I am not in favor of expanding The Quilting Forum to include various Swaps of Bookmarks, Seeds, Potholders, or whatever suits your fancy. We are about Quilting. Members have complained/commented in the past about the posts of Birthday Block exchanges, as those posts sometimes dominate the forum when there are alot of birthdays in a month. Postings of non quilting swaps is absolutely going to dominate the forum and will take away from the education, sharing and postings of quilting related topics.

I suggest you ask to get your group listed under a more suitable category - like Fiber and Needle Arts if that better describes your forum. Fiber and Needle Arts is the category where Quilting is located, but these groups should remain separate. I cannot find your group, and I know it is there somewhere.

If you would like participation on your swaps from those of us who post on the Quilting Forum, just announce the new swap and provide a link. Again, I want these groups to remain separate.

I believe all of the forums at Garden Web are "No Membership Required."

Magothy, first, thanks for your response. It'll possibly allow me to further explain a few things.
Seeds-n-Stitches is definitely about quilting. We trade fabric to provide more diversity in our fabric stashes. We trade quilt blocks to share ideas, techniques, and allow our "quilting bees" to be nationwide, not just our local areas. Our smaller projects, such as the potholders, bookmarks, etc, are quilted. Not all quilting needs to be for a king-sized quilt, wouldn't you agree?
Our swaps wouldn't dominate the forum because we post one thread per month, and all discussions are within that one thread.
Over the past year I have gone from lurking within this forum to being an active participant and talker. I've received some great information here, along with guidance and ideas. And, over time, I've come to believe that this forum, the quilting forum, would be greatly improved by becoming a place where we could do some swapping of notions, fabrics, ideas, and quilt blocks. And, what better way to do that than with an easy-going, hosted, swap where people are free to participate in as many, or as few, swaps as they'd like?
I've recently joined in the 2012 Birthday Block group, and I've got to say that, not only has that resulted in introducing me to a lot of new types of block patterns, but also to a new group of friends.
Recently there've been some comments made on how to make this forum a better one, open to more people, and more sharing of ideas so we can all continue to learn from one another. The introduction of the Seeds-n-Stitches group is meant to do that, but I won't bring the group here if it is not wanted. It's a group I've started, nurtured, and grown. I think it's time for the group to move into an area where it can grow, and I've been thinking that this forum and the S-n-S group can benefit from one another.
Once again, thank you for helping me explain more about the Seeds-n-Stitches group.
If you need help finding the Seeds-n-Stitches group, you can find us within the Round Robin forum amongst the garden forums.
And yes, you will find other groups there that are "Membership Required", and they are a great bunch of people who are doing their best to make sure everyone who plays within their swaps aren't cheated, which does sadly happen from time to time.

Does anyone else have some comments or questions?
Dan

I doubt there's a rule to keep you from having a swap of quilting fabric (charms/noodles/FQs/10" etc) monthly, but I don't think anything other than fabric would be appreciated at this forum. We already have a BOM going so maybe some of the members in the Seeds & Stitches would be interested in joining that swap. I personally am not interested in swapping.

SharonG/FL

Here is a link that might be useful: Round Robin Exchange

On the Florida Gardening Forum, we have a separate page for Exchanges like we have pages here for Gallery and Conversations. I'm not crazy about the idea of adding more swaps to the general Discussions page but I think an Exchange page would be appropriate. Maybe iVillage would do that for us. Since we all like to see pictures in Discussions we could give up the Gallery page if there's some rule about only having 3 separate pages.

Kate

I also think this group would be better placed in an Exchange area, then you can swap whatever the group likes. You should contact the administrators of the GW to ask if that can be done. Good luck getting a reply....I'm still waiting to hear back on help establishing our FAQ page that I volunteered to do - and that was from Dec. 2010.

Why not use the conversation page? It hasn't seen much posting lately.

Teresa

Good idea, Theresa!

Over the decade that I've been here I've received blocks and other goodies from France, Mexico, England, Austrailia, and several provences in Canada. This forum has always been open to any one on the planet!
The first Bday block exchange was one(or two)groups and was such great fun that it exploded into I-don't-know-how-many groups.
You are free to do as you wish here Dan but personally I would not be thrilled to see more constant swaping.
Bon
:)

I agree the discussions area would be a good place to move it to. You can always remind members here that it is on the discussion forum.

