Mini-Quilt Swapping

I know I’m late to this particular party on Instagram, but I have recently jumped right in and signed up for three swaps.  These are little groups of crazy people who have more than enough to work on but think it would be fun to make a gift for some unknown person, include a boatload of treats in addition to the mini and send it off, hoping it arrives.

So here they are:

Mini-house Swap.  This was started because the Denise, the organizer was moving and wanted to do a swap around the idea of a new house (blog post showing general info is *here*).  I like house quilts, and had never tried a swap, so decided to try it.  Then all these terms started floating around like Swap Mama, Swap Angel, Swap Moderator (which I think is the same as a Swap Mama).   I thought I would just sort of play along and pretend I knew what they were talking about.  Since I’m such a non-shopper, I’ve been taking screenshots of people’s “other extra items,” and will try to head out and find some since I’m such a newbie at this.  For this swap, we have an organizer, and a Swap Mama, who has sent out emails letting us know what’s up.

The first picture (above) is the confirmation I received after I signed up, then the logo for the main swap, then the logo for the group with our own “Swap Mama.” Believe me, the State Department has more code words than these do, but we do come close.

Kaffe Fasset Swap.  How can you pass up something like this?  The sign-ups closed July 5th, with partners posted on July 13th, so I haven’t heard anything from Leslie Piper, who is the organizer.  Here’s their Facebook page, though.

Simply Mini Swap.  This may turn out to be my favorite because all we can send is a mini quilt and a hand-written note to the recipient.  Brianna, the organizer has already sent out guidelines, and I love everything she is doing.  We have three check-in dates, a request to post a Mosaic, and shipping dates.  Above you see the interest post, then the IG post that the swap was a go, and the rest of the images are pretty self-explanatory.

She also gave us a link to a fine post about Rules for Swapping from Karri Garza.  Loved it.  If you click on Karri’s “swapping” hashtag on the bottom of that post, there are a few other posts she’s written about swapping.  From this I learned that some people sign up their dogs. (!!)  And their children. (!)  Hmmmm.  I’m hoping I’m on the receiving end from another grown-up human quilter, and that all these turn out to be a cool way to meet new people and create something fun.

If you want to try a swap, Amanda of Openquiltswap on Instagram has started a clearing house of swaps–such a great idea to help people like me find their way.  I did a search on other “swap rules” posts.  Here are some:

Katie Bastie on 52 Quilters

Schnitzel & Boo, who I think kind of pioneered this whole swap thing on Instagram

A Pinterest Board of mini quilt ideas from the New Jersey MQGuild

I also found out that there is an informal Black List that circulates among the swap organizers of flakey quilters who receive a mini quilt, but never send one out.  I’ve been in block bees like that, or have received quilt blocks that were at best questionable and at the worst, hideous.  So maybe being in a swap is like a big fun roll of the dice.

Are you in any swaps?  Have you thought about being in a swap?  Any interesting stories to share?