QuiltMom2

Our group has been going at church for six years now. We sell at church bazaar twice a year, and those Joann's 50% off coupons are used for batting purchases. We've had an amazing amount of thread, fabric, and sewing machines donated and the scrap quilts go to Board of Childcare (foster care facility) comfort quilts for congregational members, and since one of our sewers has been diagnosed with breast cancer, items (pillows. tote bags) are starting to be made with the oncology center in mind.
Storage space anywhere is always at a premium.There is a fairly large conference room at church with a storage alcove that we've curtained off where ironing board/iron , fabric storage bins, rolls of batting are tucked out of sight when not in use.
About a year after start up, two of us group members privately purchased a used longarm with frame setup. For better or worse, it resides at my house so I'm the quilter and I pray that just a fraction of the longarm talent shown by QB members somehow transmits itself to me.
Like any church group, 10% of the people do 90% of the work and that's been the biggest drawback. Why join a quilting group if you don't like/want to sew? Answer: the social aspects can't be beat!!!

tranum

Talk to church council about getting into the budget next year. Even a small amount helps.
Announce the quilt group in your newsletter so it’s known you accept donated fabric, thread, crochet thread for tying, cotton men’s shirts, helpers, sewing supplies, even money. Possibly hold a soup supper to raise funds and instead of setting a price, have a free will offering. People are generous.

Hauling sewing machines can be a hassle - so my home church ladies make their tops at home & every Spring they bring tops to church (and a few machines) and they tie and finish the edges. They work 2 days and they’re done. The ladies that don’t sew buy sheets on sale during the year to use as top & bottom to make a comforter/quilt. Food is a potluck. It’s a fun 2 days.

They put 2 folding tables together on bed risers (or gallon cans) and use clamps to hold the quilt for tying. I know another church who sets up a quilting frame and ties their quilts using that. I’d rather use tables for donation quilts.

My friend at another church rotary cuts all the squares for her church 8.5”. She assembles a kit in a plastic bag for the sewers to pick up and take home.

Good of luck and let know your progress.

juliasb

I have donated about 200 yards of fabric to a group at a church that does cancer patient quilts. They have a very active group in their church that do all the work. They actively seek out donations from various stores like JAF. they are able to use the church's 501c3 certificate so they can accept such donations for the church and provide a receipt for tax deductions purposes. I ask a lot of questions about their group. I had 3 women come to my home and raid my stash for pieces that would work for their charity quilting. They were more than tickled to walk out with so much fabric! It was all my pleasure.
Their group consisted of 5-10 people that met every 2 months on a Saturday and they made as many lap quilts as they could. They used the same pattern for all the quilts and worked together to get maybe 20 quilts done in the day. She said it depended on the number of people that showed up. They also listed the sewing day in their church bulletin for a couple weeks in advanced and made an announcement of the upcoming event. They told me that doing their 'sew for cancer victims' they got better participation doing it ever 2 months. They also made sure that they informed LQS and JAF of their mission. That is how I found them. LQS gave me a name and number to call to donate fabric and I got the call back and the connection. I hope this helps you a bit.

Iceblossom

Sometimes groups just come together and sometimes it's like pulling teeth.

I would suggest you figure out some basic tops and what the yardage/cutting requirements are. That way you can hand a ruler and stack of fabric to someone without a lot of skills and tell them to "cut this all down to 6.5" squares or whatever measurement like 2.5" jelly roll strips. Of course it helps to give them a 6.5" ruler. Then kit out the cuts with a print out of the top in question and put them in a large ziplock bag. I just love the dollar store!

The guild I used to belong with had an every month thing. Sometimes we had 3 people, sometimes 20...

The guild bought the rolls of batting, we had donated materials but the big issue was usually the backs. Lots of donated tops, very few with backs.

As the others have said, put a notice in the church bulletin, maybe put up a flyer at a local fabric store as well. Have an introductory meeting or way to contact you to see what if any interest. Then come with a project or two for you to work on, with maybe a bag of fabric to cut, and/or batting and backings. It may just be you, typically in things like this I just bring my own stuff but I have a bunch of backup in the car I can get if I have someone who needs something to do.

sewn3w

There is a lot of good suggestions and advice above. So I will add just a bit. If you accept fabric donations be prepared for some not appropriate or quilts or small pieces of odd colors that are hard to coordinate. The quilt ministry I work with make it known those pieces may be passed on or used in other ways. We have probably received hundreds of yard of 60-70's poly double knits. Yes I know some people are going to tell me those are perfectly useable in quilts. But the decision was made not to use them. Home dec fabric, canvas, bridal material, all kinds of stuff. Everything is passed on to another group that uses everything. The scraps, small pieces of useable fabric is stored in separate bins. Those are used to make favors for various events at the church.

Jingle

I make quilts for foster kids in my county. I supply all the fabrics, battings, threads and everything.

Daylesewblessed

For years I have been doing charity quilts on my own or with other groups. One Sunday a shy friend at church said she needed a group to be involved with at church. I told her I was wanting to start a sewing group, so the two of us tied a few quilts that I had put together. Then we added 2 more people, and then 2 more. I talked to the pastor about it and he was somewhat encouraging, but the problem was and still is that there is no space during the week in the church building for us to meet (we have a pre-school and day care ministry). We meet in the sanctuary once/month, pushing chairs forward and hauling in tables. There are 2 electrical outlets!

We named ourselves "Loose Threads of Hope Lutheran". We do a variety of sewing projects. Our two main ones are Lutheran World Relief quilts (mostly tied) and Days for Girls feminine hygiene kits for overseas. After 18 months our average attendance is now 10 people. Since we seldom sew at our monthly sessions; I bring a big plastic tub to the fellowship hall every Sunday with "homework". Several people in the group do not sew, but they do other things. It has become a place where ladies "belong" and meaningfully contribute in a church that has its main focus on children.

We developed a mission statement, and I made a list of operational guidelines. Communication is so important - both with the "powers/church leadership/pastors" and within the group. Supplies are not a problem. Prayer and teamwork are solutions. Although not required, I believe in accountability and submitted a report at the end of the year to the church board. I think that has given us respect as a viable and producing group.

My challenges are the space issue, storing stuff at home and members' homes, hauling things, and doing quality control without hurting peoples' feelings.

It continues to be very rewarding!

quiltngal

Our guild uses flannel blankets that we get at Walmart for anywhere from 5 to 8 dollars to use as batting. That way we can either tie or do not have to worry about how close the quilting needs to be. It works very well for our charity quilts.

coopah

We have a quilt group at church. It's been in place for 9 years. We now get part of the church budget. This has morphed into also making dresses for Africa, duffel bags for foster kids, pocket prayer quilts, and anything else anyone wants to do. It's like herding cats. During the year, we show the dresses (oh, that's morphed, too, into shorts for boys and sani-pads) and have one Sunday with a special offering envelope for money to buy batting or whatever is needed. Most everything else is donated. Each person seems to adopt a "cause" and that is fine. I just stick to quilts and do about 1 or 2 a year. Then I try to get 1 or 2 done for myself.

Waal

quiltingshorttimer ----- we have a group at our church that also does donation quilts. I have a longarm, but I do not do any quilting on these charity quilts. Our ladies tie the quilts and it gives those that don't sew a job to do. We do have two quilting frames, so that does help. I think the ladies are expecting a lot from you if they ask you to quilt all their quilts. That's just my opinion.