Need help with Quilt Guild Ideas.
 

I am now Vice president of local Quilt Guild. Do any of you have ideas on project, speakers Programs.
If you have done something cute or special for your guild will you please share with me.
Thank you
Sal :lol: :?:

I'm guild president and I have changed our regular same old format a lot. I have asked for and given the program officer a big chunk of our budget to hire two or three talented quilters to hold workshops for the guild. With a limited budge the other months of programs come from the members. One did a trunk show of all her work, including crochet and knitting. One member did a trunk show of all her vintage quilt blocks, embroidery pieces and doll clothes she had collected over the years. One program was the members brought their specialty rulers and gave demos how to use them. We have a clear out one meeting where everyone cleans out their sewing room and we set up tables at the meeting and all unneeded or unwanted items are sold The guild gets 10% of the sales. Most all the members like being involved and being the center of attention for one meeting is fun and everyone gets to know the other members so much better.

when I was vice president I also included all members I ask anyone who would like to demo something in 30 minutes or so to please do so and they guild gave them a 20.00 dollar gift certificate from a local quilt store
they really came up with all kids of things foiling was a very fun one also easy and can be found at this website www.lauramurraydesigns.com
you can also ask members to tell about their favorite product and how they use it once the members are involved you will get all kinds of ideas we also had an ugly fabric exchange for the ones that wanted to and they took each others ugly fabric then made something for the owner of the fabric plus added some of theirs lots of neat things came back hope this helps have fun
Dodie

Two of my favorite evenings at the guild are mentor night and the auction.

Mentor night is set up by stations where a guild member shares a specific skill by demonstration. Many have hand-outs, some are hands on. The sessions are roughly 20 minutes and one can rotate through 3 sessions. I always learn something new. Last time, I learned about continuous prairie points, making labels, and crayon quilts.

The auction is held once every few years and a real auctioneer "sells" donated goodies in true auctioneer fashion.

Last year, the guild tried a "yard sale" and it was a hit. I missed that meeting, but plan to go check it out. I believe a member rents space on a table and sells their quilt/sewing related stuff. I'm not sure if the Guild gets a cut, or if their intake is the table fee.

Cheers,
I have been part of a guild forever....try an auction, members buying tickets with donated can goods for charity, or fat quarters to raffle off for another project. Memeber get to bring in there jnque.
Use your memebers talents also. Maybe there is a fabric store that would come vist giving members discount tickets, they could show what's new for fabric lines.
Also make up a brag book with member talents, sew new ones can see who does what technique or style they may want to learm
hope this helps.
:)

Our quilt guild gives "mini" lessons. A member will demonstrate how they do something that maybe another member doesn't know how to do. The last lesson was on binding. And while I've done my fair share of binding, she had some really great ideas! These start like 1/2 hour before the meeting and end at meeting time.

Our guild did this last year, and it was the most popular meeting of the year. Just keep in mind that you want to keep the groups at each table small enough that everyone can see what's being demonstrated.

I Thank all of you for your TIPS. Will take them to board meeting and see if we can use some of them
SAl :D

I may be a little late but would like to add some suggestions for your guild (by the way - Congratulations on becoming The Prez!). My guild has 250 members and we just celebrated our 26th year. We have nationally known quilting teachers lecturing and teaching workshops five out of the nine months we meet. The remaining four months are either auctions, yard sale, school days (member demonstrations); Pot Luck Dinner for December and/or community service night where we prepare/sew/tie quilts for charities - Ronald McDonald House, Hope Hospital for Children, Crisis Centers, etc. Some of the side activities we have are Show'n'Tell each month; Block of the Month; Library; Round Robin Groups; five-inch squares exchange (which is usually follwed by a show'n'tell of quilts made of the squares using "Nickle Quilts" book; Secret Sisters (we bring a small - $3.00 gift - to our Secret Sister every month starting in October and in May our Secret Sister learns our identity). Every other year we have a Quilt Show of over 350 quilts and it is attended by over a thousand people. Our web site is www.SCQG.org, give us a look/see. We always have a 50+ waiting list of prospective members! Take your pick of any or all of the above and Good luck!

