The Halfway Point

I am very behind on this post!! It should have come out at the beginning of July when the waterlily cards had been swapped around but I kept forgetting to photograph them and then I temporarily misplaced my ATC book after a talk so couldn't photograph them, and then I finally managed to get photos...and went on holiday to Wales for a week. So here we are, finally getting around to it and celebrating the halfway point of the 2023 Stitchscape Swap!!

It feels like no time at all has passed even though it's a whole six months in and I've already released the themes for next year. I hope that you are enjoying keeping up with the swap if you are following along, and enjoying making your cards for those participating. 

Interestingly there seem to be a lot more horizontally orientated cards this year. Looking back at my halfway point collection from 2022 (you can see it here if you'd like) I didn't have any horizontal cards - I think I ended up with one in the second half of the year, but this time around I have three already! And pleasingly it has worked out nicely for this photoshoot with them stacking on top of each other. So satisfying. 

I'm really chuffed with my little family of cards. It's nice to have a piece you have made yourself to keep, just to remind you later down the line how you interpreted the theme, and perhaps what was going on in the month that you made it. Real life events could sneak in. I remember last year we had a card in for the Autumn Blaze theme which had included Queen Elizabeth II and Paddington because it was made just after she had passed away (and Paddington had been to the palace for tea for the Jubilee just a few months prior) which made a touching memento. 

Or it could be that you attended a workshop on a technique that year and used some new found knowledge - only you can look at your cards and see exactly what the thoughts and feelings behind it were. But, in passing a version to someone else in the swap, they will have their own interpretation of it. Not many of the participants of the swap have met each other, and probably most of them never will. Each one has their own lives and getting your card through the post box could be exactly what they needed to bring a smile on their faces - each one I get through as a theme entry definitely brings a smile to my face, and usually a little tippy tappy dance to my toes. 

January: Frosted Dew Drops

February: Snowdrop Carpet

March: Morning Chorus

April: Butterfly House

May: On the Cliff Edge

June: Waterlily Pond

The above image I find really interesting. It is all of the cards I have received in the swap, so all made by other people. Each one is also a different person and you can see the different styles. Some of the participants have a very recognisable style, or way of finishing, and after so many months of seeing their work I'm quite confident in recognising whose card was made by who just by looking at the front. It doesn't always work of course, the swap can be used for trying a new technique every month on a small scale so then the style is never really the same and I'm kept on my toes but it's nice to recognise a fingerprint of someone and see how they have made the theme their own in their own way. 

I like to think that I have got a recognisable style or fingerprint. You'll have to tell me!

So we are already a month and a half into the next half of the year and I'm really looking forward to seeing what the next few months bring!! It's still as exciting to me as the first swap in February 2022 and I'm sure it will continue to be as long as we can keep the swap going. 

For anyone who is interested in participating in 2024, the proposed swap themes are below for you and I'll be popping inspirational tips onto my website at some point as we get nearer to the time to give anyone who needs it a head start. Just pop me an email at sales@dottytextiles.com and I can send you further details on how to join - it's free to enter and there's no obligation to do every single month, but you will need to send a self addressed and stamped envelope for each month, and send a card in to receive one.