Dan I appreciate your trying to make sure the swaps are valid. I have participated in some in the past that were so obvious the people were just trying to get rid of bad fabric.

With my life as busy as it is I don't do swaps, but it does sound like you have a good group.

Thanks for asking for our input!!!!
Rosa

Rosa, perhaps you meant "conversation area" where you wrote "discussion area?" We are now in "On-topic Discussions" and I mentioned that perhaps the group could use the "Conversations" area because it is not used much (but still could be used for general off-topic conversations). Swapping items other than quilt blocks or fabric would be fine in the conversations area.

Dan, we appreciate your asking for our opinions.

Teresa

First, I'd like to thank you one and all for your input. After receiving input both here and from some private e-mails, I think the best thing to do is to leave the Seeds-n-Stitches group right where it is, within the Round Robin Exchange in the Gardening Forums. I'd hoped to bring it here to provide some new blood both to this forum and the S-n-S group, but maybe at another time.

Secondly, let me be the first to invite you all to come on over and join in if you wish, either in a current swap, or simply in the conversation. I still believe we've all got a lot to learn from one another and that it would be a lot of fun to do so. Whether you visit now, or some time down the road, just look for the Seeds-n-Stitches group, and see what we're up to that month.

-Dan

Dan, just to echo what others said: you don't need anyone's permission to run a swap here. You did one recently with fat quarters, right? You asked for opinions and received some but they are just that, opinions. As long as it has to do with quilting, or if you run it from the Conversations page, your swap group is welcome. If you see a benefit to merging groups, why not give it a try?

Kate

I really don't have an opinion one way or the other, pretty open minded but I have to agree that a little stimulus would be helpful here. Not truly certian I understand the concept of merging groups and not just joining in with new ideas and swaps.

We have done some of the swaps mentioned, long ago. I still cherish pincushions I got from members on this forum. We swapped lots of different fabric sorts of things. So I think anything quilting related would be fine. It's optional and participating is only a choice we make. Just my 2 cents.

I just skip over posts that don't interest me, namely swaps or Birthday Blocks, etc., but that's just me and it's easy enough to ignore them and not make a big deal out of it. But I also agree that if this forum had it's own exchange page it would be helpful to separate this sort of activity from the general forum just for convenience sake. There are those who love to be involved in such things and make that their priority but also there are a lot like me who just like to share techniques and ideas. I think it's commendable that you ask the regulars of this forum for their input before deciding on what to do, but I don't know of any "rules" against what you are attempting to promote and all those who have shared their views are only offering what you asked (opinions) and not trying to challenge your idea. As for the conversation page, it doesn't seem like it's used that much. It also seems like the gallery page isn't used much, maybe GW would agree to change one of them to an exchange if there was a chance of it being used more often.

Dan,

WOW! Dear friend! I am a little saddened by the tone of a few comments here - or maybe I just read into them what wasn't intended.
I have been pretty MIA on both sides, quilting & gardening ever since the retreat - just no time. But when I do find the time, it's often just enough for one side but not the other. Which means I have missed a few things I would like to have done - (like the Christmas Carol one. Dan you are a genius! that sounds like SO much fun!!)
For the record, I have done several swaps from Seeds n' Stitches & have loved every one - but even more importantly I've met terrific people over there - like those here!

Might I interject, to at least post the swap or whatever the event may be on the quilting side too & providing a link. That should keep happy those who don't want to see more swaps posted or don't think they 'belong' here, but also make it easier for those who do wish to at least look into it to do so. [I know, ever the peace maker! lol] Just thinking of busy people being able to find what they're interested in quickly w/out having to jump all over the forum getting to it. I know I would participate in many more if they were easier to find.
Just some thoughts.

LOL Teresa I did mean the conversations area, I have a head cold and I am naturally drifty!!!!

Dan,
"WOW! Dear friend! I am a little saddened by the tone of a few comments here - or maybe I just read into them what wasn't intended."

You asked for opinions and this group will give you their honest opinion lol. As was posted, it's still your choice!

