dominica.

Quilt no 21

2011-10-02T22:44:00.000+01:00

Runaway Chairs

20.5x19.5"

This piece is done in a raw edge applique style using thin strips of multiple fabrics. The background fabric is hand-dyed.

Quilt no 20

2011-10-02T22:39:00.002+01:00

Crazy Lizards

24x24"

machine quilted

Quilt no 19

2011-10-02T22:35:00.001+01:00

Autumn Equinox

18.5x18.5"

Machine piece using paper piecing, machine quilted using quilting cottons

Quilt no 18

2011-10-01T22:41:00.001+01:00

Huckleberry Swirl

18x20"

Machine pieced batik cotton fabrics; Embellished with hand-dyed variegated embroidery floss; Machine quilted with both solid and variegated polyester thread

Quilt no 17

2011-09-30T23:10:00.001+01:00

Zinnia

19x19"

Machine pieced, appliqued and quilted, except the beads, which are handstitched. 100 % cotton fabric.

Quilt no 16

2011-09-30T22:48:00.001+01:00

This quilt was made as part of a Motown challenge: we had to create a quilt depicting a Motown song - I chose "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder. This one is 17x18, pieced and applique. You can't see them but there are cats outline-quilted in the musical border.

Little Extension...

2011-09-26T23:50:00.002+01:00

Well, the deadline for photos is a week away, 3rd October - and I don't know about you (other than the 15 people who have sent photos and the several more who have said theirs are coming very soon), but I'm not done with my piece. I'd really like an extra weekend to get mine finished up, wouldn't you?

So... a little extension to the deadline, just one week, but it will give the extra weekend.

Photos are now due on 10th October 2011.

Apologies to those who were organised enough to meet the original deadline - but hopefully this will simply mean that many more quilts to choose from!

Quilt no 15

2011-09-26T23:41:00.001+01:00

Ever Decreasing Circles

approx 20x20"

Hand dyed cotton, printed and stencilled with Markal paint sticks and Lumierre paints. Finished with hand embroidery and beading.

Quilt no 14

2011-09-26T23:21:00.000+01:00

untitled

approx 20x9"

Inspired by a piece called 'Yellow Ships- Sea of Tunis and Taormina' by Hundertwasser. A mixed media hanging, machine stitched and quilted.

Quilt no 13

2011-09-26T21:56:00.001+01:00

untitled

approx 20x20"

Made with 100% cotton top, backing, binding and thread, fusible batting. It has been straight-line quilted along horizontal & vertical lines of the block.

The colours as shown in the detail photo are much truer to the actual colour of the quilt.

Quilt no 12

2011-09-26T21:32:00.000+01:00

Sewing Notions

size tbc

Machine pieced with hand stitching to depict the 'notions'. Notice the scissors has a 'scissor keeper' which hangs freely.

Quilt no 11

2011-09-18T10:17:00.003+01:00

Lucky Sixes

21x21"

The backing fabric is almost the last of one of the very first quilting fabrics I bought -- I had quite a bit of it and it showed up in a lot of quilts over the years!

Quilt no 10

2011-09-18T10:08:00.002+01:00

A Bird's Eye View

19.5x22"

Machine pieced. Hand quilted with a variety of embroidery threads.

Quilt no 9

2011-09-17T23:55:00.004+01:00

Tennis Anyone?

17.5x19"

Quilt no 8

2011-09-17T23:30:00.001+01:00

Lone Melody

21x21"

The quilt is 100% cotton except for the beads, machine pieced, hand quilted. Sewn in label on the back and a 2" hanging sleeve sewn in.

Quilt no 7

2011-09-17T23:22:00.000+01:00

Mariner Compass Rose

18x18"

Hand pieced. Machine and hand quilted.

Quilt no 6

2011-09-17T23:11:00.001+01:00

Nikaus

22.5"x19.5"

The Nikau palm is the only palm species endemic to mainland New Zealand. The worlds most southern Palm. Silk in centre, borders and backing in cotton. Silk is hand painted/dyed and stenciled, free machine embroidered and hand embroidered and seed beads (Pink seed flowers)

Quilt no 5

2011-09-02T23:04:00.001+01:00

Autumn Blooms

18x18"

Origami flowers with beaded centers placed on a pieced background. Machine quilted in a swirly pattern. Machine appliqued leaves and stems.

