Common Threads Quilt Guild, Bexley, Ohio

Charm Swap Guidelines

Charm Swaps will occur quarterly at the March, June, September and December meetings. If you participate, you will trade a set of 24 squares you cut from the same fabric for a set of 24 other squares, each different from the other. You do not have to sign up for the swap, just bring your squares to the Charm Swap when you want to participate. Here’s how it works…

Fabric Selection

Fabric must be high-quality, pre-washed, pressed, 100% cotton quilting fabric.

Please select a fabric that you would be delighted to receive in return. Select a high quality quilting fabric, not a craft quality fabric. If we keep the quality of the fabrics high, then participation in the swap will remain high. If you’ve got something you’d like to get rid off, please throw it away or save it for an Ugly Fabric Challenge.

Cutting the Squares

3/4 of a yard of fabric will yield 24 - 6-½" x 6-½" squares. First, trim away the selvedges before cutting into squares. Then cut the squares accurately. Re-measure your squares after you cut them to be sure they are truly square, and that they are 6-½” x 6-½”. It’s easy to make a mistake such as cutting one edge crooked or ¼” too small. Re-cut if necessary.

Fabric Swap

Bring the squares to the swap meeting in a zip bag labeled with your name. If you bring more than one set of squares, each set has to be from a different fabric. The Charm Swap Committee will swap the charm squares for you and return your fabric to you at the next guild meeting.

What You Can Do With Charms

What can you do with these charm squares? First of all, they certainly boost the variety of your stash. They’re also great for appliqué, making scrap quilts and watercolor quilts where each patch needs to be different than all the others. They can also be used in making miniature quilts. And finally, the 6-½” size makes them perfect as filler blocks to accompany the blocks you get back in our block exchanges.