At the end of last year I ran a little swap for those that wanted to swap Farmer’s Wife 1930’s Sampler Quilt related items. The swap got 166 participants (which was a record for me and I think SwapBot)! Given how much joy the swap has brought people I’ve decided to run another swap round.

Please read carefully the information provided below!

SWAP PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS

• You must have the book  The Farmer’s Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt: Inspiring Letters from Farm Women of the Great Depression and 99 Quilt Blocks That Honor Them by Laurie Aaron Hird for Fons & Porter/F+W; RRP $28.99 – Click here to purchase Paperback  – Click here to purchase eBook.
• You do not have to be participating in the Farmer’s Wife 1930’s Sampler Quilt Sew-along to participate in the sew, but you must make your swap item in line with the swap requirements (which will mean you’ll need the book).
• The swap is totally random – I have no control over who you will be allocated – and you will only get one swap partner. You will send to one person and receive from another. You do not send to the person you receive from.
• If your profile on SwapBot does not include information that will help your swap partner you will be removed from the swap.
• Please see below for more details about what you’ll be swapping and what the timeframes are.

WHAT YOU’LL SWAP

You will be required to make an item that features block(s) from The Farmer’s Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt – this may be a mug rug (click here to find out more about mug rugs), a mini quilt (maximum measurement 20″ x 20″), a bag, a zipper pouch, a cushion, an apron. Something handmade that makes a feature of the block(s) from The Farmer’s Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt. (This is compulsory.)

You may decide to just use one block (or you might use one block in the way that Kirsty from Bonjour Quilts is using her blocks) or you can use multiple blocks. The choice is yours, the only condition is that all blocks used must be from The Farmer’s Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt. You may also decide to rescale your blocks (make them 8″ instead of 6″ for example). This is more than acceptable. 

You may include swap parcel inclusions if you wish, this is not compulsory. If you are posting internationally please be mindful of the customs and quarantine laws of the country you are sending to. (If in doubt ask Google or your swap partner.)  A good example is Tea; a nice inclusion but it often results in the parcel being held up in Customs. Also consider the climate of where you’re posting to; chocolates are great to receive, but if the location your sending to is in the middle of summer these can often melt in transit.

Please note: If you do not make an item that features blocks from the Farmer’s Wife 1930’s Sampler Quilt your partner has every right to rate the parcel in SwapBot as a “3 – I got my stuff, but it didn’t meet the posted swap requirements.”. If this happens you will be precluded from any further swaps based on your rating.

TIMEFRAME

Swap is open for registration from today until 29 February 2016.

You will be required to post your parcels in the following timeframe:

• International: 18 – 22 April 2016
• Domestic: 25 – 29 April 2016

All parcels must be posted by 29 April 2016.

There’s two postage cut offs to try and help parcels arrive around the same time so we can share in the excitement together. If you are unable to post during this timeframe please let me know, postage prior to 18 April 2016 is allowable where circumstances dictate, however all parcels must be posted by 29 April 2016.

Please note: If you are posting International please be aware that postage can be expensive and posting via Sea Mail, while cheaper, is disappointing for your swap partner as Sea Mail often takes 3+ Months to arrive. When posting International please consider some option for reducing bulk in parcels. For example if posting a cushion, do not include the cushion insert. Consider making a mug rug or zip pouch so that you can add a few small inclusions without exceeding weight limits. If in doubt leave me a comment or send me an email to discuss.

Removal from Swap

As I’m sure you can appreciate running a swap like this takes a lot of work and effort. I do my best to ensure that everyone receives a swap parcel and that it’s as easy as possible for people to participate. To help with this I use SwapBot. Now, it’s not the most user friendly website, but it’s the only one I know of that allows this kind of thing to be done. The great thing about SwapBot is that it allows participants to rate their swap partners which means that I can screen participants to try and ensure only valid swappers are participating.

I also send multiple emails through out the swap providing reminders and how-to’s in relation to getting the most out of your swap (including how to update your swap profile). While I do my best to assist I also have to make some hard calls and occasionally people will be removed from swaps based on their lack of profile information and ratings and previous swap experiences. This is nothing personal, and I do my best to resolve any issues before a participant is removed from a swap. However, my decision to remove participants is final and I will not tolerate bullying or nastiness in an attempt to regain entry.

SOME GENERAL SWAP INFORMATION AND ETIQUETTE

GIVE UNTO OTHERS

It should go without saying, but just so we’re clear: only swap material that you would be happy to receive yourself. This means swapping quilting quality material (preferably cotton). Using a mix of pattern and colour that you think your partner would like. (Obviously this one is a little subjective, so again if you’d be happy to use it swap it – if in doubt probably best to either contact the person you’re swapping with to see if they’d like it or maybe keep it for yourself.) Please take the time to read your partners information and if there’s not enough information send them an email and try and find out more about their fabric, colour, pattern preferences.

COMMUNICATION IS KEY

I understand that life sometimes throws you a curve ball and means that you can’t always do what you would like, so if for any reason you have to pull out of the swap just drop me (and if you’re so inclined) your partners an email to let me know and we’ll work around it. The more warning you can give the better so that I can redirect packages, etc.

TIME IS MONEY

Please post your Farmer’s Wife 1930’s Sampler Quilt Swap Parcel to your swap partner by the postage date specified. If you’re anything like me just knowing that something is coming in the mail is uber exciting, so it would be great if all our packages arrive around the same time so that we can all celebrate together.

QUILT KARMA

Ultimately a swap like this is only as good as what you put in to it so please remember to treat everyone as you would expect to be treated. Chances are if you shaft someone today, you’ll be shafted tomorrow.

SWAP ANGELS

In some cases parcels go missing or people drop out and we may need a Swap Angel to come to the rescue. If you would like to be a Swap Angel please let me know via via my contact page. Over the course of the swap I will be in contact if there are Swap Angels needed.

QUESTIONS

If you have any questions at all please let me know either in the comments below or via my contact page.

SIGN UP

You can sign up for the swap by clicking here.

A WORD ABOUT SWAPBOT

I have used SwapBot to host this swap. It’s a free service and allows me to administer the swap much easier than if I was to do it manually. Unfortunately I do not have the capacity to run a swap outside of SwapBot so you will need to sign up to their service (which is free) to participate. SwapBot provides protection against poor swappers as it allows participants to be rated so that we can ensure maximum participation in this and all future swaps.

I am unable to provide IT Support for SwapBot. The have a great help section (click here to see their FAQs) and if that doesn’t provide you with an answer they have great email customer support, just drop them a line. If you’re a new user to SwapBot click here to read their New User Information.