Lolly's Mailroom

Sometimes, when my husband telephones,  I say silly things when I answer the phone, depending on what I'm doing at the time. If I'm cooking, I might answer "Carla's Bar and Grill". Or if I'm taking care of my grand children, I might say, "Lolly's Day Care". My favorite is, "The Orchid Room, we curl up and dye for you!"( I stole that from a hair salon in my home town!) Well, for the last few days, my answer is "Lolly's Mailroom" because it seems that opening,sorting and sealing packages is all I've been doing! Getting those I Spy charms traded and mailed for the 42 participants took a bit of thought and organization!
 Here's a glimpse of how I did it.....

 Around and around the table, I walked! I wish now that I had worn my pedometer to track how many steps I took! I didn't need to worry about getting my exercise, that's for sure.

 My method seemed to work. In the end, I was able to (hopefully) trade out all 2460 charms so that 42 participants will get back different squares than they sent me. There were few duplicate sets and lots of variety, so it was a fun way to spend the day (and night!). I even found some personal messages from one swapper! (Thanks, Shea!)

The postmaster's eyes got really big when I arrived today with my tote bags full of envelopes! I felt sorry for the people in line behind me, but this was important stuff!  Check your mailboxes, ladies; your I Spy squares are on the way! Thank you all for making this such  a great swap. And be sure to send me a picture of your quilt once it's finished! In case any one wonders, the charms were collected from 17 different states and two other countries: Canada and Norway!

Now, I'm going to go look through all my newly collected I Spy charms. If the phone rings, I'll probably answer "Fo Yummy!" (The name of an Asian restaurant in Seattle!) I need to put my feet up!

Sew Day

Yesterday I took a sew day. (That's kind of like a sick day for quilters, I think.) Over the weekend, I did a bunch of yard work. It wore me out...thus the sew day! I got a lot done...

 Being a bit behind on my Bee blocks (Say that three times really fast!), I concentrated on getting caught up. What fun I had!! This is my last month to participate in the Kansas City Scrappy Bee with the MQG. Beth sent fabrics in grey, orange and yellow and asked for any block with a flying geese design. I added a few scraps from my stash and sewed this Circle of Geese paper-pieced block. This is my second effort at making this block and I will say that it is a little like child birth.....the end result is so wonderful that you forget the pain involved...(eventually!) Whew!

 After that major effort, I treated myself to something fast and easy...this wonderful scrappy Japanese x and + block for Amy (better known as Mrs. Schmenkman) This was her request for the May block in the One Block Over Bee. She had even cut all the fabrics and mailed them so all I had to do was sew! I'd love to sometime make a quilt with this block using my scraps. Love it! Here's a teaser of what it would look like all set together and the tutorial.

 Next up, I needed to create two house blocks for May and June in the Calendar of Houses Bee. Here's what I came up with for May, using two of my favorite Sherbet Pips fabrics. See the polliwogs in jars on the window sill? Gardening, frogs, pretty weather and little girls swinging...that's May! (I left out the rain and tornadoes!) Hope you like it, Linda!

 For June, I decided to go with a bird house theme. (Did you know I'm nutty for birds?) I used a large, pretty vintage button to make the door on the house. This design for Sandy was a snap to make using one of my favorite bird fabrics as the background. I wish now that I'd used a stronger color for the base of the house to sit on. The pink cherries gets a little lost. Sorry!

Look what I'm up to today...sorting and swapping all of the wonderful I Spy Charms that have been arriving at my address over the last few weeks. Around 45 quilters are participating with a grand total of 125 sets of charms. There are 20 charms in each set. If you do the math, that's a BUNCH of charms!!  This might take some time....I better get started! Stay tuned!

 Good-bye May!  Hello, June!!

Official I Spy Swap

Okay! Let the I Spy Swap Begin!! Here's the skinny.....

If you would like to be part of the I Spy Charm Swap, here are the guidelines. Please read carefully:
1.Leave me a comment on this post telling me that you want to enter the swap. I will then send you an email giving you my mailing address. This is important....leave me your email address in the comments if you are a no-reply blogger. If you do not hear back from me, then that will be because you are no-reply and I don't have your email address! If you are unsure...check your blogger profile.


2. We will be swapping sets of 20 charm squares, each 5 inch square.  You may send more than one set of 20 charms, up to 5 sets. Each set that you send to me can be cut from the same fabric. You should be able to cut 20 five inch squares from around 1/2 yard of fabric depending on the design spacing. If you send more than one set, please use a different fabric for each set. I will divide up the charms randomly and return back to you 20 different charms per set. At least that is the goal, and I will try hard to do that! (If you send several sets, please realize that you might get duplicate charms in return.)


3. Please send 100 percent cotton, quilt shop quality fabrics only. Do not prewash the fabric.
Be accurate in cutting the 5 inch squares. The novelty design should be good size, not tiny...it needs to be easily recognizable from a distance.Try to have the character centered on the charm as much as possible. Please do not send licensed designs, i.e. Disney characters, NFL mascots, and such. Be creative in your shopping...it would be great to not have too many sending me the same fabrics! (If you send me licensed or tiny prints, then I will have to mail them back to you....sorry.) See samples below and above...

THIS!

NOT THIS!

4. Place each set of 20 charms in a zip lock sandwich size baggie. Include your name, address, and email on a piece of paper inside each baggie. Put your baggies in an appropriate size envelope. When you take it to the post office and have it weighed for accurate postage, please buy and include the same amount of postage inside the envelope so that I can return your new charms to you. I will provide the return envelopes. You just need to give me the postage. Does that make sense?


5. The last day for me to receive the charms is May 31. I will email you when I receive your charms. If you are sending them from outside the US, please keep this in mind as it sometimes takes weeks for packages to arrive. I will divide up the charms on Wednesday, June 1. Anything received after that will be returned to you.


6. Several of you have indicated that you would like to swap pairs of charms so that you can play a matching game with your quilt. If this is the case, then I would suggest that you send me two sets of charms and I will do my best to return to you two sets that match. Let me know when you sign up if you would like two exact sets in return.

We've got fun ahead! I'll put up the pattern tutorial in the next few weeks.

Thank you for playing along!