So here is how the swap works:
Post your want or need in the comments. A picture will be very helpful in many cases, so my suggestion is that you upload your photo to a photo-hosting site (Picasa will work great, Flickr would work, and I'm sure you have lots of ideas about this, which you can post in the comments) and post the URL. You can link to your blog if the picture is there.
You can also just email the person a photo if they think they can help you.{If anyone has some of this rose fabric, I would love to have more! I will trade you something you love, if I have it!}
I have the vague notion that it's not a great idea to put your email address in the comment AS an email address, because of trolling spammers. So either use the written out form (e.g. leilamarielawler (at) gmail.com) or use your clickable profile as your contact info.
Then your swapper can email you and arrange to send you your fabric. Don't feel you have to send that person something in return. A chance to give will come up! What goes around, comes around!
Subsribe to the feed for the comments on this post, and you will always be updated on what people are looking for!
You can swap other craft items as well. I personally have, literally, three lifetimes' worth of notions (mine, my mother's, and my M-I-L's). If you need a snap, you are not going to drive to Joann's to get one! I'll send it to you.
So let's do this thing! Don't be shy! Go ahead and ask! Someone somewhere will have what you need!
Here's how we got started:
When I was asking you for your advice about the Rising Sun quilt, dear Kari, in the comments, bemoaned her lack of a small scrap of fabric to complete a project.
I immediately thought — gosh, with a stash like mine, I'm sure I have the thing for her — and before I could act, dear Annie chimed in with her offer — and her idea for a fabric swap here on this blog.
{Now, Annie is my out-law. Do you know what an out-law is? It's the relative of your relative's in-law. She is Rosie's husband Philip's sister. They are the children of dear friends of ours, friends whom we have known these past ten years, and now, out-laws! Annie certainly qualifies as a Daughter in Like Mother, Like Daughter terms. She and I quilt together, and her little boy Jack excels at carrying around patches in his grubby cute adorable little hands.}
So Annie and I have been thinking about how to work this here Fabric Swap, and we are just going to plunge in and see how it goes.
The beauty of the Fabric Swap is that fabric is quite shippable. It's light. It's flat. It won't break.
{Actually, this is one problem I have with online fabric stores. If I'm ordering a yard of fabric, I really don't see why it can't be popped into a Mylar mailer and sent to me with a minimum of fuss. It certainly doesn't need a box and bubble wrap!! I balk at paying exorbitant shipping rates, even though I can see that more goes into the rate than just the postage.}
But for the swap, if you are in need of a patch for your charm quilt or a small amount of a certain pattern to complete your border, your swap partner will find it quite easy and cheap to sent this to you for forty-two measly little cents!
Even a half-sized manila envelope just takes one first class stamp, as long as its contents don't weigh more than three sheets of paper!
Kari says
What can I say? Woohoo!I really was just commiserating, but if my little comment started a fabric swap, more power to you lovely ladies in friendly frugal fabric,(cooking, parenting, gardening etc)land!Thanks!KariAnd if anyone needs Zebra or Cheetah print (heavy, not for your dress….) Let me know!
Real Women Quilt says
I have tons of quilting fabric. We are in the process of packing and getting our house ready to sell. I've boxed up most of my fabric, but will consider it a treasure hunt to dig out what you need….so please do ask! I find that I'm much happier when I have less fabric instead of mountains which try to overwhelm me. Thanks for starting this swap Leila! You are such a treasure. :)Pam in Tennessee http://www.RealWomenQuilt.com
Crafty P says
oh how fun! Now i'll need to hunt through my stash and see what I may need or have to swap! yeah!
