Aully

I will cut a FQ (18" by 22") in half to make the F8 to be (11" by 18").

paintmejudy

Personally I like to see half of my fabric in a block so that when put together, you can see the common fabric, but I know some blocks use 3 colors and less of the F8. I guess the answer is, do what you think looks best!

Havplenty

if you half a fq you would get either 18 x 11 or 9 x 22. to get 9 x 11 that sounds like 4ths of a fq.

a fq is generally 18 x 22. if you cut from the 22" side that would give you two pieces at 18" x 11". if you cut from the 18" side, you end up with two pieces 9" x 22". i hope the pic below helps.

as an fyi, you may not get eight f8's from a yard of fabric. typically you will get six. the reason is that once you cut off the selvages, you will typically end up with 40"-42" of fabric not 44"-45". remember to take these measurements in account when buying your focus fabric so that you can buy enough of it for your blocks and any borders or sashing you plan to do.

Havplenty

to be on the safe side, it may help to request that your fabric be used as the background fabric. i thought that my focus fabric would be mostly used but that was not always the case plus it depends on the block that's made.

Havplenty

here are some of the blocks i made in boom swap 5.

Havplenty

my boom 5 group had a canadian in it. nope we don't mind. :thumbup:

some washed their f8's and others did not and requested that the block maker not wash their fabrics as well. it really is up to you.

once april gets the groups together, she will notify everyone what group they are in and send a contact list at that time. just hang in there. the boom swap will be here before you know it.

Jennifer22206

What I've found:
~ in order to get 36 Fat 8ths from the same focus fabric, I would recommend buying AT LEAST 6 yards.
~ some people get really pushy with what they want to "see" as their vision for the fabric. And that vision may or may not be what we as the makers of blocks see in our minds. I hope that everything I've made has made the recipients happy.
~ it's important to realize as per the rules of the swap, that it is MAKERS CHOICE as to what block to make. The sender can request certain colors, but NOT BLOCKS.

Personally:
~ I would like people to do whatever they want with my fabric, to use as much or as little as they want.
~ I just want people to have fun, that's what this swap is about.

IMHO some fabric calls for a LOT to be used, and other fabric (to me anyway) doesn't call for that much to be used.

~ I've learned to try new blocks, to make blocks that I typically wouldn't for a quilt for me.
~ I've learned to just relax and have fun.
~ I've learned that I'll get back blocks that I never would have made for myself.
~ I've learned that EVERYONE is at different skill levels, and EVERYONE really tries their best.
~I've made some amazing friends with the boomerang swap and I hope everyone has a great time.

Jennifer22206

And we love international players. :) I was in a group with an Australian and a Canadian. :)

immemother

I'm all ready to go! I have purchased my fabric, washed it, ironed it, cut it, folded it, bagged it and it is sitting on my table waiting to be sent. I hope my group like a little bit of a challenge!

NCquilter

Wow! I have not even picked out my fabric yet. I'm going to the fabric store tomorrow.