need some suggestions please
 

My daughter has volunteered me to make a quilt to be auctioned off at a fundraiser in Feb. I am quite nervous about this as I am a fairly new quilter. I need some ideas for a quilt that would be fairly fast to make as there is not much time with all the holiday stuff going on. I want something that would appeal to people because the more bidders we get, the better. I would classify myself as an intermediate quilter, so nothing to complicated please. Thanks so much for your help.

This one would be nice - it is holiday themed and is constructed of motifs, HSTs, and squares. http://quilting.about.com/od/quiltpa...yous_quilt.htm

Do you have a favorite that you have already made? If you make the same pattern then you may have more confidence in making and quilting the quilt. Are you going to send it out to be quilted? If so then maybe you can use a more compliated pattern since you will not have to worry about the quilting. Also the type of auction and the group it is for may help you determine which quilt to make. EG. lap size for handicap, childs for children home, . If I am making a quilt to give away then I try to get neutral color that will appeal to many. Show us what you decide! Good luck.

Yellow Brick Road... easy .. lends itself to a scrappy feel. And I have found the "randomness" of the colors /placement/ size of fabric pieces... is actually percieved as more modern by some... so it appeals to a large variety of potential buyers. A huge plus .. is its not fussy to work with and the skill level is beginner.

I'm making an Irish Chain baby quilt using a video tutorial by Jenny Doan of Missouri Star Quilting Company. It might be a youtube video. She explains how to make it and the top went together pretty easily, it's just 9 patches and plain yardage. Have fun making your donation quilt.

first of all...shame on your daughter. apparently she has no idea about the time and energy that go into making a quilt. second of all...shame on you for agreeing to do it. LOL i have seen on this board time and time again examples of what the amount of money your quilt will bring in is nothing compared to what it is worth. you might as well donate the money that you would spend in materials. maybe others can pipe up with true life examples of their experiences.

Good luck! Be sure to establish a beginning price that covers the cost of cloth, thread, % of machine upkeep, etc. I don't put in my time because I don't know how to price that. When I do even simple quilts, lap robes, I find that my materials cost $60 to $70. That is my base price range.

Having said that, consider using double sided adhesive batting. You can make bigger blocks or strips or ....? and piece them together and adhere them to the sandwich right away when you get the width of the quilt done; then start on the second row. The back can be a single piece. When you get going with this method you can make a quilt in a day (I always have trouble with the binding, but still can get it done in a day). My daughter tells me that lap quilts and bed runners are the best to do because they are more versatile and more people will bid on it.

Either way, put a bottom line price and if it doesn't sell they can give it back to you. It is too demeaning to have a quilt you've worked on and like enough to put out there and have it sell for $20 or $50! There is no reason for you to work hard and essentially give your work away. I was scared to do this the first time, but my husband insisted I bottom price it, at the very least, to cover the cost of the materials. The group putting on the sale decided to jump the quilts I offered (there were four) up to $100 each and they all sold. Not much $ for my labour, but the cause was a good one and we all were happy!

I have found that quilts auctioned off via raffle tickets at a fundraiser bring in lots more money than an actual auction. I have several friends that make twin size quilts for various church/ charity fundraisers on an annual basis; raffle tickets are usual 1 for $5 or 5 for $20. Every quilt "auctioned" off that way has brought anywhere from $700 - $1200 :)
that said, I agree with the previous poster of putting a "reserve" or base price on a quilt to be auctioned off. I think $100 is still a bargain even for a throw!

I agree with this. Ask yourself, how will you feel if it sells for a very low price, maybe not even what you have into it?

A good rule of thumb is Quilts for Raffles, smaller items for auctions of any kind (Chinese, silent, whatever.) Auctions are too iffy.

ETA - if you do go through with this, have your DD buy all the material.

I would make a pretty wall hanging. That way, you won't have too much money invested in it and it can bring in quite a bit of money. I've seen some beautiful wall hangings that I would pay a pretty penny for. That way, you can spend more time working on a small piece for less money.

If you feel you must make a quilt for the auction, consider making it a lap quilt, rather than a full-sized one. A very easy, quick pattern is Warm Wishes. The fabric is what makes it either gorgeous or ho-hum.

I was going to suggest Warm Wishes (Google for pattern). You could make the focus blocks of something that pertains to the charity.

I agree with Warm Wishes, I agree with lap quilt size. I use fleece for a backing and make my final dimensions just under 60" wide and 72" long.

You could also go with something scrappy -- maybe check the Moda bakeshop website. People seemed to think scrappy means a lot more work and they are impressed by that, but if you keep the overall pattern simple, might not be too bad...

Good luck and keep us posted!

Wow just noticed that you live like 15-20 min away from me. I live in Perris. If you are interested I would love to help you out with this quilt and have tons of options for a pattern. Pm me if interested.

Consider something in red, white and blue, maybe based around a beautiful panel. One of the first quilts I made for an auction brought in quite a bit of money about 10 years ago. I used a pieced flag design center--sorry no pattern because I designed it with fabric no longer available. I think what sold it was hand quilting (red on white) the pledge of allegiance in the final border. Nowadays I would embroider it. It was wall quilt and bidding escalated to $250 if I remember right because several men wanted it for their offices. Remember that was years ago and quilts were going for less. I agree your daughter needs a talking to, but I'm glad she's proud of your work.

Since time is so short and you are unsure of yourself, why not buy a top on Ebay and put all of your efforts on the quilting part of it?

thank you everyone for your suggestions. I think the raffle idea is great, I will talk to the organizing committee on Sat and see what they think. What ever will bring in the most money is obviously the way to go. I am donating the fabric myself, so recouping my cost is not an issue