Swaps

It occurs to me that three of the five tops that I have finished in the last couple of years have been made of swapped blocks. Two of them have grown up to become quilts. I have three other sets of swapped blocks that live in bins on my fabric shelf. If I am not mistaken this is not a phenomenon that happens in many other artistic communities.I consider fabric post cards an offshoot of the quilting community. And the internet has made the opportunity to swap fabric and finished blocks and postcards and artist trading cards much more widely practised. Cool, Huh?
And my daughter's wedding quilt will be made of swapped blocks as well. I have really loved being able to trade blocks with other quilters. I get to enjoy a wider variety of fabric. I get to have block combinations that I would never have thought of myself and I feel like I am part of a world wide community.
Right now I am participating on a siggie square block exchange with the Dear Jane internet list of quilters. I am sending out 122 blocks that I have made and stamped and signed and I will get back the same amount from quilters all over the globe, To me, this is thrilling!! And when I do get back my blocks from this third swap I have done I will have enough to make a quilt. And it will be a thing of beauty.
I am not involved in any other swaps right now. I am trying to focus on the works in progress that I have in my space. Th down side of swaps is that you can spend all your energy on these dear little blocks and forget to use them in any final project.