Sewn Block Swaps

Here are some of my most prized quilts. You can tell they are my most prized because I still own them! Obviously, I could never give these away. They were made with the help of my friends at "About Quilting" and honestly I love these quilts most of all. I enjoy participating in the block exchanges that are hosted on the quilting forum and I take great pleasure in the camaraderie that I have found on that site. I think you can feel the kindness and love in the finished quilts. Corny, I know, but I can't stop myself from telling anyone that will listen how these quilts came to be. “These quilts were made by the loving hands of women from all over North America and a few foreign countries….”

Once on the "About Quilting" site, go to the forums (on left hand side of page) and you will find one of my favorite quilting hang outs. There, divided by topic, you will find fabric swaps, sewn block swaps of every skill level and style, general quilting discussions and even a beginning quilters area where you can post any question and get very good answers in return. I especially love the “Show and Tell” forum where quilters show off their finished projects. It was in these forums that I stumbled on to some of the best Scrappy Quilt Block Swaps ever. The concept is really quite simple - using the pattern provided by the hostess, you make sets of ten blocks. When the blocks are completed, you send them in to the hostess. In return, the hostess sends back to you ten blocks all made with different fabric . This allows you to make a very scrappy looking quilt with fabrics that you don't actually have.

The first quilt I have shown here was from a swap that a woman in Hawaii always hosted, and sadly, I simply can not remember the name of that series of swaps. The second quilt I am showing off is from the “Penny Pincher” series. That quilt came from the “Penny Pincher Ho Ho Ho” block swap. In this photo I hadn’t finished putting on the border, but it is now boxed up and ready to ship to a long arm quilter. The next time a Penny Pincher block swap is posted, I will post a note on my blog so if you are interested, you can join in on the fun.