SoTTTs Clearing House - Duplicate and Wayward Exchange

[Patti P.]

Hello to all the SoTTTs out there. Let me introduce myself. My name is Kari Grece. I am a stay at home mom of an adorable, not quite 2 year old. I have recently moved to St. Charles, IL and have several empty rooms in my new house. Since we have extra space and time, I thought this task and I might be a good fit. I have volunteered to head up the exchange of duplicate and the redistribution of extra half square triangles.

I know we all are very happy with the triangles we received and we all applaud Debbie and Clara (and all of the volunteers) for their hard work. This was a monumental task that they performed well beyond any expectations - our hats are off to you.

When I asked what is a duplicate I got the answer I was expecting but dreading - a duplicate is based mostly on labels. Personally, I have 365 label duplicates with 140 of them being fabric duplicates. If everyone sent in 300 duplicates to be resorted I, myself, would not be able to sort them all. If people only sent in the fabric duplicates, it would still be very difficult to complete on my own.

A spreadsheet offers other challenges. I could ask one person to send these 50 to user 1, this 10 to user 2, and so on but then you will have to find the exact triangles and mail them out. A straight swap would not work, I send you these 50 duplicates and now my duplicates are your issue. Also, how do people know what to ask for - "here is every triangle I received, please send me something different" - is not an easy request. You would need to be a database programmer to handle the shear volume of data.

[Patti P.]

This is what I am offering to do: a hst package swap.
[list]1. Sort the triangles you want swapped into unique groupings of 10 each. (Unique is defined as no duplicate labels in any grouping)[list]I did this by making individual stacks of each label duplicate and taking one off the top of different stacks until I got to 10. 140 (already sorted into duplicates) took me about 15 min to group.[/list:u][/list:u]
[list]2. Put each 10 pack into a seperate baggie - preferably with your screen name on the bag[list]I suggest putting them in small snack size sandwich baggies, but a small binder clip would also work[/list:u][/list:u]
[list]3. Send me your packets of 10. Please remember to include a postage paid return envelope.[/list:u]

I will then do a monthly swap of packets. If I do not have enough packets to swap yours, I will contact you and offer to wait until the next month or send back what I can.


The benefits to this exchange are:[list]the work load is spread around to everyone[/list:u][list]participants can decide how much they want to exchange - as few as 10 or as many as 300+[/list:u][list]participants can also decide how often they want to participate - every month you are welcome to send new packets[/list:u]

The down side is that there is no guarantee you will not receive more duplicates across the packets. You will know each package contains unique hsts, and that each package comes from a different participant but I cannot promise no duplicates.

I hope that everyone finds this to be an acceptable compromise between a large, square by square swap, and an individual swap tracked on a spreadsheet.

Thank-you!
Kari

[Patti P.]

Dates for the Packet Exchange:

Lets aim for Saturday, June 25th. I can wait for packages if I know they are in the mail.

Mail to:
Kari Grece
39W016 W Hilltop Dr.
St. Charles, IL 60175

Participants, please email me when you send your packets so I can be on the look out.
For our International participants: my husband does have a paypal account and I can email you the details upon request.

Thanks!
Kari

[Patti P.]

Balancing Act

Would people who are under or over message me and tell me how much so I can try to match people up. If the people who are under could also include your mailing address I will forward that along to your best match.

I will try my best to fulfill all the participants who are under but please remember that this is voluntary and not every is required to participate.

Thank-you.
Kari

[Connie W.]

Thanks serin10 for agreeing to head up the Cearing House.

[Jocelyn W.]

Sern10
When you 'sort' out the rules and are ready, I've got a number of duplicates that may fill someone's need. Would like to see you with a little 'stash' to get started. I'm one who exchanged the MAX HSTs allowed :roll: and have been blessed with an enormous variety. Having international Sisters has made this exchange so very special and each of them had the additional arrangements to make for the return trip - and the long wait. I know we'll all help even out any shortages. Helping out with exchanges is a real treat. Thanks so much for stepping right up to this task.

[Lotti D.]

thank you for taking on this task 8)

hav't received my hst's yet - they'll probably get here in a week or so :wink:
i'm looking forward to receiving them - and am certain i can make use of all - just adapt to colours/numbers/duplicates received - think that's what makes it all more fun :lol: :lol:

i will of course let you know what i have to help out fellow sisters who need something specific

good luck whith this task & have fun with it :P :P :P

[Lotti D.]

Good morning Kari,

You're a very brave lady and we commend you for taking on this large job. Have you thought about instead of actually accepting the triangles to redistribute personally, making a clearing house on a spreadsheet so that you're the "mediator" between two ladies that need to connect - AND you connect them! From what I've seen on the posts and from working with a smaller group myself, our SOTT participants are VERY resourceful and dependable. If you connect the right people, they will take it from there. I'm just worried that the mailing costs for you could get to be very heavy.

That said - please count me in on your spreadsheet as someone who is willing to make extra HSTs for the cause if someone needs them. I'm still waiting for my package - maybe today- so I don't know whether or not I have an overage. That doesn't matter, and if our international sisters need triangles or there is someone who didn't get one from me or North Carolina and wants one, I'll send them one if you connect us!!

Thank you for stepping up to the plate!! Let us know if you need help.
NancyW in North Carolina

[Lotti D.]

Good morning Kari,

You're a very brave lady and we commend you for taking on this large job. Have you thought about instead of actually accepting the triangles to redistribute personally, making a clearing house on a spreadsheet so that you're the "mediator" between two ladies that need to connect - AND you connect them! From what I've seen on the posts and from working with a smaller group myself, our SOTT participants are VERY resourceful and dependable. If you connect the right people, they will take it from there. I'm just worried that the mailing costs for you could get to be very heavy.

