Hello Everyone!
First of all, Bev, sign me up!
Like Bev says, this is a "boomerang" swap. You don't have to participate both months, BUT, if you do, you'll be sending out 5"x5" charms this month. Of the 10 charms you send to your recipient, 3 should somehow portray something flying through the air. Examples would be planes, ballons, birds, or even cream pies (ever see Animal House? pies can fly!), just use your imagination. The other charms can be of anything, just no solid colors. A nice color on color would be nice to include if you wish.
When you send your package out, please give the recipient a choice of 1 or 2 of the charms you'd like to see them put into a quilt block for you.
For the October swap, we'll be making quilt blocks using the charms we've received in September and sending them back to the person(s) who sent us some great charms in September!

If you can only participate in just one of these months, don't worry! We still want you to play! If September is your good month, you'll be exchanging 10 great charms! If October is your month, you'll be exchanging quilt blocks!

BUT if you play in BOTH months, just think of the fun you'll have in sending someone a great group of charms, and getting a quilt block back from them using some of them! Woo-Hoo!!!

So who wants to sign up?

Dan

"throwing myself to head of the line"..okay, I should be able to handle this!

Sounds like fun! I think I can fit this in, so sign me up! :)

Yeah, the more the merrier. I thought I would make sure you had different partners than last month. I know I plan on using the same fabrics for the charms, so I don't want to duplicate. So far then we have...

Dan/Dan_the_mailman
Bev/bev2009
Linda/lindaruzicka
Melissa/hazelnutbunny

Sign me up. I think I can get this all done before my trip. We will be driving to Colorado in Sept. for 3-4 weeks. I may be slow on the October return but I'm sure things will work out.
So! Sign me up for both months.
gmom
Sharon

Great, Sharon. We couldn't do it without out you!

I'm going to assume we're all doing 3, unless you let me know otherwise.

Yes Bev, 3 for me. Just remember I will be away from Sept.12 - Oct.2. Give or take a day or 2 here and there. Will get Sept. out before I leave and dive into October as soon as I get back.
This is going to be great.
gmom

3 for me as well! I already have my charms ready to go. :)

Looks like we are rounding up the usual suspects. Anyone new is welcome to join as as well. Don't be afraid to jump in...not all of us are as scary as Linda and Dan, some of us seem to be quite normal...ok nearly normal...ok teetering on the edge...ok maybe fallen over a time or two.

We're having perfect summer weather right now and it is a joy to garden in. Spent a couple of hours yesterday working on my Japanese inspired wall hanging for my bedroom. I think it has 48 blocks (all the same so a little boring )and I am about half way through. I really love to hand quilt, so I cant wait to get to that part.

Melissa, I've got my charms cut as well. I think I'll start cutting pieces for a Depression quilt whenever I need to cut blocks for something else. It uses a lot of pieces and it is good to break it up.

The gang so far:
Dan/Dan_the_mailman
Bev/bev2009
Linda/lindaruzicka
Melissa/hazelnutbunny
Sharon/gmom2-6boys

Normal?.."bouncing around" I'm perfectly normal....anyone want tea?..cookies?..."tossing around cookies"

"If you love something, let it go.
If it doesn't return, hunt it down and kill it."
-quote from Forever Knight

Thank you Dan and Linda...how silly of me to think I needed to give people a little warning. Now I'm sure strangers will be beating down the door to join us...NOT!

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend! I'm off to Indianapolis with a couple of sisters for gardening, antiquing, tea and relatives. Hopefully it won't be too hot. Hmmmm, I should have looked up some fabric stores. You can never have too many fabrics, right?

I just got back last night from a bus trip to Sugarcreek, Ohio. It was awesome and I spent money like there was no tomorrow! I bought a beautiful leather purse and a handmade child's rocker for Lexie. I think I'm going to make a little cushion set and give the whole thing to her for Christmas. Going to go and have some homemade bread with Apple cinnamon jelly..."smacking lips"

Ooh! Sounds like a wonderful time, Linda! :)

Glad you had a little get away too, Linda. We had a great time in Indy, but I didn't find anything to buy...and no fabric stores. And the Tea we thought we were going for turned out to be just a restaurant and it wasn't that great, but everything else was.

Ok, any lurkers out there need to man up (or lady up) as this is the final week to join us on our boomerang ride.