Quilt no 4

2011-09-02T23:02:00.000+01:00

Monarchs

23x20.5"

This quilt is machine pieced and quilted, and is called Monarchs because my patterned fabric is Monarch Butterflies and was the focal for the rest of the quilt.

Quilt no 3

2011-09-02T23:00:00.001+01:00

Vintage Fragments

18x18"

Fragments of vintage wools, silks and rayons from century old Japanese kimonos. Some of the wool fragments were darned and patched during their useful lifetime, and I have hand stitched these frayed fragments onto a silk backing

Quilt no 2

2011-09-02T22:57:00.001+01:00

Primeval

20x22.5"

This quilt has some rusted fabric which was almost impossible to hand sew through! and also some hand dyed and some commercial fabrics. Fused with hand and machine stitching.

Quilt no 1

2011-09-02T22:50:00.001+01:00

Undersea Jewels

22.5x23.75"

It was inspired by an article in a magazine from 2006 by designer Susan Purney-Mark. The fabric strips are woven together then machine stitched on to the batting. I used variegated green rayon and a feather stitch to stitch along each side of every strip in the weaving. After adding the border I hand appliquéd some fish and seaweed, then added buttons for eyes and bubbles.

A few early photos...

2011-08-31T22:44:00.002+01:00

Are in my inbox! I have three quilts with me (so to speak) so far, and they are all lovely (and very different from one another). I won't post them just yet, but when I get one or two more, I'll begin to blog them to the site. Those of you who haven't mailed photos yet (which is most of us), remember that photos need to be with me by the 3rd of October. Which is just a little over a month. Yikes!

Reminder...

2011-08-24T21:50:00.002+01:00

Hello all - just a quick reminder that we have only a bit over a month to make our quilts and send photos in - the photo deadline is 3rd October, and it's nearly September now (yikes!). I actually do have one set of photos in already - but just the one so far. I look forward to seeing many more in the upcoming weeks!

Just a note to touch base

2011-08-07T21:22:00.003+01:00

Everyone working on their quilts? (No, me neither!) Just been updating the list of potential players, and we are becoming truly international, with quilts possibly being made all over Europe (UK, France, Germany, Norway), as well as North (US & Canada) and South America (Chile) and Australasia (Singapore, Australia).

Please do spread the word in your quilting communities and on your blogs (if you have them) - the more the merrier and this swap does really work well for those who are "international" - some of the US based swaps are a bit harder for those elsewhere (to be fair, I've been in some great US based swaps, so it's not always a problem - but the centrally run ones or ones where mailing time is an issue are much harder for those who are far flung...)

Lots of new players...

2011-07-13T18:28:00.001+01:00

Just a note to say if you have emailed me about joining and I haven't added your name yet, don't worry - I have at least a dozen in my inbox I haven't had a chance to get to yet. I am hoping tonight once I get home from a talk at my daughter's new school, I may have a chance to catch up with stuff - but don't panic, I'm sure your email went through fine. I sure can't wait until school finishes (next week) and I have some time to myself - a little, anyway!

IMPORTANT ABOUT ROUND 6

2011-07-08T07:40:00.002+01:00

Thanks for all the interest so far. Please, however, if you are interested in Round 6, can you be sure to email me at my email address (katelnorth at yahoo dot com) rather than just leaving a comment (you are welcome to leave a comment, but do email me as well!) - so many comments are set to no-reply, and I really need your email address to be able to communicate with you. (To be fair, most of the interested people so far have done so...)

OK, Round 6, stop nagging me!

2011-07-07T21:44:00.002+01:00

Well, you guys can stop asking - here it is. Be sure to read the rules in the Rules tab above. They are extensive and (I hope) thorough, but if anything is unclear, just ask.

Round 6?

2011-06-05T08:36:00.003+01:00

I've had a couple of queries about doing a round 6, and have been going back and forth on it - I do want to do one, but I'm so busy that I haven't really had time to think about it. But we are almost at the point where I could open one up with a due date in the autumn (because summer due dates are too awkward, with holidays and all) so I think if you watch this space, you'll see an announcement in about a month or so. I haven't decided exactly what parametres I will set yet (i.e. size, style) so don't start working on anything just yet!

Grand reveal!

2011-03-28T22:05:00.001+01:00

So, here we go - this quilt, made by Wil in the Netherlands, went to live with Julie in California.

Julie's quilt went to live with Judith

While Judith's piece went off to Mary.

