I'm on the program committee for our local Quilt Guild for this fall. We are looking for suggestions. We plan on having a LQS owner come and visit; some one from the local Binkie Patrol; we do a BOM for a charity quilt; we hope to have another quilter from just outside our area share with us her quilts/projects. Any other ideas?

1. contact quilt shop owners to come for demonstrations
2. contact your own members that can demonstrate
3. at our guild meeting awhile back we had 4 members that demonstrated different techniques to applique and we took turns going to each table for the demonstrations
4. contact longarm quilters in your area so the can come and explain tips and tricks and how they like to receive quilt tops when they are going to longarm them
5. block of the month quilt block to demonstrate

There should be a quilt guild regional group that arranges "Meet the Teacher" sessions in the spring and fall. This is where the folks who travel around giving workshops and lectures to guilds go to present their information on what they do.

Hi Janice. We need someone on the program committee to help nights. Interested????

Most Quilt stores like us, do trunk shows for guilds. We travel quite a distance to do trunk shows, as long as we can sell items at the meetings.

Lanny

Also, some LQS's have special presentations by more famous quilters and wouldn't mind if you had them for your use as well ... for a price sharing/cost effective way to do it all.

ali

Thanks for the suggestions. I should've mentioned we are a small group in rural Iowa with limited resources! When we have LQS owners come in they do have the opportunity to sell. (We like to keep it one a year)

if your meeting place has the equipment you might show the DVD from Georgia Bonesteel - The Great American Quilt

We do an annual raffle quilt a year to raise funds for our club. Each member gets 10 tickets- buy them or sell them, you can't give them back!
Hunt out the elderly who have their mothers and grandmothers quilts in their trunks for shows.
Do a quilt challege, keep it simple so everyone can participate, we did potholders one year.
Good luck.

Our small guild had a "Pass the Stash" box just as a fun ongoing thing. Everyone who wanted to participate initially put one FQ in the box with their name on it. The box was then given to the first person who got to take it home and take out whatever FQ she would like and replace them with FQ's from her stash. One for One. She brings the box to the next meeting and passes it on to the next gal on the list and so on....

Carole

what ever you do avoid doing trunk shows at every meeting...that is all my local guild does..after 12 years of this, now that is ALL the old cronies want..food and a show...they do NOTHING to share/teach quilting, they do NOTHING to give back to the community(even though they are a 501 3c charity), it is the most boring, uneventful, uneducational guild on the planet!

what ever you do avoid doing trunk shows at every meeting...that is all my local guild does..after 12 years of this, now that is ALL the old cronies want..food and a show...they do NOTHING to share/teach quilting, they do NOTHING to give back to the community(even though they are a 501 3c charity), it is the most boring, uneventful, uneducational guild on the planet![/quote]

How about becoming the head of their philanthropy? I did that in my guild and they have totally stepped up to making lots of charity quilts. I am very proud of them and they they just needed some inspiration--a role model--and some help with easy patterns.

I have only been a member for a couple of years, but I sense that our group is a hands on group and just need some someone to get the ball rolling. Last year members could bring a completed 12 inch block in a specific color way. We are going to put these blocks in a charity quilt. The different blocks and cutting directions were assembled in our own BOM booklet. We had a sew in for Dresses for Haiti and another 4 hour workshop doing small landscapes. One night we had an "uglies" swap. We have received positive feedback from all of these activities.

We all enjoy our "show and tell" session. Trunk shows have their place, but can be too much of a good thing. Last year I presented a program on left overs sharing examples of what I make with the odds and ends of other projects. I like to share what I do, but don't want to dominate the guild. Others also have much to contribute.

I like the pass the stash idea, Carole. Thanks