Janice McC

I will be shipping March's blocks to the following people:

All2Pieces
Bootsy
Jaba (FL)
Jlt37869
Joanelizbay
Libster
Lstew2212
MonaG
QuilterMomma
Sewbizgirl
Terriamn

NanaKathy55 and LLJDugas have opted to have me hold all the blocks until April's are ready to ship.

If anyone has changed their mind about their preferred shipping times, let me know asap as I plan to ship by Friday, maybe tomorrow, if I can get it all set, AND if Mona's blocks arrive as they are supposed to this afternoon. Fingers are crossed!

Thanks!

jaba

Yahoo! I just finished a large medallion center to put all these beautiful blocks around. So excited for them to arrive!!

Janice McC

That's grand, Jaba! Be sure to post a pic of the medallion so we can ooh and aah.

terriamn

Yahoo very exciting,

Mona G

Did my blocks arrive today?

Janice McC

They did arrive and now yours and all the rest are already packed up and waiting by the door to ship TODAY! Yay for the Marchers being on the ball! Woo hoo!

bootsy

Great looking forward to receiving and finishing my project.

Janice McC

You all know I look at a sampling of blocks from every package. Of those I sampled, by and large, the March group made blocks that came in at, or extremely close to, the 12 1/2 inch goal, wonkiness was almost non-existent, seams were good and boy, I thought they were interesting and pretty! (Some blocks were off-sized and it's something we deal with every round.) Thank you to everyone who really put effort and time into the blocks. It shows! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

One thing that came up this round was fabric requests. Early on, I thought a swapper had made a block that did not follow the color requests that had come with the fabric. Two things came of it: One, even when a F8 owner makes what they think is a detailed request, such as "use WOW", it may still be unclear to the block maker. Does that person mean WOW ONLY or may we use WOW and other fabrics? And two, I was asked, "What happened to 'requests are just that, requests'?" My own words coming up and biting me in the fanny. If I'm pushing everyone to follow the "requests" precisely, with no deviation, they are no longer requests. They are requirements and that lessens the block maker's freedom. We cannot have it both ways. Ugg. The proverbial "having the cake and eating it too" quandary.

Anyway, your blocks are packed up and ready to go out the door. I hope everyone likes what they see. I really enjoyed putting the swap together for you and as it finished up and your blocks came together on the gallery, I was, once again, quite impressed with your work. Boomers are the best As always, feel free to EMAIL me your comments, good, bad or otherwise as they pertain to the swap. If you are of a mind do, you may leave official feedback for your partners on the QB feedback system.

Thanks everyone. Enjoy your blocks!

sewbizgirl

Got my tracking info... WOO HOO! I'm going out of town today so my package should arrive the day I get back. Can't wait to play....

As for the fabric requests, I think we all try our best. But let's remember these are not commissioned quilts, they are friendship samplers, reflecting the many personalities who contributed to them. That makes them beautiful. As long as there is a piece of the same fabric in each block, they all come together in a beautiful way. Each block is a gift.

I don't have an answer for Janice's quandry... maybe some of us who want to can offer their opinion on the fabric request vs. requirement issue.

I just want to say I'm SO PLEASED with every block made for me in this March swap-- every one shown in the thread and the few surprises that weren't shown. My quilt for my son-in-law is going to be an amazing surprise for him! Thank you March Boomers!

terriamn

Janice I received my shipping notice also. Very exciting.

it is definitely a quandary but personally much prefer preference to requirement and maybe we should make our preference more defined and hope people follow that preference. Like I would prefer you only add WOW to my fabric or please use fabrics that match my fat 1/8 and would like back ground color to be WOW. Think part of the problem could be you requested no black be added and one of the first blocks someone has added black. Others check out the pictures and see black added and think it's ok to add black and you now have a bunch of blocks with a color added you preferred not to be added.

My main concerns are we don't stress Janice out as well as receiving blocks that will look great in our quilt. I will try to be more specific When writing my preferences.