This is a first! I've been invited to speak at a local quilt guild... and have also been asked to bring "stuff for the ladies to buy".

Ok, I know what to speak on (safety when shopping online) but as to what to bring...?

We don't have trays of FQs so that's out. We only sell fabric, no notions or patterns. We have a few pre-cuts and bundles, so I could bring those.

Should I be bringing yardage and a cutting board? Those of you who belong to guilds, if you've ever had a LQS do a talk, did they bring fabric? If so, what did they bring?

I've never been to one where fabric was brought, except organized into a kit to make the "workshop" project.
I have seen them sell books, patterns, occasionally notions if they pertained to what the "project" was.
Maybe some of your precuts. Definately hand out cards of your website, maybe offer them a "code" for a small discount on purchases(within a certain date or timeframe) that you only offer to the ladies(or gentlemen) at the guild.

Speakers at our guild often bring supplies from their stores (notions, patterns, pre-cut fabrics, kits with fabric and patterns together) I think it would be rather hard to bring bolts and have to cut fabric at the meeting, so maybe a supply of the pre-cuts and bundles you said you had. Maybe hand out discount coupons for your store so you get new customers. If the guild has door-prizes, perhaps you could donate something for that.

i know you don't want to be left with pre-cuts if you don't sell them all. do you expect to be invited to speak elsewhere? if so, you can sell them there as well.
the only other thing you can try is a line that has a lot of parts. bring samples and take discounted orders. you might sell one-yard or 1/2 yard pre-cuts of those so people can feel them. show all the color possibilities and take the orders, don't forget the deposits. the guild may also want to discount-buy an entire bolt of something for a challenge, with members then buying yardage of their choice that goes with it. they can buy the choices from you on order. maybe you can suggest some patterns for this project.

Precuts, kits, books, supplies. The speaker usually does a seminar the next day. They usually make out like a bandit but we are a large guild of 200 members with two meetings in one day.

I have been a guest speaker at several quilt guild meetings. I have published three patterns and I usually sell those. Soemtimes, I demo a certain way I put a block together and sometimes, it's a trunk show. Ask the quild what they want you to do.

When quilt shops have spoken at my guild, they brought bolts and cut on the spot. They also brought patterns they spoke about and gadgets.

How about bringing ends of bolts and having them on sale? You know us quilters LOVE SALES!

Pin Cushion Boutique, a local here, puts together Sweet Treats - 8 coordinated fat quarters that have names such as Harvest of Moonlight, Southern Sensibilities, A Walk Along the River's Edge, The Song of A First Romance II and Romantic Sonnet (these are mine).
They have come to our guild several times and have talked about how the Sweet Treats are put together and how their names are decided.

The Star was put together by another LQS and our guild has begun making them as gifts to a lucky attendant at our monthly meetings.

many, many bolts of different fabrics,cutting board and rotary cutter.
the last shop owner that spoke at one of my guilds had a staff member with her who also cut and sold

We are a very lucky guild - we usually have six - eight vendors at each general monthly meeting. We have about 135 members.

They bring a variety of stuff:
- one lqs specializes in 'brights' and brings fq's, half- full- and 2-meter cuts, and she puts together misc cuts that total 1 meter in yardage
- one specializes in patterns, notions and books, brings lots of very cool gadgets
- one specializes in kits - has samples made up to show off the kits
- one specializes in asian fabrics - brings fq's and half meter cuts
- one is a phaff dealer and specializes in embroidery/threadwork

They are usually at each meeting, and we've also had all of them as guest speakers, and some also conduct workshops. When they do the speaking, they've featured something they specialize in, and they sell lots of it!

Hope this helps!
Linda

Those little bundles are great! Love the star!

I love that star too! Could you share with us how you fold the triangle pieces to get that shape?

First off - congratulations! How exciting! Someone suggested bringing the end of bolts and have them on sale. I must admit, my mouth started to water at the thought. :lol: Yep, we quilters do love our sales. I think you can make it work by bringing fabric and cutting there, but my suggestion would be to have a couple of ladies helping. The last thing you want is to have such a long line of ladies waiting that some of them decide it isn't worth it and leave without buying anything.

I would suggest making up several packets of precut fabrics. Nothing says you can't sell any leftovers at your store, right? And if you are looking for the extra advertisements, you can always donate a few each month to the guild as raffle prizes. Just a thought.

Have a great time!!!

do you have panels, and make some quilts up to show different ideas

Ok, I've never made the star before so I carefully took mine apart and tried to re-create it. I've put it into 15 steps so bear with me and if you have a question I will try to answer it. Here goes:

Start with 5 fat quarters. Choose which will be your focus (the square) and which 2 will be paired together.

Folded Star Steps 4, 5 & 6

Folded Star Steps 7, 8 & 9

Folded Star Steps 10,11 & 12

Folded Star Steps 13, 14 & 15
Sorry this takes so many steps. Maybe I should have don't a tutorial but I'm new at this stuff so hope you can understand it all.

Wonderful, WONDERFUL!

Thank you so much for posting this. I had tried unsuccessfully for a half-hour to guess how to fold the fabrics that formed the points, and finally gave up. I would have never figured it out on my own.

Wow, I would never have guessed! Thank you!! You know, you should post this in the tutorial section. I bet a lot of others would love to know the secret to this too. :thumbup:

Bring all your bolts that have 2 or less yards left on them and sell each bolt as is for a certain dollar value. You will be surprised how fast they get scooped up and there is no cutting involved. Great way to slim down the inventory.