I'll weigh in on the quandry too. I too would like to keep it request as opposed to "requirement". I think everyone tries to meet the requests and when they don't it is a simple oversight or mistake, and I would hate to see someone excluded b/c of a simple mistake or misunderstanding. I know the time I didn't follow w/ Jaba's fabric a swap or two back I miss understood assuming white and wow were interchangable. I view the boom as fun. When I choose a fabric and an idea, I know it isn't going to be perfectly co-ordinated in color or style and that is what makes these sets special. I could make 20 different blocks w/ my own fabric and get something much more traditionally "tied together", but that isn't what a friendship swap is about.