Journal Quilt Swap

So, if it's just a picture then this is really a type 2 (flat mail) swap, not a type 3. Also, if we're allowed to email, well, then it's a type 1.

It sounds interesting but I am confused. This is the same as a mini quilt and we are mailing nothing off to a partner but a picture?

@GoingTwinsane ~ I think the reason June has classified it as Type 3 is that you do actually have to make your mini-quilt, so it does have a large craft element, which is the requirement for Type 3 swaps.

do we keep what we make and sent a picture to are partners

I thought she explained it very well. You keep it to show you made it to your partner sending her an email picture of it. You are trading the photo of it.

I like this idea--we are making something that we want to make for ourselves, but signing up as a swap gives us the deadline to get it done! (I'm watching for now.)

I think for my theme I will use the journey of my family this coming year. My husband is in Iraq and will be there through the first half of the year, so my son and I are trying to settle in now. I'll journal about the struggles or victories we have had that month, what was good or bad, or what looms large in my mind that month! Should be therapeutic!

Jennschales, I LOVE your idea. Other people may have less ambitious ideas [I'm thinknig about trees or birds or the two together]

I tried to be clear: you make the journal [mini] quilt, about 9x12", You make 2 pictures, however you choose, you swap ONLY the pictures so that you keep your creation for yourself At the end of the year you have made a journal for yourself.

I hope some of the watchers will sign up before the last minute. I get very nervous when just a few sign up.

I was thinking about doing this before the swap was created, but I thought I'd make a journal block a month and sew it together at the end of the year to make a large quilt. Could I do this...make a photo of the block each month and send it to my partners?

My theme is birds. I've been wanting to make a bird quilt for some time. What a great idea! I'd prefer snail mail - I like getting stuff in my mailbox.

Or, I may do blocks for my crazy quilt for my family and friends. Decisions, decisions . . . .

I am planning on doing something different each month - kind of like seasonal for the month. And to try some of the techniques that I have been working on - and ones that I learned but never used - like Thread Painting. This is a cool idea!

This is great.! Thank you all for joining, perhaps one or two others will sign up the eleventh hour. I feel drawn to doing trees and birds, with both each month. I hope I can find a way not to repeat the overall design.

Is it ok if we just complete blocks and then join them and quilt them at the end?

I think I will base my journal on friends & family for this year. DD1 is pregnant again and so is a cousin so family is set to grow:)

Yes, kgeslab, it's okay to leave the edges unfinished so you can put them together later. But if the quilting is going to be an important part of the design, you should use a quilt-as-you-go method.

By the way: my favorite reproduction method is color Xerox because you will get a copy exactly the size of the quilt and it will show the sewing well and the color is usually very good. It's not expensive but, yes, it does cost and maybe a scan won't and a digital photo also will not be an additional expense.

I think I will do Crazy Quilt patterns to reflect the controlled chaos that is my life. I haven't done a lot of quilting despite having lots of fabric stashed away. I think Crazy Quilt blocks is a good place to start learning. Lots of variations and room to learn on. I have an excellent camera for taking pictures of my work and a decent printer for making the print.

I am going to do a "handprint" quilt...making a handprint of my two year old each month and decorating them to look like something that fits with that month. In January, I am going to do blue handprints with fabric paint and then stich around them to make them look like mittens!