Up to date, I hope

So, if I have received an email of interest from you, I should have now added you to the list in the sidebar (and, I think, in all cases, emailed you to respond). If you have sent me an email and you don't see your name on the side - or if I haven't linked to your blog, or I've got your country wrong or any other error - please let me know!  There's a lot to keep track of, so it's certainly possible I have made a mistake.

In this swap, I'll be creating a mailing list in my address book to send reminders (only a few, occasional ones) as well, so once I think I have most of the people signed up who are interested (in a preliminary way) I will send a test email to make sure that list is working.

And once again, I know a lot of you have played before, so probably know what to do, but if anyone has any questions at all, do let me know and I'll address them as soon as I can!

Thanks to all so far for your interest.

Bear with me!

Thanks for all the responses so far - I'm still working my way through my emails to add potentially interested people to the Artist Pool, so don't panic if I haven't added you yet. Between a week's holiday from school, my mother visiting, and the Jubilee, it's quite busy here...

Announcing ALQS7!

A little sooner than expected as I had some time this morning to actually get near the computer (I have 3 kids and my mother is staying at the moment - sometimes getting near the computer is tricky).

The full rules for the swap can be found in the ALQS7 Rules tab at the top of the page, but here are the details in a nutshell:

SIZE:  12" (30cm) square
STYLE: any
MATERIALS: any, but must include some fabric and some stitch
DEADLINE: Monday, 1 OCTOBER 2012
REQUIREMENTS:  AT LEAST TWO PHOTOS (one of whole quilt, one of some detail).  PEOPLE WHO SEND ONLY ONE PHOTO WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO PLAY AND THERE WILL BE ABSOLUTELY  NO EXCEPTIONS TO THIS RULE.

If you want to play along, send an email to me at katelnorth at yahoo dot com with an "expression of interest" - this does not commit you (see full rules for details of how it all works if you haven't taken part recently).

Watch this space!

...for an Interesting Announcement, some time in the next week or so!

Round 6 Grand Reveal

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

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

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!

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

updated Monday, 20 November.

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

Quilts received by:

1. Misha
2. Cathy
3. Vero
4. Maya
5. Pam
6. Ramona
7. Francine
8. Jay
9. Anne Kari
10. Lynda
11. Nicole
12. Susan
13. Ann
14. Mary
15. Kerstin
16. Barbara
17. Kate (me)
18. Kjersti
19. Sharne
20. Jan
21. Glenys
22. Penny
23. Sandra
24. Catherine
25. Shawn
26. Linda
27. Natalie

Quilt mail update

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!