Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Christmas in July 5" Charm Swap



The swap is now closed.  (Thanks SusanLee, and Jennifer.) 


Hello quilty world!  I have been more than a little absent from my blog, and from FLICKR.  With good reason- I had to pack up my house and move a total of 3 miles.  It was a lot of work, and I'm still working on unpacking, but I am getting there.


I have toyed with the idea of hosting a charm swap for about a year, and have finally decided to take the plunge!  I'm doing a Christmas in July swap.  This will be a 5" charm swap, and I'd like to give props to Ellison Lane for her "How to Host" a charm swap, and of course Care- who got me started on my charm swapping addiction.


{Since posting the swap, in a bit of irony, several on-line swaps have issued discount codes.  I have no connection to these shops. The discount codes may expire before the mailby date of the swap. Those codes are being shared by group members in the flickr group.}

1. For swapping charm squares, each of the 56 participants (1 being me) will purchase 2 yards of holiday themed fabric to be cut each into 5" charm squares. 1 yard = 56 charms. 2 yards= 112 charms

2. Choose a fabric that has a small print suitable for an 5" charms. Scale of the print is very important. If you are buying online, look for retailers that have the grid included in the photo of the fabric in order to give you an idea of scale. If your scale is close, you may need to purchase additional fabric in order to fussy cut the fabric. ( I've done this in the past, I do not recommend it.) Go with the smaller scale fabrics. Buy extra fabric if you are worried that you could make a cutting mistake.

3. Fabric must be designer label, 100% cotton, quilt shop quality, holiday themed, fabric. No Hancocks, Joanns, Hobby Lobby, or anyone else who might have a flyer in your Sunday newspaper. 

4. Fabric must be from a smoke free home. Do not pre-wash your fabric. While this swap is not limited to modern fabric, please do not send the fabric that has been sitting unused in the corner of your fabric closet since 1990.   The Golden Rule applies to this swap: Send to others what you'd want to be sent to you. 

5. Cut your fabric into 5" squares (tutorial on how to cut fabric into charms by Elizabeth Hartman). In order to move things along on my end,  pair your charms (alternate fabric A, Fabric B, Fabric A, Fabric B.... 56 times), in a stack and put them in a ziploc bag. Here is an example of how I received Becky's fabric. 



Untitled




6. Include your name and address on an index card and mail the fabric to me. (address to be sent via email once we have our 56 participants) 

7. Upload pictures of your fabric to this Flickr group and be sure to include the name and designer of the fabric. Before you buy your fabric, check the pool to make sure no one has beat you to the punch. 

Shipping

Participants must include a prepaid self-addressed, stamped envelope along with their charms. Don't include postage you've printed from your computer.  A SASE flat rate priority mail envelope is the best way to handle postage.   I'm going for a quick turn around, so mail your package by 
 August 11.  (We still have some spots open, so I changed the mailby date a little. We're getting so close to filling the swap, and I want everyone who wants to participate feel like they can. If you're thinking of joining, just plan on being timely with sending your charms.)

Since this is my first swap, I have decided not to accept international swappers at this go around. International friends, please accept my sincere apology for excluding you.  In the interest of drumming up more swappers, I am opening the swap to international swappers.  I will invoice you for shipping through paypal.  In order to complete the swap expeditiously,  international swappers may have their fabric sent to me.  I will cut it for you free of charge, but if you want to add a FQ of any fabric in your fabric order - I wouldn't stop you ;)



Sign up by filling out  this form.  The swap will be run from Flickr, so you will need to join the group


7.19.2012We are full,   If you'd like to be put on the list as an alternate, please let me know. 


7.19.2012- 1 hour later.  A double swapper dropped out opening a spot for Jeanne- and maybe you?  


7.20.2012- We are full again.  Thanks so much to everyone for your participation and for the quilty world in helping to get the call out. 

21 comments:

Kelleigh said...

Hey, Manda. I hope I got in on time! I just wanted you to know that when I try to link to the flickr page, it tells me I don't belong and doesn't give me a way to join. Can you help me figure it out. I promise, I will quit causing problems now....

Manda said...

It should be fixed. I had a link to the discussion page instead of the front page.

Melissa said...

Looks like fun! Thanks for the invite!

Anonymous said...

yaaaaa a reason to buy fabric :)
Thanks,
Vickie

Sheila said...

I am confused so we send 2 5 inch charms in each ziplock baggy... what does fabric a/fabric b mean?

Manda said...

Sheila, I'm sorry for the confusion. You are a no-reply blogger, so I hope you see this. Fabric A is your 1st fabric choice, Fabric B is your second. I probably should have said Fabric 1 and fabric 2. After you cut your charms, I need you to pair them up before sticking them into 1 ziploc bag. It results in less sorting on my end. Clear as mud?

Sheila said...

Ok so the be clean we will chose 2 different fabrics and cut 56 squares each! so Fabric A-56 Fabric B-56 and then bag them?

Manda said...

Close. Cut your charms, pair them, stack them and bag them with an index card. Don't sweat it too hard- it just cuts down on sorting 112 fabrics on my end. I'm trying to find a past swap that explains it better than I, but not having much luck.

Alexandra said...

Hi Manda,

I just saw that you've opened up the swap to int'l swappers and I'd love to join, but I live in Paris (where they don't sell Xmas fabric in July). So my only problem is that the turnaround time to order Christmas fabric (from USA), have it sent to me in Paris, and then send it back to the USA, I'm afraid it'll be quite late.

On a different int'l swap, they suggested int'l swappers order the fabric online and have it sent to another swapper in the USA, if that swapper would be willing to help?

If you need more swappers and think this could work let me know, I'm more than glad to join the swap! I can always make a payment on Paypal for postage etc. Let me know!
Alexandra

Manda said...

Got the first fabric today and added an example of the paired and stacked fabric.

Weezy said...

This will be my first swap! I'm excited, but nervous about doing something wrong.... Yay, Christmas! So, I need 56 5" squares of each fab? Time to go shopping!

Ann Marie @ 16 Muddy Feet said...

Just signed up, went upstairs to cut my charms, and forgot I whacked a fat quarter out of each of those xmas fabrics.............guess I need to go shopping now..................:D

Carolyn said...

Just signed up, (hope I made it in) I will have to go look through my stash and see what I hoarded (ummm I think I mean bought for future projects) after Christmas from my LQS... though this is a perfect opportunity to go shopping again!

Lisa C said...

I'm sure this is a very elementary question but I'm new to flickr. I noticed someone posted their fabric from the FatQuarterShop website. How do you do that? Just wondering in case I make it into the swap (if it's not full by now) and I need to post my fabrics. Thanks!

SIMPLESEW said...

Now I have a question, We are mailing your 112 charms, then they get sorted and you mail us back 112 of different fabric. Sorry for the confusion.

Stacey Napier said...

I am very excited to participate in my first swap - I did have a question. I have some adorable 1/2 yard cuts left over from my Christmas project last year and I was wondering if I could do 4 1/2 cuts or does it need to be only two fabrics. Or is the goal just to do the 112 charms, no matter the fabric? Just let me know - it's always fun to shop for new items!

The Sunflower Patch said...

Just signed up,hopefully in time :)

The Sunflower Patch said...

So excited to be participating in your swap! Shopping locally this weekend for fabric :)

Jeanne Gwin said...

Just found out about the swap. Please please tell me I am not too late~~~

♥Duff said...

Just saw Jennifer's (Ellison Lane) post--I can be an alternate if you need one!

Kathie said...

I also just saw this on Jennifer's post. If you have any openings, please let me know!