Piece and Tranquilty: Y2K + 13

Has anyone ever participated in a quilt fabric exchange? Squares or finished blocks? If you have I'm sure you will agree that it is an amazing experience. Quilters are fascinating individuals each with their own mix of dedication, perserverence and creativity.

In 1999 as a celebration of the upcoming millennium, I swapped "squishies" with quilters all over the world when I participated in the Y2K fabric exchange. A squishy looks like this:

25 fabric squares 2.5 inches by 2.5 inches in a baggie. Just the right size to fit into a regular envelope and easy to mail. One fabric square is personalized with the name and location of the quilter. Often the envelope also contained a biography of the sender, description of her home state, province or country and other interesting facts or details.

I exchanged squishies with at least 250 quilters. Hailing from Quebec where there weren't an abundance of quilters at the time, I was a popular source for those wanting a "full set" of Canadian provinces.

In all, I received squishies from every province in Canada, every state in the US, every province in Australia, as well as the UK, France, Spain, Portigal, The Netherlands, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Japan, India, Thailand and many more. Enough squares to complete 2 queen size quilts each of which contains 2000 different 2.5 inch blocks, a true charm quilt. Another collection of 3 inch squares to make a king size quilt is a UFO on my "to do" list for this year..

This month, 13 years after the exchange, one of these quilts is about to be shown for the first time at a quilt show. It has been well used and loved over the last 13 years and may have faded a little but is still beautiful to behold. I am looking forward to sharing it's incedible story with others.