If you are interested in watercolor quilting, I invite you to join my 6"+ watercolor charm swap. Swapping is the ideal way of increasing your stash of watercolor fabrics .... an easy, and fun way to get a little bit of a lot of different fabrics!
If you are new to watercolor quilting, please take the time to familiarize yourself with the type of fabric that is suitable. Books by Pat Magaret & Donna Slusser, Deanna Spingola, and Gai Perry are all excellent resources.
1. This is a centralized monthly swap of fabrics suitable for watercolor quilts. Sign up by emailing your name and address to swap hostess. Fabrics you wish to swap will be sent to the swap hostess by the last day of each month in which you wish to participate.
2. All fabric should be suitable for watercolor quilting. It is your responsibility to see that your fabric meets the stated guidelines. The hostess reserves the right to return unswapped fabric that does not meet the guidelines.
3. Carefully choose six fabrics that you wish to swap.... fabrics that meet watercolor guidelines and, if possible, that fit with the month's theme. Fabric should be washed and ironed prior to cutting.
4. Charms are to be cut 6 1/2" square. This is to allow for differences in measuring tools/styles. If you have a particular fabric in your stash that you want to use and can only squeeze out 6 1/4" squares this will be acceptable. However, in fairness to other swappers, make sure that the squares are cut very carefully. The goal here is for everyone to be able to cut nine 2" squares from each charm.
5. Prepare your charm packets. Each packet should contain a charm from each of the six fabrics you have chosen for the month. Put the six charms in a baggie, along with a label that includes your name and email address.
6. You may choose to send six packets of charms, or twelve packets of charms. Please do not send odd numbers of packets, as this makes the job of swapping quite complex for the hostess.
7. Send an SASE to the swap hostess when you send your packets! Put the same amount of postage on your SASE as you have used to mail the packets to the hostess. Use regular stamps, not postage meter stamps. The post office will not accept pre-dated postage meter stamps. (International swappers, please email hostess for special instructions.)
8. Hostess will swap and return your new charms no later than the 10th of the following month.
(Click title above for illustrated discussion of appropriate fabric choices)
1. Multi-colored.... having at least 3 colors. These 3 colors may be next to each other on the color wheel, across from each other, or whatever. The point here is that there should be multiple colors. Remember to think 2" squares. Even if a fabric is multi-colored, if cutting it into 2" squares will result in mostly solid colored squares, it is not appropriate for this swap.
2. Busy fabrics.... lots of energy
3. Good design lines that move or rest the eye
4. Medium to large scale prints!! Tiny prints and calicos are unacceptable for this swap. Please reserve for other projects. Also, please be cautious with prints that are really large.... as in giant prints. Remember fabric is being cut down to 2" squares. If this will result in solid looking squares, the fabric is not appropriate. Also please avoid what are referred to as "ditsy" prints. A basic example of a ditsy print would be a polka dot. In other words, if there is some design element that is sprinkled across a solid background, you are looking at a ditsy print. These do not work well in watercolor projects. Please do NOT send them.
5. Asymmetrical.... i.e., irregular prints. Again, the key here is to think 2" squares! If the fabric you are considering will result in a lot of look-alike squares, it is best reserved for another project.
6. Light-light and dark-dark fabrics that are suitable for watercolor are always welcome, regardless of the month's theme!!
Hint: As you do your shopping, keep your eye open for fabrics of different values. A good blend to look for might be two darks, two mediums and two lights. If unable to find six fabrics fitting with the theme, feel free to fill in with other fabrics suitable for watercolor quilting.
Mail by May 30th: Childhood.... Please choose fabs reminiscent of your own personal childhood, as opposed to a generic childhood. This will help to avoid duplication of fabrics. If necessary, please fill in with any watercolor appropriate fabs. The lightest of lights and the dark/darks are always especially appreciated. This month, it will also be fun if participants include a little note indicating the reasons for their choices of fabs.
Mail by June 30th: WC fabs containing colors/prints which remind you of any "therapeutic" project you have worked on... or which the following poem brings to mind. (To be posted soon!) The poem was contributed to the swap by my youngest son, Eric, who will be/was 22 on May 13th:
Mail by July 30th: Pets and animal friends... and don't feel limited to the ordinary! I once had pet crickets, as a sideline to having a pet iguana and gecko. The crickets started out as food for the lizards, but I bought them special vitamin enriched food pellets so they would themselves be healthier food for the lizards! And then I became quite attached to them. I have always liked to listen to cricket songs. My son was SO annoyed with them, that one day I came home to find them (in their cage of course) in the middle of my bed, under the bedspread. All the chirping was making him nuts!
Mail by August 30th: Back to our color-focused themes! This month the theme is "Purple + 2".... which simply means that one of the minimum of three colors in your prints must be purple. Please AVOID mono-tonal prints. If you do not understand what these are, study the illustrated fabric discussion available on this website!
Mail by September 30th: "Blue + 2".... which simply means that one of the minimum of three colors in your prints must be blue. Please AVOID mono-tonal prints. If you do not understand what these are, study the illustrated fabric discussion available on this website!
Mail by October 30th: "Red or Orange + 2".... which simply means that one of the minimum of three colors in your prints must be either red or orange. Please AVOID mono-tonal prints. If you do not understand what these are, study the illustrated fabric discussion available on this website!
Mail by November 30th: "Peach or Pink + 2".... which simply means that one of the minimum of three colors in your prints must be either peach or pink. Please AVOID mono-tonal prints. If you do not understand what these are, study the illustrated fabric discussion available on this website!
Mail by January 15th: "Printed Pastels".... Let's boost up that light side of the stash again! However, let's make sure they are interesting prints. Please avoid the "mooshy" sort of fabs that really do not have a design to them. Many of us who have been swapping for awhile are really not interested in more of these non-descript fabs. Just go as light as you can while still having a design to the print. Print may be floral, or whatever as long as they meet watercolor guidelines. If you need to fill in with other wc fabs, see if you can find some good darks this month, or just pick some of your favorites.
The following links also contain useful information:
Vicky Wells web site .... prepare yourself to ooh and aah!
