Guild Programs
 

I was asked to be program chair for guild. We have a good budget for programs but I can't find anyone to schedule. All seem to want to do zoom . That's fine with me I like the zoom presentations and classes but the majority of the members say no to zoom. It's getting hard to find local talent that we haven't used before or come up with new topics and presentations we haven't done before. It's getting to be stressful. The local quilt shops have all agreed to do a program but after the first of the year. I have the rest of the year to fill. We have had extended show and share, meet your members until we are running out of shares and members. LOL We have had round robin project demos, roundtable discussions, and quilting bingo. Anyone have any ideas?

We have played strip poker (fabric strips) many times. One of the quilt shops will present a machine quilting program. One will do an Accuquilt program and one will do a modern art quilting program. That's only three months scheduled. LOL We have community service sewing during day of the meeting, we meet late evening. I'll come up with something but it sure isn't easy.

Our guild is going to have their first F2F meeting in August. They wanted to do it sooner, but had the same problem with no one wanting to travel, they just want to do zoom meetings. Since we usually have a workshop the day after the meeting, its been very disappointing. I would have been very interested in a workshop with a couple of the zoom presenters.

At one of our Christmas parties, we played quilters bingo for the door prizes. We've also played some other games which were really fun like one on quilting internet abbreviations like FMQ.

Our guild is looking for a program chair. I don't think anyone wants to do it right now because of all of the difficulties

You could get someone local (physiotherapist or kinesiologist) to present about ergonomics of sewing, how to adapt to prevent injuries, and if you pair that with a local sewing machine repair person doing/showing basic maintenance that the home based person can do preventatively, that would do a meeting (or two, depending on how long each person presented)

Ooooh, I like that idea!

similar to the garage sale idea, our guild has a yearly "Auffle" that is very popular. it's a combination of an auction and a raffle. Members bring in new or used items to contribute (items are donated and members do not receive compensation). They are randomly or strategically placed in marked off sections or tables. members buy raffle tickets at $1 each, write their name on the back, then drop off tickets into a cup or container that is placed in each "raffle" section. you can buy however many tickets you want. for example, buy 20 tickets and place one ticket in 20 different sections or all 20 in one section that you really want, or anything in between. once all tickets placed, a winner is drawn for each of the sections.

Do you have any senior members of the guild that can do a trunk show or have skill in a certain technique (paper piecing, art theory, quilt design, etc)

I'm pretty inexperienced and not part of a guild so I'm honestly not sure what would work in your setup, but have you considered connecting with a local school's home economics or art teacher, a girl guide or scout leader, or a community center that runs programs for kids? Years ago, I introduced a group of my students to quilting by bringing in some precut squares and helping them to make simple 4- or 9-patch blocks. We were really limited for time, but a few of the kids managed to complete small projects. I could imagine that at a meeting it might be fun for groups of quilters to come up with simple projects and create little kits or instructions that could be shared with these types of groups. It could even go over a couple of meetings if you have a planning session and then another meeting to put the kits together and/or arrange for distribution. Just a kernel of an idea, but I hope there might be something useful in there for you. :-)

Our guild has a night of mini classes each year. Members from the guild volunteer to teach a technique in the span of 15 minutes, like making your own spray starch, binding a quilt, no waste flying geese, how to mark a quilt for quilting, etc. They all have their own table. We walk around and watch them demonstrate their technique. A bell will ring after 10-15 minutes and we go to the next table to see the their demo. It's a very fun night and we learn a lot.

I did a demo on the fabric cards for our group which was well received. The cards, envelopes, and pre starched fabrics were handed to members to make their own special card. The other topic was organizing the sewing room filled with tips and products that I use.

Tips for home sewing projects, piping, and pillow finishes are fun. The hidden zipper technique is so easy to demo. Methods to create unique designs with fabric paint or pencils could be a hit for some members.

For October, the meeting is usually a reminder to the members to schedule their mammogram. I'm ordering small soap bars with a reminder for this year's meeting. You may want to reach out to health professionals to do a demo/talk.

We also schedule the holiday luncheon in January now. It takes the stress out of the busy month of December.

Good luck!

This is a good variation on my thought. So often quilters do not acknowledge their own skills. Some would not want to take on an evening of teaching, but 15 minutes is doable. We can all learn tips and cues from one another. Additional suggestions: how to press without stretching, how to adjust a machine to get accurate 1/4 inch seams, how to measure and add sashing to avoid ruffles and to keep the top square, tricks to keep sashing strips matching, Hexies, How to lay out orphan blocks to create a cohesive scrap block quilt.

Guild Programs
 

What is F2F?

I have "attended" a few Zoom Guild meetings and was less than impressed. Staring at a computer screen is not the same as attending a program meeting in person, as far as I'm concerned. If my Guild were to solely do those type of meetings I would probably not re-join..Just my opinion. I find I can't stay awake in front of a computer screen either.

Face to Face.
We never stopped meeting during covid, just met outside during the warmer months and only had to miss Dec and Jan due to weather. We had an average of 25 members during those times. Now that the building is opened we are averaging about 40 per meeting. We had one member test positive for covid in all our membership but she never came to any meetings last year.

