ibex94

As a prior lurker I can attest to the lovely chairs in the balcony. Lurkers are always welcome. Life gets i the way of the fun things, I know. And if there is no time to quilt, these candies pile up fast!

WMUTeach

Here is the most current list for the 2026 Birthday Swap. I wanted to post before we/I get all involved with the holiday festivities and frankly, I lose track of email comments.

The current 2026 list as of 12-24-25:

• Brenda W
• Crispy_Frog
• Gaijin
• Happylab
• Hav4boys
• Ibex94
• Janice Mc C
• JENNR8R
• JulieG
• LAF2019
• Logcabin82
• Pamelor
• Patrick’s Mom
• Pinkflowers
• Quossum
• Terriamn
• TravellingGramma
• WMUTeach

Good night for now and I will pop in tomorrow between moments of Christmas fun.

JulieG

Hello everyone and thank you for the warm welcome. I am so excited to join in the swap! I can't wait for my Christmas houseguests to leave so I can start sorting candies!


Here's a little about me - I've lived in the PNW for nearly all my life. I work full time at a travel agency managing logistics for corporate events that have 1000-3000 attendees. I have one daughter who's in her last year of residency at Parkland Hospital in Dallas. She will return to Seattle next summer to begin her fellowship in pulmonary critical care and cancer research. I have an 11-year-old rescue mutt named Angelo.


I'm active in my local quilt guild and enjoy sew days with friends and going away to quilt retreats. I mostly make donation quilts now because my house is full of quilts, everyone in my extended family has quilts, and most of my friends are quilters and already have their own piles of quilts. I'm making a lot of scrappy quilts these days in a futile attempt to reduce the amount of fabric in my house.


I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you and am very grateful to get to participate in this group. Wishing everyone a warm and joyful holiday.

Janice McC

JulieG, hello! I’m in the same boat as you regarding making donation quilts. Most of the ones I make go to Project Linus and are smaller so I can quilt them at home. My house has too many large quilts so I just don’t make large ones anymore, unless something really appeals to me.

I also have a rescue pup. He’s 14-1/2 and we adopted him just over a year ago. He’s still going strong! His name is Ernie.

Enjoy the holidays!

terriamn

Welcome Julie, hope you enjoy the swap! It’s so much fun

WMUTeach

Merry Christmas everyone. My home is quiet and still, the wrapping is finished, the baking done for the moment and I am listening to sweet carols. I am waiting for my son and his wife to arrive for the first of several celebrations in the next week. I trust your days will be filled with memories and that you can rest in the peace of the Christ Child.

.

LAF2019

Hello all. I officially put in to join again next year. I'm not the most social/talkative, but always love feeling involved via reading everyone's posts.
Welcome to JulieG. There are a few of us here in the PNW. A beautiful place to be!

WMUTeach

Good morning 2026 swappers, we just had another QB member join us, Wesing! He was with the swap previously and is rejoining us for 2026. We are now numbering 19. All of you who cut 20 sets were spot on.

HINT: Be ready for January, we have two birthdays that month and we should be ready to pop envelopes in the mail soon after the New Year's holiday whoo-hah is over.

HINT # 2: If possible prep all of your packages or at least cut all of your squares,19 sets of 50 different fabrics as of today, at the beginning of the year. This will get your envelope in the mail quicker. I remember my first year when I cut each month as it came, Somewhere along the line I saw the light and cut the rest of the year's candy squares. What a difference it made to getting the little candies to the birthday recipient on time. More fun and less of a burden or chore.

Enjoy this "tween holiday weekend. It is likely that many of us are celebrating Christmas with family and stretching the joyous season out a bit longer.

ibex94

Nineteen of us and it isn't even Jan 1 yet!

Welcome back Wesing! Did you use up all the candies you had previously collected? What is your favorite part of candy collection?

Happy New Year everyone! I am still recovering from overeating at all the Christmas feasts. Time to start exercising, I fear. My candies are ready for January mailing. I have taken your encouragement on prepping ahead of time to heart, WMUTeach.

WMUTeach

Good for you Ibex, I am not yet at 20 sets of 50, but I have next week to finish cutting, bagging and getting January's sets ready to go. I think I am slightly more than half done. All of the holiday doings have cut into my sewing room time. But I will get there before January 1. Must set a good example....right?

I just filled two crock pots with mashed potatoes for my large family gathering tomorrow. That is a lot of mashing. Fingers crossed that there are leftovers. Potatoes are one of my favorite foods. Remember Forrest Gump and the list of ways to cook shrimp? I can do that with potatoes. LOVE THEM!!

Looks like about 25 nieces, nephews and their children, a couple of misc. folks and my brother and SIL expected tomorow. Ah, this is my favorite gathering. Just so much going on. I also am making a dutch almond roll, something called casserole cookies that have been a family fav for 30 + years and are "expected" each Christmas.

I am ready to finish the pastry tonight then settle down with a cup a tea.