Anyone interested in an I Spy swap?
 

It's been several years since we've done an I Spy charm swap. Is anyone else interested?

bkay

How do you do it and can international join in?

There is no rule that says you can't that I'm aware of. I don't know much about international mail, but I have to go to the Post Office this week and will look into it.

Generally (in the past), we have swapped 5" charms. You choose 8 fabrics (depending on the rules) that have a specific identifiable object in them that will fit in a 5" square. You bag one of each of your fabrics in a baggie (8 fabrics per bag) and send them to me. I take your baggies and distribute one each of them to the other swappers and one of each of theirs to you.

So, you end up with 8 different bags of I Spy charms, which is generally enough for a quilt with sashing. Depending on the number of swappers, some people send two sets. (If you send 2 sets, each set has to be unique.)

If we get enough interest, I will post some photos of fabrics that work well and those that don't. I have a box full of fabrics I bought for my first I Spy swap. They were really cute and or interesting, but they all needed to be fussy cut. I don't enjoy fussy cutting. That's why they are still in the box.

You have to have 8 unique fabrics per bag, but all your bags don't have to match. So you can use scraps if you have them.

I hope I've described this adequately. If not, let me know.

bkay

I'm interested! Will start gathering fabrics in hopes this will happen. Happy New Year, and let's clean out the stash a bit.

I'd be interested. I just used up most of what I had and was thinking it would be nice to get more. I know I've got at least 8 fabrics I can use.

I would be interested.

So if I've got it right. I send you 8 bags.each bag containing 8 x 5inch charms featuring a cat or flower or something and you send me back 8 bags from other people and we then make a quilt?

I'm interested

Exactly.

bkay

Sounds like fun, I might want to join

It was annoying to get squares that were "just cut" without any attention to the placement of the design.

i have learned that some designs/patterns work well in a 5 inch square piece. Some do not.

You might want to specify if fabrics should be washed before cutting. I prefer washed.

I've got a lot of fabrics where the print is small enough that it won't matter how it's cut, there will still be several cats or pumpkins in the square. I've got others are big enough that you'll be lucky to get one complete motif unless you fussy cut. I also hate getting squares that have animals with their heads cut off on one side, and just heads on the other side.

I'd also like to know if others would have a motif size requirement - I've got some prints that are quite small, like less than an 1". It's easy to tell what it is up close, but not from a few feet away. I've not had any qualms about using them in quilts I make, but don't want to send them to others if they wouldn't want to use any small prints.

Ok count me in but if postage to Australia is too expensive I quite understand and enjoy the fun of seeing others creations

I’d like to join, if I can get guidance on ideal/acceptable prints. I want to make sure I have enough of what people want/can use. It’d be my first swap and I’m concerned about doing it wrong.

I'll post the rules as soon as I find out if there is an alternative to priority mail. The rules say the package you send has to be "trackable". I was going to check with the post office to see if there is any other mail that can be tracked. I haven't gotten it done, but my P.O. is open tomorrow.

Basically, the charm has to be exactly 5" X 5", it must contain a whole (complete) recognizable object (or complete multiple recognizable objects), it must be 100% quilt quality cotton. If I remember correctly, flowers are not allowed. I'm looking through some of mine, because I'm sure I will leave something out, but t can be an animal, a tree, a boat, a rocket, a food, an insect, flip flops, cars, socks, a bicycle,a safety pin, a fish, a ball, a balloon - it can be anything a child would recognize.

The fabric has to be washed, by the way.

bkay

I'm going to the P.O. tomorrow. The rules say that the package has to be trackable, so I'm going to ask if there is an alternative to Priority Mail that is trackable.

By the way, you pay postage both ways.

bkay

Ok. I go to town on Tuesday end will find out how I go about sending money internationally.

Ok. I go to town on Tuesday end will find out how I go about sending money internationally.

I checked. It will be about $20.00 U.S. for me to send a pound of something to Australia. I have no way of knowing how much it will cost for you to send it to me. You have to ask there. My zip code is 75228. I'm in Dallas, Texas.

Even though it will be fun to participate, it seems expensive to me.

You are very welcome to participate. I'll do my best to accommodate.

bkay

I've never done this before, but sounds interesting. When/how is the "theme" determined?
Thanks.

We don't have a particular theme. The point is to make a child's "I Spy" quilt. It's a game you play with little ones. A three-year-old is about the perfect age to play the game. Generally, an adult and a child play. (At least, this is how we played when the grands were small.) The adult says, "I spy with my little eye a horse." The child has to find the horse. Of course, they are delighted to look for the horse as they are getting your undivided attention. One of my late husband's great-grands would jump on the object when she found it. As they get older, you can find objects that are harder to find on the quilt. They generally outgrow them by the age of 5 or so, but they seem to keep them just for "old times sake". My grand-nephew is 12, but still uses his for a snuggle quilt. I gave one to one of the now grown up kids who worked for me when his son was a toddler. The child has some learning difficulties, and they used his I Spy quilt to help him with work on forming words.

I guess the theme is a 5" square with a clearly identifiable object printed on it that child would recognize. I posted some of the I spy quilts I made on the pictures thread. You can get an idea of what to do. I like to sash my quilts, but most other people don't.

bkay

I've also used them as the back side for kid's quilts. My neighbor watched our house for three weeks when we were south, and I made a quilt for her grandson. the Dinos went on the front and the eye spy on the back. That used up most of the blocks I had from a previous swap so I'm ready to get more.

Just a note about starting swaps - https://www.quiltingboard.com/member...-a-t20154.html

Thanks, Janey. I checked with Patrice last month and got permission to host an I Spy swap. I wasn't sure there would be enough interest to make one viable. We've not done one since 2019. That's why I posted the questions previous to announcing the actual swap - just to see if there was interest. I believe I have complied with all the rules. If I missed one, let me know.

I officially posted the swap with rules and dates just now. Questions can be posted here and also there.

bkay

Great quilt. You are so talented. You do all those great quilts with little pieces and they turn out looking perfect.
bkay

I made a mistake on numbers
 

I remembered incorrectly. It wasn't 8 charms per bag, it was 10. It was 8 bags to a set. I apologize.
bkay

I checked today and do not have enough novelty fabric that would work for this swap. I’m bummed I won’t be able to join in but wish you all the best in the swap!

I'm checking out fabric today.

Did you work out the logistics of mailing to/from Australia?

bkay