Oh, sorry. F2F = face to face or in person

I agree its not the same, but there were NO in person meetings so I found the zoom meetings to be an acceptable substitute. My guild is starting F2F meetings as soon as they can. I'm not gonna give up my friends and their meetings because of things that were out of their control and done because they were doing their best in bad times and to keep everyone safe.

Rhonda K, what are fabric cards?

I chair the programs for our small guild here in SE Michigan. I have run into the same problems with the pandemic. I had a full schedule for 2020 and into 2021. 99% of the schedule had to be cancelled or postponed. We are just now beginning to catch up. We did fabric dying just last week that had been scheduled for March of 2020! I have only been able to get one program and 2 trunk show put into 2021. I have to look over our calendar and rework the entire schedule. So I will follow this thread closely. Good luck on filling your schedule.

Our Guild has had several months of meetings since covid. Since speakers don't really want to travel, different members have stepped up with demos. There are several new members. We have had fabric painting, paper piecing, no waste flying geese, and plan on Quilt of Valor sewing and presentation, Challenges (Black and white and a pop of color is the current one), Guild birthday party, Quilto. They are small presentations that are enjoyable. We have also incorporated a few "sew days". July we will be working on red white and blue quilts.

Moda is having a great community project called Love Bugs. It can be personal or group orientated. Really good for kids to learn to sew project. I will present the details for a program, pass out the pattern, and show examples. My grandson has already chosen his Love Bug. I am making them for the church nursery to give to the toddlers. The goal is to give children a bug they want to catch after a bad last year. The pocket is a great place to hold a coloring book or story book. So if a member can't make a bug then they may like to donate a book.

we had a raffle of orphan blocks and ufo's. tickets were .25. orphan blocks 1 ticket, take 1. ufo's were a drawing box for each item. got our ufo's moving to someone else. we had 3-4 days notice and ~$100 for guild. lots of fun. 3 people had mics and called numbers. runner for each mic took winner the goods. we thought it might be a lame idea. but as people arrived we kept adding tables for more raffle items. big hit!!!

See if you can find someone close enough that designs fabrics for any of the fabric companies. Our guild found a lady in the next state (within a couple of hours) that designs for Moda. I didn't think I'd be interested, but was very glad I attended. It was a massively successful program, and every single person I talked with after said they really enjoyed it. This lady doesn't sew, but Moda always gives her bolts of her fabric, which she was very happy to share with us at decent prices! :-) She had fat quarter bundles made up, as well as larger pieces to sell. I'll admit to going home with several fat quarter bundles of my own! :-) There's got to be a LOT of fabric designers in the country! I hope you're able to find one and have a great meeting!! :-))

Sew Days are immensely popular in my guild.

Painted Quilt blocks
 

https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images/smilies/smile.png A member of our guild is showing us how to make 4" painted quilt blocks on a magnet in July.

Another idea is to ask in your guild or local community who may be able to teach how to make the wooden barn quilt blocks.
I have seen smaller versions that would work to hang on a fence or wall in the house at about 12".

I just can’t believe the fun things all of you think up to do! There are so many great ideas here! Thank you, Onebyone for the Love Bug link! I’m thinking that would be a really fun service project for the dementia section of a nursing home!

This is the tutorial I followed. Pieces of fabrics with different themes were pre-cut and starched. The members had fun selecting one. I passed blank cards and envelopes and they shared the glue sticks around the table.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT_STUBStqo

I started the program with a question. "How many of you love to receive a card in the mail"?

loved the card idea.

Your central issue is that members are uncomfortable with the Zoom experience. You may set up a Zoom buddy list for the guild so that a member that is comfortable with Zoom hosts another member.

This will all ease up when folk get immunized against COVID and it is safe to gather again.

I don't think zoom will be in the guild's future to host. Some members get together and take a zoom class on their own. I like zoom classes and video sew alongs.

Onebyone. I took my granddaughter to a 3 days kids sewing class and on the last day we made those love bugs. Super easy. Super cute. The kids really had fun!! I thought the same. Put a book in it. Plus it would be cute on their beds as a PJ holder!

We have been doing zoom meetings...for a bit...we did the meetings outside but...during the winter it was zoom.. One thing our Guild President did that was really helpful, was to host a "get to know zoom" practice meeting. As long as we could join the meeting, several useful tips were given as to how to attend a Zoom meeting. I am so glad I attended that meeting. another thing that has happened is that members could send a photo of current projects to the Guild President who put them into I think a power point slide show so we were able to clearly see the project while the member was talking about it. In some cases, I was able to see the project better than if the meeting had been in person. Of course, it is helpful if someone in the guild knows about computers and zoom and can do this. Between my age and the Covid situation and new variants popping up, I really am being careful where I go and I like being able to zoom to some events and workshops.

