Need quilt guild ideas
 

Well, I bit the bullet and stepped up into a leadership position at the local quilt guild. We're starting to plan for next year's programs and activities, and I'm looking for some new ideas to freshen things up. I would love to hear what your guilds do for fun and excitement. Please describe some of the activities at your quilt guild that you find interesting, educational, or just plain entertaining. Thanks!

Every other year we have one meeting be a quilt college meeting. We have 6 members do a little demonstration 3 times during the night and the guild members rotate to the presentations they are interested in.
We've had: demos on hand quilting, machine quilting, some type of piecing technique, demonstrating how to make yo yo's or hexie quilts (hand piecing) all kinds of things. It saves us from having to have a speaker that night.
Each year we have the members bring their machines, cutters and irons and we sew for charity.
Another idea is we have done row or round robins. Those would be worked over several months and they are fun to unveil at the end of the event. Usually the beginning or center block would be supplied by the eventual owner of the top. It is passed to the next participant who adds a round, then the next month it is given to someone else to add a round.
Let me know if you have any particular questions.

Our guild uses the first meeting in the month for charity quilts....hospitals, displaced children, disaster shelters, women's shelters.......
About 4 times a year we have a special teacher/class.
There are bus trips planned for quilt shows within a day trip, and 1 shopping trip with a bus.
We have a Christmas brunch and an end-of-the-school-year luncheon (held right before the schools are out)
Each meeting we share what we are working on...the leader is the one who sets the tone for making this positve sharing, or a competition of "the best"(in which case, it is no longer educational or encouraging!)
Once a year there is a planned retreat.
We also have block challenges, and swaps...and round robin quilt sharing within the group that wants to participate.
The leader sets the tone for the meetings and for the friendships that develop...therefore whether people WANT to attend and/or participate (both at the meeting and helping to organize different parts)
Good luck!

Due to a cancelled speaker, this was a last minute put together program. Emails were sent to members telling them of a swap/raffle. Any UFO could be donated. They were numbered and had a bag with the number. Tickets were 5/$1 so everyone could participate. We thought 3-4 tables would be enough to display everything. I think there were 8 tables, we just kept adding another. Three of us were drawing numbers and as soon as someone claimed it, another number was called. There was a runner for each person drawing. Even going that fast it took about an hour to distribute all of them. Also, there was 1 table with orphan blocks. For 1 ticket you chose which one you wanted. We raised $150-200. Everyone got to get rid of a UFO. And someone new got a try at it. General concensus was to repeat this activity.

Another activity was a sale of someones (who had died) stash and supplies.

Patty Blair did a collage of papers on fabric. An art technique that appealed to our art quilters.

One month when we didn't have a program lined up, we all brought old/antique quilts --or the first quilt we quilted and talked about it and shared information about it. It was a fun "program". One month when we didn't have a program lined up, we put a notice in the newletter (that we send out to remind everyone about the upcoming monthly meeting), for everyone to bring along their favorite quilting tool. This could be a ruler, a marker, a certain thread, etc. or they could talk about something at home that is one of their favorite quilting tools. Such as: I told everyone I have my sewing machine set up on a big dining room table in my sewing studio. Then I have a personal folding craft table (the small ones that you can buy at Menards) set up to the left of where I sit at my sewing machine- and it it also against the sewing table. This extra little table enables me a spot for my quilt top to lay on when I am sewing it--so it doesn't want to keep falling off the edge of the table.

In our guild we havea Birthday Table. In the month of your birthday you can bring anything, mostly quilt stuff, to put on the table. We sell tickets 25 cents each. The ticket is put in a cup that has been placed on the item. At break time drawings are held. The winner goes home with a new to them item to have fun with. It could be fabric, books, ruler, box of threads, etc. The money goes into the general fund. We have 130 members and makes usually$ 100.00 plus per month. Good luck !!

We will be doing the jelly roll race in July. I am really looking forward to it!

Our group meets twice a month. We have some sort of demo every meeting, in effort to learn a new technique or method. Sometimes just a new short cut or a new gadget. These demos are usually led by one of our members. We do a challenge quilt every year. We have an annual quilt show. We do a food drive for the local food pantry. We sponser a couple of families off the angel tree at Christmas. Every family member gets a quilt with their other gifts. We are lucky enough to have an authorized sewing machine repair man that lives in our area. He comes a couple of times a year to instruct us on proper sewing machine/serger maintence. Every month that has a third Thursday, those that can meet for an all day sewing marathon for charity quilts.

Thank you, Karenowc, sjbart, petthefabric, aborning, omacookie, daylesewblessed, and jeaniedrain! These ideas sound like great fun! And oh, the ones that raise money serve double-duty! We are always short on funds.

Would love to hear even more from all the guilds around the country!

Two months ago we had an orphan block auction and the bidding got to be really fun. We all donated orphan blocks, from quilts we started but never really put together. There were more than a few complete quilts that only needed the blocks to be put together. The night of the auction was probably the most fun night. Lots of laughter, joking and outbidding. The funds, about $300 if I am not mistaken, went to the guild. And let's face it, we all have orphan blocks hanging around. Good luck!