Originally Posted by fabric_fancy
swap are only as good as the host.
it is up to the host to properly swap out the blocks, coordinate the people in the swap, and make sure everyone follows the rules.
i've been in some great swaps and i'll always join anything she wishes to host and i've been in some terrible swaps and i'll never work with that host again.
OVERALL: I've had the same Block Swap experience above as fabric_fancy: swaps are only as good as the host, and the host needs to be willing to make some people who don't follow the rules, who submit substandard construction, and who miss deadlines unhappy by enforcing the rules.
SWAPS: I belong to an online block swap which has an EXCELLENT host/admin who enforces the rules ... which had made some people leave, and others cheer. She does speak to people about substandard construction privately and has on occasion returned blocks as unsuitable for exchange back to the maker. This online block swap is every other month - you participate in those swaps that interest you, and she does ask for (and use) suggestions made by participants. Instructions (with photos) and samples on Facebook for each swap are posted at least three months in advance. Each month varies in size as well as color/theme/block. Everyone submits swap blocks in groups of 5 (i.e., you send in 5, 10, 15, etc. depending on how many you want back). There have been a few Special Swaps - such as a calendar swap (which was particularly fun and very high quality work). I have a lot of fun with this group and have not been disappointed once. Again, KUDOS and a zillion roses to the host/admin of the swap!
ROUND ROBIN - ROW-By-ROW: I participated in a Row-by-Row friendship Quilt Workshop with several members of my guild - one coordinator taught the block that formed each of the six rows. All participants were divided into five teams of 5 people. EVERYONE turned in quality work, quality fabrics and we all had great fun.
ROUND ROBIN - ADD-A-BORDER: I also participated in an Add-Half-A-Border Round Robin with an out-of-state guild, which was GREAT fun after I fixed someone else's badly made block and added my border. THAT SAID, it is one of my favorite quilted wall hangings because everyone else did such wonderful work and showed a lot of creativity with the simple rules we had. The Round Robin worked this way - first, everyone made their own 12x12 (finished) starting block which was packaged with at least a fat quarter of each of the fabrics used in the starting block so that the next quilter could use those coordinating fabrics in their contgribution. Each quilter had to create two adjacent borders according to the instructions (border 1 HST, border 2 9-patch, border 3 appplique, border 4 free choice, etc.). The first block I got had me tearing my hair out - one unfinished side was 11 3/4", another 12 1/4, another 12 and another 12 3/8. It was clear to me that this person grabbed a crappy-construction orphan block, threw it into a bag and figured the rest of us would "fix" her junk. So, thinking of the other 9 people ahead of me, I threw my hands up and re-made her block (fortunately I had enough of the same cheap fabric she used in my Trial Blocks Stash) and then added my 2 adjacent borders and sent it on. I got my quilt back, with this same Crappy Construction Queen putting on the last two borders of my quilt - one whole side seam of the quilt had the seam allowance whittle down from 1/4" to NOTHING, and wouldn't you know it was a sawtooth border. Fortunately, it had a black background, so I fused a strip of black fabric to create the missing seam allowance so I could at least put the binding on; the colorful binding hid this in the end, but it still gripes me that this person ruined 9 quilts with her thoughtless crappy construction and yet received top quality workmanship in the one she took home. Despite the simple rules for each half-border, it allows for a lot of fun and creativity.