Do you have any “more experienced” members who would step up and help out. Ideas for them to present are power cutting; disappearing blocks ie dp9p, dp4p, dppinwheels; piecing such as no waste flying geese or all the ways out there todo HST and the pros and cons - bias edges on the outside of a block 🤦‍♀️ Don’t get me started. Also do you have another guild close by? You could trade programs. Oh has anyone done a one block wonder. That can easily be a whole program. Another idea is “sewing” 101. I’m amazed at the people who quilt who don’t know about bias vs straight and stretch of grain and the importance, thread weight and how it’s opposite of needle sizing and the different types of needles and why that makes a difference.

All great ideas being presented! Thanks for the thread start.

We had a wonderful lecture once from a textiles artist/designer and she had asked folks to bring in quilts they had made but were unhappy with. The quilter told everyone why she was unhappy with the quilt (most commonly a feeling it lacked life or was blah for some reason), and then the lecturer suggested what design changes would make a positive difference. It made for a really interesting and instructive evening, something we all would like to see done on a regular basis!

A couple of ideas: (1) If your guild has a charity program such as Project Linus (kid's quilts) or Quilts of Valor, have a meeting for sewing quilts for the charity. You could have people cutting fabric, others sewing, some people pressing, some binding already quilted quilts, some sewing on labels, some preparing kits for future quilts. Basically everyone can do a "job" they are comfortable with.

(2) Do you have a 4-H or Girl Scout troop in your community? Invite the kids to a guild meeting (good for summer meetings when the kids are off from school) for a one-on-one sewing/quilting day with guild members. Teach the kids how to cut fabric, how to sew 1/4 inch seams, etc. Make a small project, like a mug rug, that the kids can take home.

(3) "Open Sew Day": guild members bring projects that they are working on and do it during a "meeting". Encourage members to bring projects that they are having difficulty with or just don't like. It is amazing how other member's input can help solve problems or help someone "look" at their unliked project differently.

(4) Quilting Scavenger Hunt: done both outside a meeting and at the meeting. A week or so prior to your meeting, send members a list of quilt related items (maybe 25 or so). Members have to gather as many items as possible and bring them to the in person meeting. Part of the rules are that members may not buy anything in the time receiving the list and the actual meeting (yes, some will do it anyway) to fill the list. Items should be small and easily transportable. You can do something like: "take a photo of a vintage sewing machine" (no downloads off the computer allowed!); take a photo of your favorite person using one of your quilts: gather five 5" purple squares of fabric; ten "wonder clips"; the pattern you bought and now second guess yourself (the why did I buy this factor); etc. Make sure the items are varied and that some are commonplace and others maybe much harder to find.

At the meeting, the person with the most items found from the list wins a prize. (You can have more than one prize - 1st, 2nd, 3rd; Most Unusual item, etc.). You can also "sell or raffle" all the items gathered to make some money for your guild.

Hope these ideas help.

Last night our guild celebrated our being able to meet in person again with a covered dish. I don't know about your guild but we have the most talented cooks in the world! There were gloves for people to wear to handle the serving spoons.

For fun, we were told to bring a picture of us in our Teenage Years! https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images/smilies/shock.png One person was in charge of placing the photos on a wall. I was amazed to see how some people never changed and others were unrecognizable.

We had a program on how to make a simple table runner. This program was the most fun...food, fabric and friends!

Our guild has not met in person, since February 2020. The first few months of Covid we only had newsletters to keep us connected. Last summer saw some back yard gatherings. 2020-21 has been the year of Zoom. In one respect, it has been great. We have had presenters from across the country, at a fraction of the cost of in-person shows. Our co-presidents rose to the many challenges of this last year, with a few challenges of their own, which were very well received.

Many of us found that we actually prefer Zoom for things like our monthly Saturday QBA (quilt by association. classes taught by guild members) Because of no class size limit, more people attended. No driving was involved--a real boon during the winter months. It was so well received, that it became a by-weekly class.

Our final meeting was a virtual trunk show-and-tell, compiled by one of our members. I agree with Sewingpup--it was easier to see and appreciate our members' accomplishments. Unfortunately, it looks like we will have no in-person meetings until at least January of 2022. The average age of our guild members is 'very mature', and we are being very cautious.

Our guild did zoom starting about May of 2020 and continue to zoom most meetings even though we did start back in-person this past May. We have found that a number of our members want to continue zoom as they would not otherwise be able to attend due to work, family, health issues. And our 2 zoom workshops both got rave reviews---both with instructors that we could have never paid to travel to teach, the members (I only did one due to obligations) found sitting in own sewing room with all their tools right there, to learn something news was great. Both instructors did an overview, then taught using videos a specific portion of the project and then we muted our computers and worked on that segment, etc. Because we intend to continue the added zoom access, we will teach a segment in our beginner classes in Oct on how to access Zoom, ask questions, mute, etc.
Programs--we've used a survey of members to see what they are interested in and also what they may be comfortable presenting. They do get paid, but at a lessor amount, which helps the guild have more expensive presenters, too.
I personally get tired of trunk shows, I'd rather learn a skill or information. My favorite programs have been on fabric design, differences in batting, how to prep a quilt for the long arm quilter, binding techniques, how to make a t-shirt quilt, ergonomics of sewing, tips on cutting, etc.