I think items that are 'consumable' for a quilter would be awesome! Like marking pens, paper templates, spray starch.
I also made some special beaded safety pins for myself that would mark the rows/column of my quilt as I was assembling it. I used jewelry pliers to attach a bead on the closed end of the safety pin (the part with the round loop). For first row it was 1 bead, then 2 for the second row, 3 for third, 4 for fourth, and then a special one for the 5th row. Then 6th row was special one plus 1 bead. If you had a small group I think those would be really special. Probably too much to do for a large group....