July Swappers: Anyone looking for Two Inch Charms?

Whew! Finally! I think I have it. But frankly, it is well past midnight and only some of the emails are out. I am going to bed anyway, lest my tired eyes cause me to mess up the rest of the emails. So please check your emails later tomorrow, and check your SPAM folder if you do not see it by midday. (And read about yet another distraction, below!)

Update Friday at 1:30 pm CDT: All the two-inch swapper matches are emailed out!

Like lint in my sewing room, fabric charms will be flying everywhere!

A total of 59 people are swapping an amazing 514 sets of these amazing two-inch treasures! That means about 1028 emails will be exchanged this weekend (not counting mine!), and soon all those little parcels will be heading out, from the tip of Africa to the Yukon. For this part of the swap, almost one-third of the sets are from outside of the USA, which makes it a lot of fun. It also means people get a wide variety of fabrics, and perhaps new friends as well.

Actually, I had the matching done a couple of days ago. Then two people had to withdraw, for good reasons–like being in the hospital. Lots of re-shuffling took place, but I think I have it! There are a few issues though. People who had tons of charms to swap, like 25-50, may find that I ran out of available sets to give to them. That 514 sets above does not include the 60+ sets cut but not finding a match this round! If you do swap a large number of sets, you are also more likely to have repeat swappers from a previous round.

Swappers with many sets, who elect to only ship in the USA, will also find that I had to stop assigning after 12-18 sets. If you are in that group, and really want one or two more people, email me and request an international partner, and I may be able to connect you. First come, first served though!

The challenge of the quantity issue will make for a change next round. I am planning to set a limit of 15 sets per swapper next round, to improve my chances of getting sleep, as well as your chances of getting all your sets matched.

Mother and daughter after the ceremony. Nothing like a bowl of Spicy Noodles to celebrate!

This week held a very special, once-in-a-lifetime distraction. My daughter-in-law’s mom, who came to this country from Laos over thirty years ago, was sworn in as a citizen of the USA. Our family joined hers at the naturalization ceremony.

On that day there were 430 new citizens who took the oath, coming from 70 countries and every continent except Antarctica. Add all the family members to the mix, and we were awestruck by the crowd, the energy, the diversity, and the excitement. It was all quite impressive, and humbling. For many of these new citizens, the application process took years and involved a lot of hard work. I wanted to shake every hand myself!

The judge who officiated stayed after, standing by the flag, until all 430 people and their families got their photo taken with him–and their new Certificate of Naturalization.

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