Athens time

Saturday 15 January 2011

It's Doll Quilt Swap Time !!

It's that time again when we are all waiting with baited breath for our doll quilt swap partners! For my readers who don't know what it is all about a quick recap;

The doll quilt swap started small, with a few people being organised in pairs to swap doll quilts they are making especially for their partner. It is a blind swap, which means that you know who you are making the quilt for (obviously, as you are having to 'stalk' them and find out their likes and dislikes to make the best quilt possible for them) but you don't know who is making the quilt for you, that will be a surprise!

To give your partner information on your likes and dislikes, you can write a letter to them on your blog, make a mosaic, update your favourite photos in Flickr and make lots of comments in the threads. Likewise, when you have been emailed with the name of the one you are making for, you stalk them in turn to find out their favourites.

The group itself is very jolly and has lots of amusing characters who entertain us all in the threads. I am not that funny myself but I enjoy reading some of the banter going on. Some threads get quite raunchy, lol...

You can imagine, as this swap has now grown to 200 participants per round, we have a lot of fun! It is organised by swap mama's, ten of them this round (and an angel mama, who makes a quilt for those who get lost in the post or not arrive for some other reason, Hi Carol!!), who each look after a batch of 20. The mama's collectively read all the blogs and look at each flickr page to match participants as best as they can. It's a lot of work and we are so thankful to all the mama's who make it possible for us to participate in one of the best swaps on the net!

I have been lucky enough to participate in DQS8 and 9 and here are the quilts I made and received;

This is the first doll quilt I ever made. I was sooooo worried my partner would not like it, as I did not have much information at all that time because she was taken ill and had to drop out of the swap. My swap mama and I decided to still continue as planned and I made a quilt and sent it to her as a surprise.





As Laura my swap mama made the angel quilt to send to the one who was my partners partner (if you get what I mean), I made a surprise quilt for Laura. She just loves Hello Kitty, so made her one of those. I don't seem to have a photo of the finished quilt.. and Laura hasn't published any of it either so I can't scoop those. I remember taking some.. wonder where they went.. Anyhow, this is the piece before quilting;



The quilt I received was made by Marianne Penner (maripenquiltmum). She made this lovely bird, which I coveted seeing it grow on her blog and in Flickr. I just loved it but thought that nobody got just those quilts they particularly like... So what a surprise when I got a parcel from her and this beautiful quilt came out!! It has pride of place in my sewing room now and I admire it every day.



DQS9 arrived and I took part again. This time I was making a quilt for Mari who wanted a square quilt for her kitchen table. This one took me a long time to make, not in the least because it was a new technique I was trying and, now I had more information, I wanted to make it perfect for her! I think she liked it and she has a beautiful picture of it on her Flickr with a candle in the middle.



The quilt I received reduced me to tears. Teresa the Lochside Quilter in Scotland made it and she just hit the nail on the head and made it perfect!! I had just returned from a journey to Scotland which did not go entirely to plan, so I arrived home very tired and a bit sad from a long long journey in the car, having to shop and breathe life back into the house before going to sleep and recharge. I came through the door, and... surprise!!! My doll quilt!! And what a lovely parcel with thoughtful extras and a fantastic dolphin quilt. Teresa had 'read' me perfectly. Love water and dolphins, love Scotland too and amazingly had passed the day before almost by Teresa's house. It was so nice to know that someone who I did not even know had taken such care in putting such a lovely parcel together! It was a warm welcome home I had not counted on! It now also lives in my sewing room. It's getting a really nice place to sew with all those beautiful quilts on the wall, as almost every I sew is given away, so it's nice to have these lovely memories of both swaps on the wall!





We are on the evening of DQS10. We will be getting our partners in about a week or so (or two...) I think... Who will it be?? Excitement is growing!

Go check out the Flickr Group.. You will enjoy it !!! (click here)

5 comments:

Kate said...

Oh what gorgeous mini quilts! I just love the baboushka one

Kate x

Terrie Sandelin said...

What a great entry on Doll Quilt Swap. What beautiful quilts you made and received. Like you, I'm waiting for my swap partner's name. Who knows? Perhaps I'll get yours!

{Leila}Where the Orchids Grow said...

It's hard to imagine the doll quilt swap starting so small. I remember seeing this group for the first time and being totally intimidated!
I'm still a bit, but also super excited to get to play this round :-)

x Leila

Cat said...

What gorgeous quilts you have both made and received. I especially love the babushka and dolphin - seeming these are both loves of mine.
Take care my lovely Marguerite xxx

myBearpaw said...

So pleased you are doing the swap too! Just got my partner, very exciting! And I loved looking at all those beautiful quilts again, especially your first attempt with the babushkas and the buttons - so sweet!