Mary's Tic Tac Toe with Kaffe travelled to England to be with Anne,

while Anne's appliqued flowers are now happy at home with Dee in Canada.

Dee's Jiggedy Jig went off to Julie in the UK

While Julie's quilt Hope is now at home with Melody.

Melody's quilt went to Susan

While Susan's piece travelled to Arkansas to be with Ramona.

Ramona's piece, Winter, went off to the Netherlands to live with Wil.

Wil had made two pieces for this swap, and her second one, Dark Night

went off to Lenna in Florida.

Lenna's lovely mixed media piece came over to the UK to live with Plum,

and Plum's Snowy Day quilt travelled to the Netherlands to Maya.

Maya's Memories quilt took a short hop to Margeeth, also in the Netherlands.

Margeeth made two quilts for this swap, and the first of them, this painted wholecloth, went to Hazel.

Hazel's quilt, Doodle, which was one of the most popular choices, went to Norway to Kjersti,

And Kjersti's quilt went off to Margeeth. Kjersti's quilt was also among the most frequently chosen quilts!

Margeeth's second quilt went to Lisa in Australia.

Lisa's quilt nipped across Australia to Penny

whose piece Desert Country went on to Tina in the UK. Penny also made another quilt for this swap - more of that one later.

Tina's Little Elephant went to Julie M, also in the UK. This again was one of the most popular choices of quilts.

Julie's shibori & beaded piece, which was the most popularly listed quilt among everyone's preferences, ended up in the Netherlands with Wil.

So.

This burnt edge quilt made by Peggy (which I have to say looks fabulous in person) came to live at my house, while one of my quilts

went to Robyn.

Robyn's Twirling Tree quilt, one of two she made, went to Penny in Australia,

while Penny's Gold Fish quilt went to Sabine in Germany.

Sabine's owl quiltlet also went to Robyn, while Robyn's second piece,

Sashiko Still Life, went to Margaret.

Margaret's quilt went to Shelina (who was another person who made two quilts for this swap)

and Shelina's quilt, Mind, went to Peggy.

Glenys in New Zealand made this lovely piece

which went to live with Lynda in England

Lynda's men in corsets went to Sharne

And Sharne's Winter Sunset went to Glenys.

OK, last section!

Sandra made this piece, which went to Natalie

while Natalie's quilt went to Sarah

and Sarah's quilt went to Lisa W.

Lisa's quilt went off to Shelina

and Shelina's stitchery went to Barbara in Northern Ireland

Barbara's quilt travelled a long way (and took its sweet time!) to get to Vero in Chile,

and Vero's piece went to Pamela.

Pamela's piece went to Jessica in Australia

Jessica's quilt, Pure, went to Vreni in Singapore

Vreni's lovely tree with blossoms came to live with me

while my little wholecloth piece, Underwater, went to Sandra.

And that, ladies, is that. Another successful (I hope) round.

All quilts home!

2011-03-28T21:11:00.002+01:00

Apparently, all it takes to make sure the last quilt arrives at its destination is for me to post a blog entry saying that it might be lost! Anyway, all quilts are now home safe and sound. Hoorah! Off to work on a post showing who got what...

Nearly complete

2011-03-27T21:35:00.002+01:00

Unless I've made a mistake in my reckoning, all quilts but one have now been received safely by their new owners. The one is still (I hope!) in transit between....somewhere and Chile, so I'm hoping it's just the distant and the postal services which are holding things up. Once that issue has been resolved, I'll do my usual sort of visual roundup of who got what - I think that's always fun to see...

And yes, there will be another round, but probably not starting until May - and finishing perhaps near the end of summer. Not sure just what it will be quite yet; we'll see!

Mailing Update

2011-03-04T22:22:00.002Z

Ok, so. All the quilts are now in transit (or received) - except one, which is being handed over in a face to face meeting on Monday. If you have not yet received your quilt (and by my count, that's about 10-12 people) you should have yours fairly soon - a number of quilts were sent internationally, so they make take a little longer. If you have received a quilt and haven't let me know, I'd appreciate it if you could take a moment to tell me, so I can cross that one off my list. When I've heard that all quilts are safely in their new homes, I'll do a round up.

Mailing quilts...

2011-02-23T09:05:00.003Z

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

2011-02-14T16:35:00.002Z

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

2011-02-11T00:39:00.003Z

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

2011-02-08T23:51:00.003Z

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...

