Originally Posted by
Jenjen18
Thank you everyone for all your input.....sounds like you are all very experienced quilters. I like the idea of a block swap. How many fabrics do you recommend to start with? I think we may do the 12" block. I will discuss all your ideas with my friends and definitely checkout all the links you suggested.
My first time using a forum so thanks again for your responses
What you do is totally up to the group, but everyone has to agree -- size of blocks, themes, colors, etc. In my bee, we started out with a focus fabric. You had to use that fabric, but you could add whatever other fabrics you wanted. When we did the row swap, we put fabrics in a box, and each month passed the box to the next person. We also added a small notebook as a quilt diary, and the "owner" of the box wrote her theme, etc. and anything else she wanted to include about herself and her choices. Then each person added to the quilt diary, why they picked the blocks they did, how they were feeling, etc. Some of us also slipped in little gifts - one for the next quilter and one for the owner of the box.
We also did a tablerunner exchange instead of giving Christmas gifts one year. We filled out a form with our name, information, theme, house/favorite colors, etc. Then we drew one form. We then had to make a tablerunner (finished product) for that person as a Christmas gift. It was nice not to have to have 12 gifts.