What a terrific idea!

Congratulations Madame President. I belong to two guilds. Both now have 100 to 100+ members. One meets in the daytime and always has a covered dish luncheon. The other meets at night and usually only has light refreshments. Both have, hopefully a short business meeting, some kind of program either with a formal speaker or demonstrator and then show and tell of members work since the last meeting.

Both guilds have a block of the month, an annual Tea Party and a fund raising Quilt Bingo. Only one still has a semiannual quilt show.
The one without the show has a monthly raffle basket full of goodies that members buy chances on at the meeting. Members donate quilt related items, fabric and notions they no longer want. I actually won the first raffle basket when we started it at least 5 years ago. It even included a bottle of wine. The guild usually makes between 50 and 80 dollars each time they have the raffle basket. One of my guilds has a Secret Sister program. I don't participate but some members really enjoy that program.
As for programs. Both guilds have a special budget for speakers etc. They have done the round robin demo tables with success. Both guilds try and have an outside speaker at least every other month. I have been program chair for both quilds. There are a lot of quilt teachers and or designers out there who will do trunk shows or demos for your group. Most are at least several hundred dollars plus mileage and lodging if necessary. We always encourage them to bring patterns, gadgets or even fabric if they have some to sell. They usually give the guild members a discount. I belonged to a professional group the Mason Dixion Professional Quilt Network. They have a website and most of the members do trunk shows, classes or demos. I also found the names of quilt pros in quilting magazines. With the internet it is not hard to find contact information for them. There are probably lots of them within an hour drive or so of your group.
My more local quild has two meetings a month. The first is the formal meeting and the second two weeks later is a more informal one where members demostrate a project and teach it to anyone who is interested. Several times they have actually run a year long class that produced a quilt for those participating. They are just starting a year long class that will result in a quilt made from Civil War Fabrics for those who participate.

At one of my Guild's Round Robin Workshop I demonstrated how to make plastic bag holders, provided handout with step by step instructions and also had the a sample bag in various stages of construction. One member demonstrated how to embross velvet and make wine bottles with it and another a thread catcher bag. Guess what? I was surprised when I received a check for being an instructor at a guild workshop.

We also have a bi-annual quilt show in the historic park where our Guild holds it's meetings and workshops and an annual tea where we dress up with hats and gloves and bring our favorite tea cup or mug and tell our table mates a story about it. May in Jersey

I just joined my local quilt quild this year, but on their web site, they have their newsletters going back several years. You could read that (http://www.lincolnquiltersguild.org/...wsletters.html) and other guilds, for ideas on speakers.

Also, internet search for quilt teachers or speakers. And find a book you like, and search to see if that person is a speaker.

I know some of the speakers try to get other guilds in the area around the same time, so the cost it spread out a little.

The speakers most of the time offer a class (half or whole day) besides the presentation that they give to the guild. There is a cost for the class. The speaker sets up the cost, and tells the needed supplies to be brought.

We have a monthly show and tell of members latest projects. This is always inspiring (as well as a little intimidating). Everyone shows their projects and gets lots of ooohs and aaahs no matter how small the project or how beginner the quilter may be.

We do a block exchange using a pattern given out where for each block turned in, your name is put in a pot and at the end of the months allowed, several names are drawn to receive 5-6 blocks with which they can create the whole quilt.

I think they also do a nesting robin type challenge quilt, this year they did a house block as the center, then had to add certain borders each month. It was interesting to see the different quilts that had used the same basic instructions, and how different they were.

We have discussed some of our members doing mini-demos before the regular meeting begins.

I sent all your ideas to our guild's president, becuase they were all so great. She loved them. She also wondered where your guilds were located. Maybe we should start a thread listing our guild name, locale and web site if there is one. No reason we shouldn't all share ideas and learn from each other! What do you think?

