The November Secret Pal swap will start any day now. Go to Home at the top of the page, then click on Member Swaps and Round/Row Robins. Look at the different swaps. I personally love the Secret Pal Swap. Our hostess is Lori and she does a wonderful job. Just read the rules and follow them. It is better to mail your package early than late. Come join us.

Another person who experienced mixed responses. My first one, a friendship block exchange (different forum) where we selected color of our choice and made a particular block, sending them to hostess who swapped them out (one from each participant & returned to us in postage-pd envelope), was wonderful. Great hostess, lots of feedback from participants as we worked on our 20 blocks and everyone came through with great blocks. Second: birthday block swap (another forum, 12 participants). I ended up shorted 5 blocks. Pin cushion swap okay but took several nudgings through hostess to get mine. I spy fabrics and other fabrics/fat quarter swaps -- positive. Another birthday block swap (still another forum) -- only 7 others in it, two poop-outs (early-in-the year birthdays who evaporated into thin air, after their birthdays of course. Mine was last in the group (midDec.). All-year Secret Angel Swap (this forum)-- excellent! Lots of nice things received and great getting to know my Angelee and at end, my SQA.

I agree with others, watch how well things are monitored by hostess and how specific the rules are (blocks defined in terms of acceptability, timing, etc.) or if for other things, how defined amounts to be spent are, etc. Myself, I prefer a one-end point swap (as opposed to all-year or ?) and prefer shorter time-frames as unexpected life-events getting in way are less likely to happen. If you go into it with idea that it might not be perfect, you'll be happier.

I did the fruit/vegetable swap. I got cookies and other kinds of foods, and my own returned to me. The fabrics didn't meet the swap requirements.

I was new this year. I was nervous joining the row robin. Some blocks I like and some I don't. But I learned a lot. As a new person to quilting, I tried my best. Even when you are trying to follow the rules, sometimes it is hard to get the blocks to come out to the exact size. People should be more lenient with their criticism of others. I enjoyed the swaps. I was in the row robin, secret pal, Funky Halloween swap, red/white/ blue, In the garden and 2 Christmas swaps. I have lots to finish. If there is a particular block you are not happy with, make a mug rug. You can always put a border on a block to make it come out to the right size.
Try a swap. You might like it. My advice is do not get in too many at one time. Then you will not feel overwhelmed. :lol:

I have participated in several. For the most part is was a great experience, & loads of fun; but I did get burned on a few of them. I just don't participate in the those again.

One swap I enjoyed a lot was the host put as many items in a one price mailing box that would fit. She mailed it to the next person who took out what they wanted and added that much more to the box and mailed to the next on the list. The host then received the box last with all new items. The rule was to replace the items you took with other quality items. Everyone posted what they kept not what they replaced it with. It was a lot of fun.

I haven't done any block swaps or round robins, but the secret pal swaps I've participated in have been disappointing and not worth the trouble. For the most part, the longer the swap endures, the more things are re-gifted, and you end up with a lot of junk you don't want or need. Hope you don't mind my honesty...

I guess I haven't done any block or round swaps because I want my quilts to be all my own work, LOL! Maybe I'm just not a natural born swapper. :lol:

Loads of fun!! Great to see how talented people are! :thumbup:

Just have fun with it!

I have participated in many swaps back on the Compuserve and AOL boards. They were all fun.
They all had some minor glitches. As others have
said, the secret is to not expect perfection. If you
(generic you, not necessarily you) are a perfectionist
or on the quilt police force (but maybe you wouldn't dare
admit it!) skip the swaps and such. Disappointment
is directly proportional to expectations. You ARE going
to get less than stellar sewing, questionable interpretation
of colors, cheap fabric, and drop-outs. You are also going to have fun and just maybe learn a little something.
NB - I would never do a round robin with complete strangers because if you lose your quilt you lose the whole thing, it's not a matter of coming up short a few blocks.
Hum...think I'll go check it out.