Anne R Triolo says
I'm a daughter?? Oh my, I think I need to just go bask in that for a while…:)
mindingmomma says
I have a lot of Christmas prints and also red, white, and blue themed material if anyone needs something of that. I'd love to send out a little packet of love!mindingmomma at aol dot com
Anne R Triolo says
Ok, it took my a day or two to get organized, BUT, here is what I need. I am working on a scrappy quilt for my brother and so far I have made the whole thing from my stash. I am working with dark muted tones, mostly reds, blues, greens, some greys and blacks or fabrics with off-white to taupe backgrounds. I have two to few fabrics. So, if anyone has just a little bit of fabric (6- 3.5 in squares)of a fabric that she thinks will match my scheme, I'd be so grateful! I have various things I could send you. Some lovely pinks, some baby flannels, and you know, various other things! Let me know what you're looking for!
Esther says
What a great idea. I've just recently sorted through my stash and removed things that I'll probably never use due to my changing tastes. However they were to good to throw out due to money spent. They might be ideal for the person above me in the comments.Also I'm having a giveaway at my blog (my first one) so I'm doing a bit of shameless self-promoting. Pop over if you want to see what I did with some of my fabric stash.
pip says
I love the idea, bprobably not very practicable from the UK though I guess. Very excited to lay out all the pieces for my first quilt today!! You ladies are all so inspiring.
Susan says
Well, I've been searching high & low for some 30's yellow prints for a quilt I'm planning for my God-daughter. I'd love to see if anyone out there has some fat quarters to swap. Let me know what you might need & I'll check my stash.Thanks, Leila, for getting this going!
Susan says
Annie, I'm sending you a piece of navy blue fabric with a quiet gray paisley print. I hope it works for your brothers quilt!
Laura @ the shorehou says
Ooooo…I'm new to sewing but I've already got a growing stash! A couple of weeks ago, I purchased a bag of vintage fabric pieces — some old quilt squares in the mix. I won't be "reunited" with my stash until the weekend, but I will take some pics and post them online somewhere. So…I'll be back! 🙂
Anne R Triolo says
Oh Susan, Thanks!And thanks to all the rest of you too! I think between Susan and Kari I am all set. :)This is fun.
Leila says
I think that we should make it clear that this isn't a swap in the sense that you must swap to get your fabric. It's more like freecycle– you get some fabric from someone, you give fabric to someone else.So don't be shy about asking for something — some day you WILL have something to give as well, even if you don't right now.
Suki says
This comment has been removed by the author.
Suki says
Susan–I have a small strip of 30s yellow fabric left over from a quilt I made for MY goddaughter. <a href="http://(http://ourmothersdaughters.blogspot.com/2008/08/alices-quilt.html)(http://ourmothersdaughters.blogspot.com/2008/08/alices-quilt.html)<br />In that post, in the top photo, it's the yellow block you can see among all the blue. I realize that's not a great picture–I can upload another.The strip I have is about 11 inches by 19 inches. If you want it, it's yours! Email me: suzanneelizabeth at gmail dot com
Kari says
Well here I go again…. I'm not in a hurry to get any of this, but if you have something you'd like to pass along, I surely will take it.Quilt #1) Scrappy quilt for my sweet 2yr old daughter (purples, greens, pinks, yellows, blues, etc. All in muted grayish tones, not super clear and bright. I'm trying to decide between star blocks and bear paw blocks to cover a twin size bed. (In the next 8 months or so)Quilt #2) Scrappy Double Wedding Ring (dream quilt that I haven't started, but what got me interested in quilting in the first place, but first I need a ridiculous amount of fabric!)The four patches where the rings intersect will be solid blue and solid green. Everything else I'd like to be scrappy, so if you have any fabric that is any color, but has the smallest amount of blue or green in it, I could use it. I'd like enough for at least one arc of each fabric (so I can have 5 or 6 little arc pieces scattered throughout the quilt) so a scrap 4×12" should do it (not that I won't take something smaller….)Thanks so much!KariKBrane (at) unm.edu
Anonymous says
I have a request for scrap donations for my daughters' church youth group. The girls are putting together a quilt to raffle off to raise money for their trip to the Chartres, France Pilgrimage. Could anyone donate scraps of 1930's feedsack type of fabric? Pink, red, blue or green?Thanks in advance….the girls will remember you in their prayers!Susanr.holmquist@comcast.net