One guild I belong to was started by Mimi Dietrich. It is called Village Quilters and meets in the daytime the third thursday of each month September through June. In Ellicott City, Maryland.
The second is Everybody's Quilt Guild. We meet twice a month year round, at night, in Westminster, MD. Both guilds started out in homes and have grown to at least 100 members. Both groups have yearly dues the first is $30 a year and the second is $24. We have to pay rent for the meeting places.

I just stumbled on this page...

http://www.lakeviewquiltersguild.org/links.htm

it has a very extensive list of quilters - maybe that would be a good place to start the search for speakers.

We have different things going on every month at our guild meetings. We have had quest speakers but some of my favorite activities from the past year have been
1. Heirloom Quilts - Members brought in quilts that have been passed down to them from a previous generation and told the history of the quilt and most of the time we had a picture of the original quilter. A drawing was held for all members who particiapted for a prize.
2. First Quilt - Members brought in the first quilt they have ever made. This was a hoot when everyone started talking about what they didn't know when they first started.
3. Christmas in July - Members were divided into 3 groups and were given demonstrations on cute quick gifts to make for Christmas. There were handouts that went with the demonstrations. The demonstrations were presented by quild members.
4. A local quilt shop came in and showed quilts made with various patterns and they also set up a mini store where we could buy kits for the quilts, fat quarters, patterns etc.
5. English Paper Piecing Night - I contacted Paper Pieces and they sent enough sample kits free of charge for every member to learn how to paper piece by making a flower like the ones in Grandmother's Flower Garden pattern. The following month members brought in what they turned that flower into(ie. pincushions)
6. Flee for all - Members bring in quilting or sewing related items that they would like to sell. Each member must mark their items with their name and price.
7. Free Table - table set up at each meeting for things you want to get rid of but can't bring yourself to throw away. If no one takes your item you are responsible for taking it back home.
8. Charm Square Swap - We usually do this at Christmas but have done it at different times of the year. A theme is chosen ie. Christmas. You place in a ziplock or sandwich bag 12 - 5" charm squares of the chosen theme with your name on the baggie (everyone always uses an address label) - we allow multiple bags from each person. So if you bring one bag you may take one bag from the big box we have set up for the baggies. There is no picking through the box for what you want. You stick your hand in and pull out a baggie and that's what you get. The only way you would get to put it back is if what you pulled out is your own baggie. If you bring 15 baggies of charms than you get to pull 15 baggies from the box. Great way to built up your charm stash.

grammatjr says:
I sent all your ideas to our guild's president, becuase they were all so great. She loved them. She also wondered where your guilds were located. Maybe we should start a thread listing our guild name, locale and web site if there is one. No reason we shouldn't all share ideas and learn from each other! What do you think?

I think that's a great idea! My guild of 250 meets at the Hinsdale Community Center in Hinsdale, IL, although we started out in Western Springs, IL. Both are suburbs west of Chicago. One thing I forgot to mention in my first posting is that we also have an Education Committee whose members make a presentation of quilts (usually 45 minutes including questions/answers) at Assisted Living Centers And bring their machines and fabrics to grammer schools, kindergardens, Girl and Boy Scout meetings, etc., showing them how to sew together blocks. We then bring all the blocks home, sew them together, make the quilt sandwich with batting and a muslin back and envelope the quilt. We return to the group for their signatures on the back, letting the children use as much creativity as they wish. The school/Scout Troop display the finished quilt and some have had a raffle. Check www.saltcreekqg.org for more info.
Valerie

The guild I belonged to when I lived in VA. had a "meet the quilter" each month. One member of the guild was asked to bring her quilts for a trunk show. She talked about them, what inspired her to begin quilting, how long she had been quilting, what her favorite patterns, techniques, etc are. It was fun to get to know other members of the guild this way.

At Guild that I was program Director on, I organized a Mystery Tour. The first year, we went to another guild and watched "Laurie Swim" as a guest speaker. The second year, we did a mini-shophop of the 3-4 local Quilt Shops and went out for dinner. Each year cost each member between 20-35 dollars, including their meal. It was a great way to get to know the other guild members better. We also have quilt challenges every year, where the theme and directions are given out in September and judged the following September. Last year's was Recycling your Old Shirts...but you could use store bought fabric for the binding and backing only. Good luck at Guild, hope you get lots of ideas.