That said - please count me in on your spreadsheet as someone who is willing to make extra HSTs for the cause if someone needs them. I'm still waiting for my package - maybe today- so I don't know whether or not I have an overage. That doesn't matter, and if our international sisters need triangles or there is someone who didn't get one from me or North Carolina and wants one, I'll send them one if you connect us!!

Thank you for stepping up to the plate!! Let us know if you need help.
NancyW in North Carolina

Nancy, I think that when the original Wayward topic was set up that was the idea behind it to give people the chance to connect and work it out amongst themselves. And I did consider this (I do love spreadsheets!) - it works if 2 or even 3 people are doing a straight swap, I give you mine, you give me yours. But I believe that most people are looking to do a larger swap - other wise you could just be passing on your multiples to someone else.

By having a few smaller swaps I am hoping to keep the work manageable for myself and hopefully most people will send a return envelope with postage on it so it shouldn't cost me too much directly. We should know during the first month if the idea of smaller swaps will work - if not we can all re-evaluate the process.

Kari

[Lotti D.]

You've certainly got a handle on this, I'm sure. If you need anything from any of us, please give an "all call" and I'm sure this group will help you in anyway we can. If you need a little assortment of HSTs to have on hand to help with your job of joining HSTs with ladies who need them, you only have to ask. We'll send you some.

Have a happy day!

[Lotti D.]

Good morning Kari,

You're a very brave lady and we commend you for taking on this large job. Have you thought about instead of actually accepting the triangles to redistribute personally, making a clearing house on a spreadsheet so that you're the "mediator" between two ladies that need to connect - AND you connect them! From what I've seen on the posts and from working with a smaller group myself, our SOTT participants are VERY resourceful and dependable. If you connect the right people, they will take it from there. I'm just worried that the mailing costs for you could get to be very heavy.

That said - please count me in on your spreadsheet as someone who is willing to make extra HSTs for the cause if someone needs them. I'm still waiting for my package - maybe today- so I don't know whether or not I have an overage. That doesn't matter, and if our international sisters need triangles or there is someone who didn't get one from me or North Carolina and wants one, I'll send them one if you connect us!!

Thank you for stepping up to the plate!! Let us know if you need help.
NancyW in North Carolina

I agree with NancyW in North Carolina about you just being a "MEDIATOR" to bring people together to swap with each other. You are one brave, sweet quilter (with a two-year-old), and I personally hope you don't need to spend a lot of time helping people get their HST stashes up to snuff. We are 560 qo-getters strong in this SoTTT exchange, and we can sort things out among ourselves. I've gotten several HST's from people who were generous to share/exchange with me directly and I'm deliriously happy about that! :mrgreen: I am concerned :roll: that this could mushroom into something bigger than you have bargained for. :?: I'll step up to the sharing plate if/when our international sisters need any HST's from USA quilters they would like to share with. :wink: Just let me know. Big hugs to you for your kind offer, Kari. :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Lotti D.]

Shirley - I agree with you, too. If Kari needs some help, especially for the international ladies, I'll help out with that, too.

[Lotti D.]

Wonderful serin10. I am a bit disappointed with the number of duplicates I recieved, with many from Australia and no other country. Please let me know more!!! I truly admire your courage to do this extra exchange. Wish I Iived closer to help. Bless you, Mona 80

[Lotti D.]

Nancy and Shirley, thank-you for the suggestion and your willingness to help. Let me explain my thought process. I have 8 extra triangles from TQS member Liesje from Australia. If I were to send each triangle out to 8 different people in the US - I would be paying 8 * .44 = $3.52. And that is just one set of duplicates. I have almost as many from Posy P in England - that makes my cost close to $7. At that is only the beginning, I haven't touched sending them internationally. If I send all my duplicates to one person it probably won't cost more than $4 for both the sent and return envelope. My goal was to try to share my abundance of international triangles and minimize my cost.

I am willing to act as a mediator for those that would rather mail their own out - maybe you are looking for a specific state, country, person, ect. In order for that to work, people would need to send me a list of what they are willing to exchange and what they are looking for.

Would people prefer a general exchange or a one-on-one exchange? I am willing to do it either way (or both if there is enough of a demand.)

Kari

[Lotti D.]

Nancy and Shirley, thank-you for the suggestion and your willingness to help. Let me explain my thought process. I have 8 extra triangles from TQS member Liesje from Australia. If I were to send each triangle out to 8 different people in the US - I would be paying 8 * .44 = $3.52. And that is just one set of duplicates. I have almost as many from Posy P in England - that makes my cost close to $7. At that is only the beginning, I haven't touched sending them internationally. If I send all my duplicates to one person it probably won't cost more than $4 for both the sent and return envelope. My goal was to try to share my abundance of international triangles and minimize my cost.

I am willing to act as a mediator for those that would rather mail their own out - maybe you are looking for a specific state, country, person, ect. In order for that to work, people would need to send me a list of what they are willing to exchange and what they are looking for.

Would people prefer a general exchange or a one-on-one exchange? I am willing to do it either way (or both if there is enough of a demand.)

Kari

Kari, this is only my humble suggestion: be very careful about what you offer regarding it just costing a few cents and $ for postage. For whatever it's worth, I'm casting my vote for a "one-on-one" exchange and letting the individual quilters work out the postage and logistics. If others want to exchange larger amounts of HST's, let them form their own little groups to do that, and you just be the mediator to get them together. :lol: