I made really good progress on my friendship quilt made with blocks from the Small Quilt Talk group swap. I finished the top and the quilting! Today I want to get the binding done before work.
Have you ever done a block swap? I have done many over the years. They can be a lot of fun. However, I know of many people that were totally disappointed. It is all a matter of expectations really.
I do swaps for fun and friendship, not to make an award winning quilt. You will have some swappers that make perfect blocks and others that struggle to make a block square and even close to the right size. You will likely be swapping with newbies right along with those more experienced than you.
If you expect perfect blocks, don’t swap, make them yourself!
When I put these blocks together, I only tried to match the corners of the blocks. I didn’t even try to match the points at the sides of the blocks. Once in a while, they lined up! But when all is said and done, those mismatched or missing points won’t be that noticeable.
One thing that can cause problems is when the seam allowance was cut too close.
I didn’t see this until I was sewing the blocks together or I probably would not have used this block. This workmanship is really not up to par for a swap. I salvaged this by adding a bit of fusible interfacing to the back to reinforce the area. I am not mad about it, I knew when I signed up I could get anything back.
On the flip side, I do my very best to send out my best work to others. I make a test block to make sure I can so this well or I don’t sign up.
At the end of the day, for me at least, it is about connecting with other quilters. This quilt won’t be perfect but it has been fun to make from beginning to end. And I have a tangible link to my online friends.
I am linking up with Connie at Free Motion by the River.
KatyQuilts 