Our guild started a luncheon 12 yrs ago. There are 4 local guilds in our area and the pres back then felt we should share our knowledge and love of quilting with each other. This way we could know our quilting sisters and exchange ideas. It's a big deal to us--there are over 300 who attend. We come up with a theme, decorate our tables, have name tags, games, prizes and other gifts put together by the host guild or donated by the local shops (not necessarily quilt related), a block of the party that every quilter makes and then we divide up into 4 equal piles and each guild has a winner of blocks, lunch of course, show and tell and lots of goodies. We even give away a quilt put together by members. It's a chance to meet many wonderful quilters. Everyone goes home happy and next year's guild starts planning. This year is our turn again and we are having a hen party with all things chicken. Our quilt challenge involves that theme. There will be categories
wall hanging, quilt, wearables, other art stuff. It's going to be fun.

I am new at this and they have ask me to be the President this year! I was just wondering if there is a agenda that you follow each month? How do you go about what you focus on each month? We have a small group and I would like to make it so people would want to join and have fun!

Show and Tell is very popular at the two guilds I belong to. At one of them, we also have occasional "Show and Throw". That happens when something in the guild closet has been in the closet for a very long time and no one has shown interest in it during that very long time. If no one wants it, or decides to use it in a charity quilt, it is donated. It amazes me how often members - all have access to the closet - say "Where'd you find that? It's pretty."

Sometimes those pretty fabrics magically turn into charity quilts.

I was special projects chair at one guild. One year we did an ostrich round robin. an ostrich doesn't fly so you keep and work on your own quilt. everyone starts with a block or something for the center ( a ufo works good for this) and then every month I would draw two options out of a jar for the next round ie. add a new color, or use triangles. each month the quilter chose one option and added a border to her quilt. I think we had five rounds. at the end all participants had their names put in a drawing for a gift basket. I think this works best when there are two options and flexibility. Not everyone would want to add embellishments for example.

we also would have fat quarter lotto. pick a color or theme each month and everyone who brings a fat quarter is put in a drawing to win a bunch of them. we usually had two winners each getting 8 to 12 fat quarters.

Great info! I'm prez (until Jan) of a 180 member guild that meets monthly in the morning and then repeats in the evening for those that can't make the mornings. In July and Dec. we have evening only potlucks (July is our annual challenge) and hold a show in late Sept. So programs in Sept is prepping for the show. We also try to have our members present the programs in Jan. & Feb due to possible weather cancellations. We are fortunate (in KC area) that there is a quilt network that holds a fair for presenters to connect with guild program chairs. We also try to have a workshop or sew day once a month.
Probably one of our best "programs" is the beginner quilt class that is offered for all members (and can be repeated) as it really draws in new members and keeps us dynamic. It's 5 classes (6 hrs each) that teach the basics and includes mentorship which really helps get new members really feeling part of the guild.

We have a small guild. They wanted to do a shop tour. But couldn't get them all on the same time, day etc. Plus some had to go home to take care of spouses. So I got a projector, I figured I would show how Missouri Star quilts was started. So I arranged all the chairs like a bus. Made cardboard tires. Had a isle down the center. Told everyone to bring sweaters for the trip. I told them the weather is Missouri. The president had a bus drivers hat. I the vice president was the bus hostess. We had a stop for the bathroom. We drew names for prizes I purchased from the Internet. We had snacks. Everyone was thrilled that it was different and fun. I have been asked to do it again.

this is a cute idea!

Catching up on this post as I'm on our local program committee...we have about 35 members. We hope to invite an area quilter who quilts on old table linens for one meeting. Planning on talking about batting, needles. And maybe a vintage trunk show.

I like the 5" charm swap idea. We have done the ugly fabric exchange and played strip poker as well.