2011-02-07T23:51:00.002Z

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

2011-02-07T23:42:00.002Z

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

2011-02-04T22:12:00.003Z

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

2011-02-01T16:34:00.003Z

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?

2011-02-01T00:33:00.003Z

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

2011-02-01T00:29:00.002Z

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

2011-02-01T00:25:00.002Z

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

2011-02-01T00:21:00.000Z

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

2011-02-01T00:16:00.000Z

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

2011-02-01T00:11:00.000Z

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

2011-02-01T00:04:00.001Z

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.

Quilt no 39

2011-01-31T23:51:00.001Z

This quilt was made using only those items I had on hand. The background is woven with fabric strips into rug canvas fabric which is the base used for rug hooking. After weaving the fabric, I stitched the top of the woven piece in order to show shape and movement. I embellished the piece with a variety of sizes of seed beads and a focus bead in the lower right corner. The square fabric pieces were made using raw edge applique and free form machine quilting with a blue metallic thread. Perhaps the thoughts of warm sunshine at the ocean will banish any winter blues that may be hanging around.

Quilt no 38

2011-01-31T23:45:00.000Z

Jiggety Jig

It was inspired by a trip to Newfoundland. I think I will create a series of these characters in small quilts as I really enjoyed this one The Wee Man's personality grew as the hand stitching progressed. I wanted to experiment with different techniques and fabrics. Background is cotton muslin with a green batik and is hand embroidered around the window of his journey.

Quilt no 37

2011-01-30T22:57:00.000Z

Duck Cotton background, gesso, acrylic paints, laser printed dressmaking pattern tissue.

Quilt no 36

2011-01-30T22:50:00.001Z

Quilt no 35

2011-01-30T22:42:00.006Z

Memories

This a wholecloth quilt. I wrote a poem from Lord Byron on it and put some old photo's on it with a gel medium transfer. I coloured the quilt with Shiva Paintsticks. I named the quilt "memories" because the quilt reminds me of a younger, innocent time in life. The quilt is made of cotton fabric with a hobbs 80/20 cotton batting, it is quilted with transparent yarn.

I uploaded this photo three times - it was the right way up when I did. I even tried the usual tricks of turning it around and back again, and it still won't load right way up. Blogger is having a moment, I guess. I recommend turning your head sideways, lol.

Quilt no 34

2011-01-30T22:38:00.000Z

I used Japanese fabrics and raw edge appliqued the tree and then machine quilted the quilt. I added the flowers and small beads.

Quilt no 33

2011-01-30T22:31:00.002Z

Memories

The fabric is from my stash, some over 40 years old. It is in three sections, straight pieces, random pieces and a crazy section using an automatic machine stitch. The buttons are old fabric ones which have been tied on. The backing and binding fabric is microwave dyed cotton.

Quilt no 32

2011-01-30T22:10:00.001Z

This piece started with a leftover pieced batik strip unit - a lot of slicing and dicing later, here it is! Machine pieced & quilted.

Quilt no 31

2011-01-30T21:56:00.001Z

"I wanted to use this opportunity to try some new techniques. This little quilt includes fusing and folding plus beading, buttons and rickrack. Machine quilted."

Quilt no 30

2011-01-30T21:51:00.002Z

Pure

I used the "Pure" fabric range by Sweetwater for the pieced centre. It was paper pieced in a strip piecing method, then the paper torn off and the border added before I quilted it. The backing is a lovely piece of cotton fabric in coordinating colours. I haven't put a hanging sleeve on it yet, because I love how the back looks too. The recipient can let me know if they would like me to put a sleeve on before I send it. This is not an arty quilt, it is a miniature traditional quilt! The blocks are about 2 1/2 inches instead of the normal 12 inches square.

Deadline Reminder!

2011-01-30T16:38:00.002Z

Don't forget, the deadline for getting your photos to me for this swap is tomorrow, Monday 31st of January. I'd like to have all photos by about 8pm my time (that's 3pm EST). I am going to post up another good handful of photos I have waiting, tonight, and then any stragglers can go up tomorrow. If you are nearly done but don't think you'll quite make it for the deadline, leave me a note - if enough people are in that boat, I might be able to squeeze a day or two more out of the deadline...

Quilt no 29

2011-01-26T00:53:00.001Z

This is a wholecloth quilt, made with one of my own screenprinted fabrics and quilted by machine.

