Cre8tvlwyr,
The Quilt for Quilters swap is about half the size of your DJ project, but even so, a bit on the large size. Initially, we had 62 people sign up. Now, a swap is a bit different-- you've got partners to be accountable to, etc. That said, I did to a "mass email" of sorts at the halfway mark of the project. (People have six months to complete a quilt.)
I asked them to answer one question, like a survey: Please select the one answer that best describes the status of your involvement in the swap:
--- 100% (completed and shipped)
--- 75% (sandwiched and about to quilt)
--- 50% (top is pieced)
--- 25% (top piecing is underway)
--- 5-10% (most cutting, some piecing done)
--- Life happened and I have to drop out
I then posted the results as a pie chart. I know the results encouraged ME to get moving on my partner's quilt.
The other thing to consider is when your project started. Q4Q started in December 2011, and shortly thereafter the new QB was released. We lost a few people to that. Some of them are still participating in the swap, even though they are no longer using the board.
Write something fun and encouraging, that makes it safe to answer "What was I thinking???" as much as "I'm ahead of everyone else!" ;-)
-- Jillaine