Ok, so I had this brilliant idea of hosting a signature swap in September. I was able to get 23 kind souls to join in. I think it was all the begging and groveling I did, but 24 turned out to be a nice number since we could do a 4 x 6 block project.

A simple pattern was chosen, which was to include a 3" center square which would contain the creator's name, screen name, and location. This center block would be surrounded by side pieces of one favorite color and top and bottom pieces of another favorite color. Once we got the guidelines down, it was time to start sewing. We had a deadline of the end of November.

So, all the blocks arrived by mid-December. Everyone who joined the swap sent their blocks - no drop outs! And then we relaxed a bit to get through the holidays. Now, the blocks have been sent out and are their way to each of the participants. We had swappers from Australia, England, Scotland, the UK and New Zealand; as well as Vermont, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Florida, Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, Montana, North Dakota, Arizona, and Wisconsin. The winning state was California with four swappers!

Once everyone receives their blocks, they are free to do with them as they will. I will be making a wall hanging with mine and will post pictures here and offered to post pictures of everyone's completed projects as well. I will alert the news media when new pictures are posted.

I took some pictures along the way in case you want to see them. I set all the blocks up on my design wall in no particular order and took some pictures as well. I wasn't going to post them until everyone had received their blocks because I didn't want to ruin the surprise, but I don't think these pictures will. They didn't quite come out as I had hoped and they don't reveal too much detail. You'll see why if you peek.

Here's what my work table looked like after all the blocks arrived. It was so much fun opening the mail box every day!

So then all the blocks had to be put into piles for each swapper. One complication arose when I discovered that some swappers had kept their own squares so I could not just deal the blocks out like cards. When I ended up with one block short, I recounted twice just to make sure that two blocks had not stuck together. This was the first of several "lessons learned". More on that later.

The next task was to pack the squares up for each person. Each swapper had supplied a self-addressed stamped envelope. One envelope was addressed to me instead of the swapper, so I had to make sure the envelopes were addressed properly. A few of the envelopes were smaller than the others and they are really stuffed! Second "lesson learned". When I took all the packages to the Post Office, I thought the postman's eyes were going to pop out of his head. I had a shopping bag full of envelopes! And he had let the other postal person go home early due to the weather! Everything went ok until I found out that I needed customs forms filled out for each international package. Can you say "lesson learned" number three?

So, if you want to see what the blocks look like before you get your package, go ahead and look. But like I said, the picture isn't the best. It doesn't do the blocks justice and I don't want you to be disappointed when you see it. I can't figure out what went wrong. Well, you'll see what I mean.

Take a Peek

Well now that everyone has gotten their blocks, we can show the world the beautiful work produced by these wonderful swappers: Butterfly, Connie, Dodie, Ginny, Hanne, Helen, Jennifer, Jo, Karen, Louise, Marilyn, Nancy, Pati, Royce, Shona, Suzie, Tamara, Tammy, Taria, Trish, Valerie, Vickie and last but certainly not least, Yvette!

The final blocks! I figured out how to put the film in the right way this time, so you get to see the "front" of the blocks!

Get ready to oooohhh and aaaaahhhhhh!

The blocks are here!

Finished projects will be posted here.