Quilt no 28

2011-01-26T00:48:00.001Z

Little Elephant

This is made of curved strips of batiks joined and handstitched over printed leaves to make it look all jungly and then an embroidered silk elephant applied over the top . The elephant is the last of a box of elephants that I carried around with me during chemotherapy to stitch into, the others have all gone to live on other quilts and this little chaps been waiting around for ages,time he went back to the jungle, and yes, I will remove the tacking....sorry

Quilt no 27

2011-01-26T00:45:00.001Z

My journal quilt is an exploration of the colour blue and the theme of water while creating an art quilt. I am not a quilter but more of a mixed media artist who loves fabric! My idea for this challenge/exchange was to work with shades of blue and the feeling that water brings to mind. I gathered various leftover pieces of cotton, some I had painted myself (on the banks of a river) on the left side and a portion of an old silk shirt that looked like water on the right side. I ripped and snipped pieces of fabric to fit the 8 1/2" X 11" size and stitched them together using various stitches to a piece of batting. One of my main stitches was a large wavy one that I used across the piece. To embellish the journal quilt I added a line of mini mosaics in blue and 2 pieces of sea glass, attached to the fabric with extra strong glue. I also sewed on iridescent sequins and tiny seed beads. To finish my journal quilt I sewed a piece of watery light blue fabric to the back by stitching around the edges of the quilt.

Quilt no 26

2011-01-26T00:43:00.001Z

Winter Sunset

Hand painted and coloured background , applique shape, then lots of machine stitching.

Quilt no 25

2011-01-26T00:38:00.001Z

I have used some hand dyed fabrics along with some little paper type flowers and a small amount of beading as well. It is machine embroidered and quilted. The bowl/vase is some Kaffe Fassett fabric which is a favourite!!

Quilt no 24

2011-01-20T23:44:00.003Z

Underwater
The background for this quilt is a piece of complex cloth I created a while ago. Free motion quilting was added to create the anemones and other shapes, and a binding stitched on. Techniques on the original complex cloth include shibori, stamping, stenciling with paint sticks, and screen printing.

Quilt no 23

2011-01-20T23:40:00.002Z

Mind
This quilt was originally made for the Alzheimer's Initiative, but in the end, wasn't contributed.

The fabric I choose was one with lots of things scattered on it - hats, lipstick, shoes, purses, eyeglasses. It seemed like a good choice. Sometimes I have an idea in my mind, and I either choose the wrong word, or I am reaching in my bag of words for the word, and the fabric just seemed to depict that kind of situation really well.

For the top part, I wanted to show something that was a little off. Just enough to say "something's not right" without actually knowing what's wrong. The size of the strips used to make the pieces aren't exactly the same, and the block was then trimmed at a slight angle. I think it worked, my mother said, "Is that supposed to be that way?"

The bottom part has a word on it - I used a low contrast so it wouldn't be easy to see unless you tried. It says Mind. My nephew said "Sometimes I can see it and then I lose it and have to look for it again." Exactly what I was going for!

The quilting is a wonky grid.

Quilt no 22

2011-01-20T23:37:00.000Z

From Sentimental Journey by Shell from Raspberry Rabbit. I attached beads inside the hearts.

Quilt no 21

2011-01-20T23:33:00.001Z

I had some small peices from a quilt I am making for my youngest daughter. I stitched and flipped, stitched and flipped, then appliqued the big flower shape and blanket stitched around the petals. The centre of the flower is sequins and beads. The back has an envelope style opening that can be slipped on to an A4 display stand.

Quilt no 20

2011-01-20T23:26:00.000Z

Quilt no 19

2011-01-20T23:22:00.000Z

Regular cotton fabrics and a few glass beads!

Quilt no 18

2011-01-20T23:10:00.002Z

Tic Tac Toe with Kaffe

Constructed with a natural colored linen and Kaffe Fassett fabrics. The circles are covered buttons and it is machine quilted in a geometric design.

Quilt no 17

2011-01-20T23:07:00.001Z

This is made from my own shibori dyed fabric and hand dyed backing fabric which has been brought from the back to make a wrap round binding. I have used Sashiko thread for the seeding stitch and embellished with buttons and beads. All hand stitched.

Quilt no 16

2011-01-20T23:03:00.001Z

All cotton, hand-dyed fabric (with tea bags), thread sketching, gold fabric paint accents with button/paua shell beads.