Jelly roll swap

I am on a self-imposed "No-Buy" right now. I have so much fabric, I really need to make what I have work. And when I can't find something I think I really need for a quilt, I dig in and look harder and make something that I already have work.

So, I have been looking for fun fabric swaps. When I swap, while I get new fabric coming in, I also am getting rid of an equal amount of fabric. It's a wash!

On the left are two jelly rolls that I have received from another quilter; on the right are two jelly rolls that went out earlier this week from my own stash to her. Aren't they yummy!

I joined (yet another) Yahoo group that focuses on stashbuilding (you probably recall prior posts where I mention my stashbusting groups), quite often through swapping and not buying. I found a willing swap partner, and we settled on a 2.5" strip swap. On the top is a 20-strip roll of miscellaneous fabrics, and on the bottom is a 40-strip roll of batiks. This is an absolutely ingenious way to add more variety to your stash without spending any money (except for postage), and without increasing the size of your stash, as well.

Look more closely above at the beautiful fabrics my swap partner sent me! Don't hate me because my stash is beautiful...:)

These 2 rolls above are the 60 strips I sent to her. The kicker is, I had no idea I had at least 40 batiks! Where did they come from?

(A close-up above of the batiks I sent out this week; just so we could see them better...)

That's what happens when you are unorganized and your fabric is in different places; you don't know what you have. I have recently finished some larger purging/sorting tasks, and so now I can really start on the not-so-large projects, such as consolidating, organizing, and purging fabrics. Um, wait; on second thought, this is another major task. :) I was speechless when I put all of my batiks together, to discover that I had so many.

I suggest doing some fabric swapping of your own! Set some ground rules, so you won't be disappointed. For example, are you sending out quilt-shop quality fabrics, and you only want those in return? Make sure that is a stipulation (my partner and I did this). What size fabrics do you want to swap? I actually did a swap of quilt-shop quality scraps a few weeks ago with another swap partner. Are there specific types of fabric, specific colors, etc. that you want? That you don't want? State that, as well. Are you flexible as to when you want to send/receive the fabrics, or will there be deadlines? Make that clear. Also, consider that some swaps are one-on-one, and others are done in a group, with a coordinator. (Yes, I am also doing a group swap; I sent 12 quilt-shop quality batiks, and I am getting 12 new ones back!)

You are welcome to contact me if you want to talk a bit more about this, or if you want the name of the Yahoo group where I've been swapping. Or, you're welcome to contact me if you'd like to swap with me! I seriously suggest that you consider this; with the price of fabric rising, this will become more of a necessity than a luxury.