Interest in doing a Forum Quilt?

[krisinmi]

I've been talking with Melissa a little bit about possibly starting up a forum quilt here at our new home.  It would be run just like the one Melissa started way back when at the 'other place', with a piece of fabric being mailed out to all who sign up, then each person participating sewing a block of their choice using that fabric and any other fabric they would like.  Blocks would be mailed back to me by a specified deadline, I would randomly choose a winner from the names of those who returned completed blocks, and that winner would receive all the blocks plus a yard of the designated fabric.  The winner would then be responsible for purchasing the fabric and cutting the squares for the next forum quilt and mailing it to me in a timely fashion.

Should there be enough interest, our first official forum quilt on Homesteading Families would begin in early 2016 (to give us all time to get through the holidays first).

I would love to get feedback from all members here about this idea, so I'm adding a poll to the thread. The poll will be up until December 1st, so that if a quilt is overwhelmingly voted for, I have time to obtain and prep the starter fabric before January rolls around.

Please also comment below if you would like to go into more detail than the poll allows.  

[Billie]

Already commented on the other thread and was hoping someone would think about starting this up here. I would still participate but as I mentioned, I would NOT want a chance to win. I have won them twice and I am good with that. I would want more people to have a chance to win.

[krisinmi]

Thanks, Billie. I posted both in Families and Sewing to make sure I caught everyone who might be interested. I'm pretty sure we all check the Families forum regularly, but I wanted to make sure everyone got a chance to weigh in, and figured the Sewing forum was the likely place to find all our quilters.  

I was looking through some blocks the other day from a swap done several years ago and saw a block that you had sewn.  And lots of other friends who are now over here.  Would be great to get us all swapping again.  

[Deleted]

Wow what an absolutely awesome idea! I will be merrily observing from the sidelines since I don't quilt myself. Please post pictures if this idea comes into fruition

[krisinmi]

Jan 1, 2016 0:30:14 GMT @rachelmcmurtrie said:

Wow what an absolutely awesome idea! I will be merrily observing from the sidelines since I don't quilt myself. Please post pictures if this idea comes into fruition

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You don't have to be a quilter to join the fun. If you sew at all, you are welcome to make a block. We can hook you up with all sorts of patterns and instructions.

[Deleted]

The only problem is I don't even know what block means and I would hate for other wonderful blocks to have to co-habitat with my raggedy looking block once I discovered how to make one. I am so very much an amateur that I wouldn't even say I sew, more like make a knot and run lines with thread "mending" things here and there. But thank you for being so kind as to offer! I will have just as much fun looking at all the pictures.

[Deleted]

Can you sew in a straight line @rachelmcmurtrie ? And even if you couldn't, we could fix you up doing a crazy block. If you can mend, you're doing way better than me!!!! And I've been a quilter for years. Don't say no - come join us.

OK, so there is obviously some interest in this idea. How many do we need to start? Could we start thinking about what sort of blocks? Perhaps an own choice one would be good to begin with, but using people's colour preferences? What size should we do? I'm getting all excited here.

Added: just going back to the original post - I'm happy to join in with whatever plan people have for this, but actually what I REALLY REALLY REALLY want is to have my own set of blocks from people, not just go into a draw with a maybe chance of winning...   

[Billie]

Jan 1, 2016 4:12:32 GMT @kiwifarmgal said:

Added: just going back to the original post - I'm happy to join in with whatever plan people have for this, but actually what I REALLY REALLY REALLY want is to have my own set of blocks from people, not just go into a draw with a maybe chance of winning...   

@kiwifarmgal,  We used to do that too.  Usually we would have a theme or a color choice or sometimes we would just do a 9 patch.  Everyone would send their blocks to a hostess and she would separate  them and send them back to everyone.  Everyone would provide a SASE (self addressed stamped envelope) for theirs to be mailed back in.

i think I probably have enough for 20 quilts or more from the ones we used to do!!

[krisinmi]

I think it would be great if we could get some swaps like @kiwifarmgal, and Billie, are talking about going this year in addition to doing the 1-block forum quilt a couple of times.

Based on the positive response to the poll, I am planning to get a forum quilt going sometime this month, no sure yet of the exact date.

[Deleted]

Jan 1, 2016 22:40:28 GMT krisinmi said:

I think it would be great if we could get some swaps like @kiwifarmgal , and Billie , are talking about going this year in addition to doing the 1-block forum quilt a couple of times.

Based on the positive response to the poll, I am planning to get a forum quilt going sometime this month, no sure yet of the exact date.

