Quilts, what a pain

So I found the @#!JOY$%# of getting ready for the online quilt swap...

Until yesterday I thought, how cool, I can join an online quilt swap with the 2 DTC Yahoo groups I'm part of and get a great start with the majority of quilt squares needed to make a decent full or queen size quilt... holy cow Batman. Who knew the work!

Obtaining the large quantity of quilt squares via an online group is good and bad... good in that if your list of friends and family isn't huge... or the list who will actually participate isn't huge (like over 100 for instance), you can obtain a large portion via an online swap over the course of a few weeks. The bad... is that you have to reciprocate too... meaning the following:

1. go to fabric store... search aisle after aisle... what's up, no 100% cotton fabric anywhere to be found? Do I have to go to Amish country to find fabric? crap.

2. realize that as you walk through the store, way to the back... there's a whole freakin universe of quilting fabric....

3. search the aisles of the "milky way galaxy".

4. find fabric you like... find fabric some of the group may like (with lady bugs all over it...).

5. selfishly pick the fabric you like... after all, you'll probably take a square for yourself anyway!

6. realize you're likely to get all that fabric with ladybugs anyway... can't wait for the look on Eric's face!

7. Buy a 'bunch', not sure how much... just order 2 yards, sounds like a good amount. in fact, order 2 yards of 2 separate prints, you can never have enough I'm sure.

8. wash the fabric... required, then it's preshrunk.

9. iron... then iron again, cause, well, steam helps with cotton (did I mention I'm iron challenged?).

10. cut squares. For those of you who are fabric/sewing challenged, this is an issue.

11. get out construction tape measure, hold up to fabric, estimate, add a bit and cut.

12. repeat step 11 about 15 times so you have 15 strips the width of the bolt, but 9-10" wide.

13. take a strip, cut it into 4 separate 9-10" squares

14. repeat step 13 about 15 times, now you have 60 squares or so.

15. cut about 60, 1 inch squares from the scraps

Did I mention that I used pinking shears?

did I mention they require the death grip to open and close?

Did I mention the blister?

Did I mention the project I also have going to make a cute and personal wish to go with each quilt square... it's an assembly line at our house.

So, online quilt square swap, good for massive variety, lovely lovely personal thoughts and poems from online friends who are just like you... bad for patience starved, sewing challenged non mother. I have a long way to go in order to make a quilt.

I think I'll forget all the pain when the squares start arriving though and I can read all the beautiful and thoughtful comments and see all the fabric squares from my online buddies.

I also can't wait to send the letter to friends and family in the coming weeks in hopes that they will support E and I in our desire to build a quilt of memories that will last for generations. So if you're family (or a friend) and reading our blog for the first time... you're soon to receive a request for a quilt square... just think, how hard is only 1 square... you could have been me on Sunday night... LOL.