hello! such a great thing to be involved with.... best to you in your efforts....
we started a quilting group almost 2 years ago now at our church.... our goal was to make quilts to give away to those who needed to feel the love of God through our hands... it's a ministry, which is wonderful....
we chose, after some thought and prayer, to make quilts for the homeless in Lawrence, MA... and donate through the Lazarus House Ministries (shelter, food bank, soup kitchen, transitional living, job training, thrift shop, etc....)... the decision was made by consensus....
since then, we've donated 90 quilts, first having them blest by the priest at Mass.
we quilt every Tuesday afternoon from 1-4 p.m. we also have one evening a month (6:30 to 9 p.m.) for those who can't make the afternoons. all quilts have labels that say "made especially for you with love by the St. Joseph Quilters, Salem, NH" and the date. they're anywhere in size from lap/crib to queen-sized.
we stop during July and August with the Tuesday afternoon meetings but keep the 3rd Wednesday night of the month in tact.... making "special projects" that our members can give as gifts from them to family, friends, etc. (beach bags, special pillowcases...)
we also take periodic "field trips": Lowell Quilt Museum, a shop hop, and a special fabric outlet (so far, anyhow!).
all decisions are made in concert...
i coordinate email and send links to patterns, materials, quilt collections, instructional videos, etc....
it's a loose community, but we have produced huge numbers of quilts, including a "hearts and flowers" paper-pieced, queen-sized, every-member-made-several-squares quilt to raffle for two overseas ministries... and another queen sized quilt to benefit the church....
we accept fabric donations of ALL sorts (only cotton, tho'); our Church gave us some money to get a bolt of warm 'n natural batting... we bought an inexpensive iron, ironing board, and have gotten donations of cutting boards and rotary cutters... we usually use our own cutters, tho', and always come with our sewing machines....
frequently we pick up additional backing material (we try to always back our children's quilts with flannel) on our own, have gotten some fabric from a local shop, and occasionally tap our own stashes...
our primary goal is to enjoy our faith community with one another... we giggle A LOT, talk quite a bit, occasionally have workshops for the members given by other members (we have some wonderful quilters in the group who have a lot to share...)
we love having coffee, enjoy sharing cakes, cookies, etc....
it's just a fun, fun time! we have more and more and more people wanting to, and actually able, to join us....
we just let people know when and where we meet both in our bulletin and on our web site....
i think someone needs to be the communicator, and we have someone who takes care of finances... others jump in to organize trips, help with teaching new quilters, fix one another's sewing problems, show and tell our creations (we're great cheer leaders!), share resources we've discovered, and raise issues we need to settle, making suggestions.... everybody has a gift, and we count on one another to use them for the ministry....
would love to "chat" more, but i've already written too much.... there's a lot we've learned, and i can't remember it all....
blessings on you and your work for God's people.... enjoy!!!!
anna