Yay - can't wait, krisinmi. Just whenever is fine. Like any quilter, I have plenty of projects to work on, LOL.

Dare I add that something we might also like to consider is a fabric postcard swap at some point?

[Billie]

@kiwifarmgal, I will swap fabric postcards with you anytime. I have been making them for years and included one in everyone's card in the Christmas card exchange. I belong to a small art guild and that is one of the things I make to sell at our shows. I would love to have one from you.

[Deleted]

Billie - that would be a lot of fun. Can't wait for your card to arrive and see it. I'm about to make a postcard for a monthly NZ swap I'm in, so I'll just make another and get it on its way to you. Be kind when you get it - I'm still trying to perfect the PERFECT edge - it's a bit hit and miss at the moment.

[Billie]

@kiwifarmgal, oh edges are a bear!! I have done them several ways but I finally settled on the zig zag method. I look forward to getting yours.

[Deleted]

So with you Tallpines on the creating vs the putting together. Can you beat my record of 15 years of having a set of 36 swap blocks sitting here waiting to be made up? I'm in a small overseas group that have all been friends for, oh, must be about 18 or so years now. In 1999/2000 we decided to do a block swap with a Peace Dove appliqued to a background of each country's flag colours + small signature squares. Only just made it up last year, using a QAYG method. It's tremendously special but boy it took a long time to get to the starting gate.

Good idea using embroidery floss colours to match fabric - it's hard sometimes because there are endless variations of each colour. That's not a problem for scrappy quilts, and can really sparkle them up, but if you want a coordinated quilt the floss is a great way to make it happen.

I'm really starting to get excited about this.

[Maura]

I have a problem with this type of quilt. I participated a few years ago at the other place. The fabric that was sent out was of a lower quality than I use. It was two colors and one of them was impossible to match to or harmonize with. I ended up making a log cabin block because they are so forgiving. I’d rather do something else. Maybe we could have a block of the month and everyone make that block using their own stash. We could still have a theme, like red, or spots, or half squares.

[krisinmi]

Sounds like we need to get a new thread going and exchange ideas about some sewing fun we can have together this year! I would love to participate in some swaps, and a block of the month (hopefully with tutorial) sounds like an awesome idea. I don't feel confident enough in my sewing skills or knowledge to head up either of those, but would definitely sew along and swap along if someone else (or a few someone elses) want to volunteer to lead one or more.

For this month, we'll do the old familiar 'pick your own block using the fabric provided' to get the ball rolling. I know that this was the thing, way back when, that got me into the whole sewing and swapping of quilt blocks, because it sounded so much less scary to a novice than trying to match colors or sewing perfect points on triangular pieces. Once I'd stumbled my way through a few blocks of my own choosing over a couple of years (I tried harder ones each time), then I got brave enough to start joining in on the more technical sounding swaps.

[Deleted]

Where I'm at is that I have a huge fabric stash. Here's a link but it was taken a few years ago and  the baskets are crammed full now, LOL: postimg.org/image/ixqg6msnj/  I bought it while I was working (in anticipation of one day not being able to afford it) and it covers a very wide range of colours and themes, so I could probably do blocks for several years and not have to visit a quilt store. What I don't have is a lot of dosh, and fabric here is expensive ($NZ28-30 per metre), so I need to factor in the cost of buying fabric specially to match a particular DMC colour if that's a condition of the swap, plus, of course the postage. How do you work out how much fabric you need to buy to ensure everyone has enough? In this regard, Tallpines option B would be a better one for me. The only thing is that it pretty much guarantees a scrappy look to the finished quilt. Would this suit everyone? I LOVE scrappy quilts, but not everyone feels the same. Some prefer a more coordinated look, which I guess comes back to the fabric/DMC matching.

The other thing that bothers me is how to pay for return postage for the blocks. This has been an issue in other overseas swaps. Normally I've gotten round it by sending the hostess a FQ or something of equivalent postage value each month. Not sure if this would work here or not. Would appreciate some guidance.

Also, what are your thoughts on which block patterns we should make? Who chooses, and how can we make it easy for those who might be intimidated by something like an applique block, or something with many parts to it? Are we working on a 12" finished or something smaller?

Loving this discussion.

[Maura]

It would be cheaper to mail the blocks all at once to the participants rather than on a month by month basis.

If one of the blocks just does not fit with the others, that block could be put into a different project. I agree that if we used our own stash for all of the blocks, each block should coordinate within itself. Sashing helps.