So far we have:
Dan/Dan_the_mailman
Bev/bev2009
Linda/lindaruzicka
Melissa/hazelnutbunny
Sharon/gmom2-6boys

There's always room for more!

OK, so I'm thinking we haven't had any lurkers that we know of, so would you like your partners early?

Oooh, partners! :D

partners sounds good. I'd recommend sending out an e-mail letting everyone know though. just mho...

so, who are my partners???

Well, we don't have enough people to have totally new partners, so I'll see if I can find any more fabric in the house so I'm not sending the same as last month.

Here are your partners for September. Don't forget to label which charm you would like returned in the form of a 12" block in October. (I put a paperclip on mine.)

Dan/Dan_the_mailman send to Bev, Linda and Melissa
Bev/bev2009 sends to Linda, Dan and Sharon
Linda/lindaruzicka send to Melissa, Sharon and Dan
Melissa/hazelnutbunny send to Sharon, Dan and Bev
Sharon/gmom2-6boys sends to Bev, Linda and Melissa

Can't wait to see what I get!!

Yay, partners! :) Goody!! I will have my charms out on Friday!
And..um....I seem to have deleted the emails with Sharon & Bev's addresses again. I am REALLY wishing my 2yr old hadn't gotten ahold of my GW address book!

PLEASE READ...PLEASE READ...PLEASE READ...PLEASE READ

This is cool. We'll all have plenty of time to figure out what blocks we'd like to send to our partners in the next swap. I was planning on giving us all a choice between 3 block patterns to make next time around so would you all like me to go ahead and post them? Perhaps we could even squeeze in the next swap before October, which would make September a 2 swap month! Would you all like that? Let me know what you'd like to do please. thanks!
Dan

hmmm...sounds good Dan, I have my new sewing machine up and running!

I have everyone's address that I need I do believe!

Melissa, sent you an email. Dan, looking forward to boomeranging a block!

Bev I like the idea that you pick a few blocks. Make the choices simple.
Melissa I'm sending you an email.
Thanks for the partners.
Sharon

Thank you, Ladies! I have everyone's charms ready to go.

Dan~ Having a choice between just a few blocks sounds good to me. Picking a block to do is always the hardest part....I take hours just deciding on a few to choose between! I'm so indecisive! So that'd help me...I'd just have to do eeny-meeny-miny-moe.... :D

Okay, I've got the 2nd part of the Boomerang swap posted. If we can, it'd be great to get our blocks boomeranged by September 19th.
I'll still host the October swap, so look for that one to start somewhere between the 12-19th of September. I'm trying to come up with a good theme for it still. Does anyone have issues with a halloween theme? I know some people don't like halloween, and that's okay, so let me know either on one of these threads or privately in an e-mail if you wish. Talk to you all later...
Dan

Sent my charms out today. :D

Cutting fabric tonight and mailing out tomorrow. Have a happy day! -Dan

I have my fabric ready and my questions ready too...I'll be popping them in their envelopes tomorrow!

My envies went out today. Later than I'd planned, but at least they're on their way, right?

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Melissa, I received your package of fabrics today, very cool! And a big THANK YOU!!! I'm glad I've got some time to think about those questions, I'll need it!

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If you are planning on staying with this for the 2nd part, please go to the part 2 thread and say so. Here's the link for it...

Here is a link that might be useful: Part 2 of the Boomerang Swap

My packets made it as far as the car. Oops, I'll make it to the PO tomorrow.

Melissa, love the fabrics. Great questions. I'll boomerang it back ASAP (at least that is what I am planning.) LOL

Dan/Dan_the_mailman send to Bev, Linda and Melissa (sent)
Bev/bev2009 sends to Linda, Dan and Sharon
Linda/lindaruzicka send to Melissa, Sharon and Dan
Melissa/hazelnutbunny send to Sharon, Dan and Bev (sent)
Sharon/gmom2-6boys sends to Bev, Linda and Melissa

Melissa, What a cool assortment of charms. Can I use more than one of the charms for you?
Great questions. I will have to think about them today.
Off to cut and load wood for the fire stove.
Everyone have a great day.
Sharon

Absolutely, Sharon! Use whatever you'd like. I had a difficult time choosing which charm, I liked them all so much!

