Retreat goodies
 

What type of items would you like to receive in a goodie bag from a quilting retreat? We usually put together a small bag for each member that attends our retreat. Do you have any suggestions of items you would like to receive? Or don't you think they are necessary to have? I would love to hear some of your thoughts please.

The last retreat I went to last month I got a fabric tote filled with an embroidered dish towel, mug rug with our name embroidered on it with matching mug filled with Kisses, cute chicken pin cushion, samples from Paper Pieces for hexagons, marking pen, pressing sheet, package of Titanium coated machine needles, and a coupon from a nearby quilt shop wrapped around a fat quarter. One retreat we were told to bring a goody bag filled with items of our choice. The bags were put on a table and everyone got to choose one bag. Everyone liked that.

I think they are nice, if there is something in there I really want. If it's just a bag of junky stuff then it's more work for you than its worth. The one quilt weekend I went to had a really nice bag but they are really large. We each got a fat 1/4, a pattern, pad & pencil or pen, coupons to the local quilt stores, a name tag holder that went around the neck, map of the college, survey for the end, I'm sure there were other things in there but thats what I remember. Some hard candy or mints would be nice. Oh, there were samples of different battings from Warm Co. They also had a table set up with things you could pick up. Guess it depends on how big your retreat is and how big the budget.

I like the idea of the pen or pencil & paper; small pincushion with a few pins; map of important things in the area....closest quilt shops (coupon from them would be extra nice), nearest emergency hospital or out-clinic, restaurants that do take out if you are not planning meals (most do) and closest WalMart, Target or other discount store; any other quilty ideas - patterns, copies of free patterns would be a bonus. And a name tag of some kind is a must, even if everyone is from the same guild. There will be someone there who just cannot remember everyone's names.

Don't forget the M&Ms....my group gives us a little bowl of them and tells us to take our quilting vitamins.

I always love getting a bottle of Best Press. Pen and paper are great.

Please check the post of Paperprincess on a mug rug bag. I would love to receive something like that with a bit of chocolate.

For our guild x-mas party each table (5-6) has a center piece that is then raffled off.This yr I'm making mug wraps that have little pockets to hold many items.You can put in a few quilting items,candy,pencils,etc,etc. Pattern is Simpicity 2450 Very easy and fast to make.......

I would like a nice tote bag (grocery bag size) or even a coffee cup with, something salty and something sweet, paper & pen, simple map showing quilt shops, restaurants, drug stores or Walmarts. Something else fun would be fuzzy socks. I'm a barefoot girl. I also love a pajama day. But that's not a gift item, just an idea. If everyone gets the same coffee mug, it would be nice to include a little tag with a ribbon that they can write their name on it.

For smaller guilds those retreat bags listed would be a huge job. We used to put things like needle threaders (for hand or machine) type of things in ours.