BTW, it's great to have you on this forum!
Rosa

I am a member in both the Quilting Forum and the Seeds-N-Stitches group. I think the Quilting Forum could benefit from having an Exchange page so on-topic discussion would not get lost in the exchange related posts. I am happy for now to keep the Seeds-N-Stitches posts on the Round Robin where they are easy to find while still posting a link for the swaps in the Quilting Forum as has been done in the past. We really do have a good group of people in the Seeds-N-Stitches group and use only quality fabric in our fabric and quilt block swaps. Hope more will find interest in and come join in our S-N-S Swaps during 2012. Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!!!

Best to you,
Sandra

I also felt bad about the tone on some of the responses here and I was one of the people who e-mailed Dan saying I was sorry he got this kind of response. Dan came here and very politely asked about doing this and the responses sounded very unwelcoming. He is a very reputable host on the Garden side of GardenWeb and participates here on the Quilt Forum and is a very nice person.
What I took from some of the comments is that there seems to be an overall dislike for the swaps taking up space on the board. That made me feel bad as well. I, for one, enjoy the swaps and hope others who did not post feel the same way. I have been in the Birthday Block Exchange for several years, have hosted and co-hosted it, have been hostess for FQ exchanges, and participated in the Secret Santa Exchange when that was held. All were lots of fun and help you to get to know others in the group better. I am not going to withdraw the ability of people here to participate in the Birthday Block Exchange because it really make many people enjoy their birthdays so much more. There needs to be space for all here on the Quilt Forum. Some will like swapping and some won't, but the more activities that appear here, the more people will join in... or, at least that is how it appears to me. I especially read the headings about the swaps but always take time to read another type of post as well. It seems to me it would work the other way around, too. I join in on the swaps posted on the Round Robin under Seeds-n-Stitches from time to time. There are a very nice (and friendly) group. I got the most fantastic pin cushion made by Dan when they had the pin cushion swap!
Jeanne

Wow - I've not been reading for a few days! A bit of a dust-up...Welcome to Dan and possibly his group.

I don't swap - I can't commit to a year long birthday swap. I prefer to choose my own fabrics, so no fat quarter swaps. I don't do bookmarks, wall quilts, Christmas ornaments - none of those things, so those swaps hold no interest.

Sometimes I do get a bit irritated when the first 5 or 6 posts at the top of the page are swaps - and no one else posts for days on end, or someone bumps them back to the top, because no one has posted. But, hey, I've got my big girl panties, and I can scroll past the posts I don't want to read.

That said, I do do the block lottos when I happen to have the appropriate supplies.

BUT - this is a PUBLIC forum. Dan and the others are welcome.

I think ideally we would have a Quilting Exchange forum link from this page - it would certainly be more useful than the Gallery forum. The Gallery was started before there were so many internet photo-hosting sites, which make it easy to link to photos.

So welcome, Dan and group! And I will email the moderators and suggest an exchange site on this forum.

I've emailed the moderators about an Exchange page too.

I'm sorry if any of the comments were taken as unwelcoming. Even reading over them again I see them as merely opinions and that's what was asked for. I've never seen this group be unwelcoming to individuals or ask anyone to remove a post. I'm sure no one intended to be rude!

Kate

I don't do swaps.

A comment that is periodically seen on this Discussion forum is that *sometimes* the swaps seem, to some members, to overtake the sharing of information. Not everyone participates in the Birthday Block exchange or the Round Robin or FQ swaps, etc.

You may remember the controversy over the use of the Discussion page to post personal problems, vents, and triumphs, with the use of OT in the subject making such posts permissible. That controversy resulted in a number of members going elsewhere to form another forum.

It is my opinion that we can't necessarily expect the GW administrators to meet our needs in a timely fashion. That is why I suggested that Dan and the S&S group might use the Conversations area. Members here could easily access those swaps if they wish.

Teresa

I don't think the "tone" of any of the posts here were intended to be rude or short. It is our nature to interpret a "tone" in the written comments of others. If we were all adept at expressively writing what our thoughts and feelings are, we could be making a lot of money being journalists or authors...(off-topic remark here...I'm looking for an online creative writing course, inexensive. Anyone know of any?)

I think everyone is simply stating that there have been many instances in the past where forum members were a little unappreciative of too many off-topic or swap posts, and they are trying to circumvent another round of discontented members.

With that being said, I agree with the idea that our conversation area would be perfect for these swaps, and then any current or new members would be free to post or participate in either side of the discussion areas. We would love and welcome all new members.

Salijo