If you have signed up for any swap, a mosaic might be required by the swap mama or host/hostess of the swap. So, let's talk mosaics. A mosaic or collage of pictures helps your partner get an idea of what you might like your swap item to look like. Let's say this is a mosaic for the skinny pincushion swap. You could give an example of some skinny pincushions, fabric, and color palettes you like. Below are just some examples of individual pictures that I have saved on pinterest.
Private vs. Public IG Accounts
Private IG accounts makes it impossible for those who don't follow you that are in the group to be able to see your posts. Hash tagging or tagging someone doesn't make it visible to others. This swap is going to be very small. So, in the pincushion swap, I will just send a list of everyone who is participating. This way everyone in this group can follow each other. When a swap has 50+ people. It is almost impossible to give all of names of that size group to all the members. So now, the only way that your partner can see anything you have on IG is to follow you or fly almost blind. If they do follow you, they know who their partner is right away. That isn't the point of a secret partner swap. It is supposed to be a surprise. This is why we ask for a public account. You can check your setting under the person icon. In the right top corner, theirs 3 inline dots. Click here to view and change your settings.
If I am working on my computer, I might Google photos or go to Pinterest and save these photos to my pictures. Also, I grab the name of whoever created the item to give credit to its original maker. This is very important in our quilting and crafting community to give credit. For Instance, if you have saved a picture of a skinny pincushion I have made and put it in your mosaic When you are uploading your mosaic to IG where the swap is based, you can go to the person icon during the edit process and tap on the picture of the pincushion I made and type in quiltydream.
When making a mosaic from a laptop, I use bighugelabs.com. On the main page, there is a mosaic maker. Once you get in there, you can pick how many photo tiles. 3x 3 is a good number. That is nine photos. It will then ask how you are uploading. You can choose individually from your computer or use Flickr favorites (which is my favorite way.) Once you are done, you can choose make mosaic and save it. You will want to save it to email and open on your phone or iPad. You will open it and take a screen shot. Now you will be ready to upload to instagram. It is almost like taking a photo. Select gallery and find and select image. You will then, tag makers for credit which is described above . You can also tag makers below in the description by using @quiltydream or @amanicustoms ect.
I like using pic stitch and screenshots when I am on my phone or iPad. It is very easy. You will need to write down or remember the maker to tag. Pic Stitch is an app that is free. You can find it in your Google Play Store. You could also search other apps or ways to make free mosaics online or search in the app store.
Once you mosaic is complete and tagged with credit given to makers. You will use the hashtag #skinnypincushionswap in the IG description. It will look just like this. Hashtag is another word for # (pound sign) It works like a grouping. So, you will be able to see everyone's photos that the hashtag was put in the description of that photo. Below is a photo of what has been marked skinnypincushion swap as of 3/14/16. You can also search many different hashtag like #quilting,#pincushion, #mugrug.
Design seeds is a website that has really pretty color palettes. I am sure you can search #designseeds or #colorpalettes. You can google pink fabrics or other colors for an example that you like. Below is a screenshot of the #designseeds on IG.
A mosaic is important to make because it gives your partner inspiration. It also may be a requirement in a swap. You don't have to buy exactly what is pictured. If you have something similar to their likes that is in their mosaic, go for it. If you are ever in doubt, you can do a fabric pull and get involved in posting pictures on the hashtag. Next week, I will post about commenting and taking pictures of progress or how to find out what your partner likes without outright asking just them. Because it is secret. That's the best part, it is a surprise.
You can make a mosaic while waiting on partner info to come out.
I hope that this has been helpful in how to post a mosaic and why it is important.
Happy sewing!