Made it to the PO. Now to check out the patterns Dan suggested. :)

Dan/Dan_the_mailman send to Bev, Linda and Melissa (sent)
Bev/bev2009 sends to Linda, Dan and Sharon(sent)
Linda/lindaruzicka send to Melissa, Sharon and Dan
Melissa/hazelnutbunny send to Sharon, Dan and Bev (sent)
Sharon/gmom2-6boys sends to Bev, Linda and Melissa

Received your fabrics, Dan. Great idea on the size. As soon as I receive Sharon's I'm off to the fabric store to see about coordinating fabrics...like I need an excuse. I also need to buy border and backing for my wall hanging I'm working on, almost done piecing!

I was charmed by Dan today!
Thank you, Dan!! I love the fabrics (lots of butterflies!) and the questions are great, too!
I'll be going through my stash and seeing what I have to match up with your chosen fabric. I think I have just the thing! :)

Bev, I received your charms today. Thank You! And just in time too! I've got the next 3 days off and I'm hoping to spend some time at my sewing desk. I'll probably get some "help" from the kids, but that'll be okay.

Have a safe, sane, fun holiday weekend everyone!
Dan

Hmmm. Not sure I can have a safe, sane AND fun weekend, Dan! Don't the first 2 cancel out the last one?? :P

I,ve been charmed by Bev. What a beautiful arrangement if fabric. This is a good day to get the blocks made. Rain & more rain. I'm not complaining. We have had not rain for seversl weeks now. It's good for the garden.
It's beginning to look like fall around here. Lots of dew in the mornings and things in the woods are turning yellow.
Have a great day you all!
Sharon

I've been charmed by Dan, Bev and Sharon! What an awesome array of charms. I also like what each of you picked and it should be fun making your block.

I hope everyone had a good time this weekend. Today I went to the beach (Lake Michigan) just to see some huge waves. There was a rip tide, so no swimming and besides, it was only 65 degrees. Here's a shot with Chicago in the background.

Linda, have you sent your charms yet? So far I think....

Dan/Dan_the_mailman send to Bev, Linda and Melissa (all received)
Bev/bev2009 sends to Linda, Dan, Melissa (all received)
Linda/lindaruzicka send to Melissa, Sharon and Dan
Melissa/hazelnutbunny send to Sharon (rec), Dan and Bev (rec)
Sharon/gmom2-6boys sends to Bev (rec), Linda (rec) and Melissa

I made two blocks today and hope to make the third right now.

Bev and Melissa, catch your boomerange as it comes by. Linda if your charms are here before Friday they will be done right away and returned. Otherwise I won't see them until October when I return.
Have a great evening everyone!
gmom
Sharon

I was charmed by Sharon today! I'll work on your block tomorrow & have it out asap! :)

yes, my charms went out yesterday. I'm sorry about the slow uptake.

My daughter and her baby's father broke up and I've been dealing with the aftermath. We've been dealing with the custody issue (she wants full custody) and the support issue (he doesn't seem to think he should pay any) paperwork for two days in the courthouse. Of course, with her being bi polar, I have the drama issue to deal with also. The cycling has been really rapid with her high's and low's. She is taking her meds but she isn't sleeping. I'm also afraid she's going to get behind in her classes and won't be able to catch up.."sigh"..

Sorry, just had to vent...and to think I thought when she turned 18 three years ago, my problems would be over.."laughing at self"...

*hugs* ~passing out cookies & tea~
So sorry to hear that, Linda! Breakups are always hard (I think the parents take it worse in some ways than the kiddos...we just want to make things better for them!) But especially tough when there is a baby involved. We'll be praying for everyone.

thanks Bunny..(HUGS)

Linda, so sorry to hear of your troubles. We have bi-polar in my extended family, so I have been through that with people for years. It is not a easy row to hoe.

Ok, so I took this paper piecing quilting class in March. As we finished the class and were heading out the door, the teacher said, "Oops, it looks like I made a mistake in the pattern and she reversed all the "lefts and rights." So today I finished putting together the rows, laid it out on the bed to match the pattern and sew the rows together and it doesn't match. :( Evidently she shouldn't have changed the design after all. Now I have to rip apart 48 blocks, iron the seams, re-sew and re-iron the seams flat.

However, I am telling myself compared to what much of the world is going through right now, this is nothing. It's just that I hate to rip! Always have. And I was looking forward to going to buy the border and backing fabric and hand quilting maybe this weekend when I go to visit my daughter. Sorry, that's enough whining for me.

Since everyone has now sent their charms, why don't we call this thread closed and everyone start positing on Dan's part 2. See you there.