oksewglad

Great answers...the first question to ask is "Who is your audience?"

Like Rose_P says, miniatures do well for me. Granted they don't take much fabric...often I proclaim "and no yardage was harmed in the making of this quilt"...but they are time consuming. A recent donation quilt took me 12 hours just to do the background before I put the applique, embellishing, quilting and binding on...but it sold for $120. Well worth my time for a donation. And yes quilters who won't work this small...1/4" finished pieces...will buy.

This summer I made a college 62 x 82 quilt with a minky type backing. Silent auction brought $200..my costs $80. The 82" length is great for a dorm room.

audsgirl

I made a throw size quilt for a silent auction for my husband's choir. They didn't have a lot of room to display it, so it was folded up into a one foot square! It got one bid, so I ended up buying it back. It was made with batiks and had a stained glass look to it, so I thought it would appeal to many people, but evidently not.

Leslie

AZ Jane

What a shame, it probably would have appealed to many if they had been able to actually see what they were bidding on. Insist on that next time.

Ellen 1

Here’s a tip for others to think about:

I have donated quilts for fundraising for Project Healing Waters and Fly Fishing. This is a non-profit for Veterans and Disabled Veterans. When I sent my first quilt they asked me what I wanted the bidding to start at. I told them it was no longer my quilt, that I had given it to them, but I would appreciate the bidding to “not” start at $50.00. :-).

I always get an appraisal for “replacement” value and send it with the quilt. I have never had my quilt auctioned/sold for less than the appraised value. (The quilts I made for these fundraisers were Twin/Queen size).

Iceblossom

The thing about my husband's auction to keep in mind is that it is not really a charity auction, it's people trying to get stuff cheap. If I donated a quilt for the Humane Society's Black Tie Auction/Fund Raiser event, I'd get different results. But you do have to be aware that your value and the public's value may be at odds!

Instead of giving the top for free to Ronald McDonald house or one of my other projects, someone who wanted it got it and the charity got $20 that they wouldn't have otherwise get, and I had another project go out the house. Although a bit underwhelming, it's all good in the end. As it is, I tell myself during donation projects that if I can give someone just 15 minutes of comfort or knowing that someone cares, then my work is worthwhile. There is just that part of me that says while I give freely, I don't work for cheap.

Like many people, my husband didn't know until then the cost of the fabric or why since I'm giving almost everything I make away, why I buy fabric at the thrift stores for $1-2 a yard. He actually has a better understanding now after that donation than before.

maminstl

I have had the most success with what I call "toddler" quilts - lap size, unisex colors, not too "baby" but for young kids. Lots of grandma's and grandma's to be out there. Mine are usually silent auction quilts that include a minimum bid.

bearisgray

Sometimes I wonder why I am willing to donate a quilt (or other item) that cost $X for just the materials/supplies to make - plus time spent to plan, construct, and bring the item to the venue -

but not so willing to just write out a check for $X to the organization.

quilt9226

I make a quilt for the nonprofit that is the steward of our local dog beach. The quilt is always dog themed. In the case of the dog beach fundraiser , Halloween Howl, my quilts are usually the first thing that sells in the silent auction and always brings the highest price. I think it is because the community is so dog friendly I had one negative experience. My sister and I made a quilt as a fundraiser for a faith based non-profit. The quilt was a full size. It was put in the silent auction and sold for a very low price. We discovered that our quilt had be put in a back corner of the room and somewhat concealed from the bidders. An employee of the non-profit who was the person in charge of the silent auction was the high bidder and paid a whopping $60 for it. The people at our table commented that they didn't know that it was in the auction. I have now limited my donations to just the dog beach fundraiser because I love dogs the best. I made a quilt as a fundraiser for work since we "adopted" several families for the holidays. We made this a raffle rather than a silent auction and the quilt made a lot of money to buy groceries for the families. The person who was the winner gave it to another employee who loved the quilt and hoped to win it. It waw so worth it to make this quilt because of the amount of money that went to buy food for others and the kindness show by the winner of the raffle.

profannie

I think it's because when you write a check, it's just X$ going away. When you make a quilt that cost the same amount in material, you are doing something you enjoy :-) But I totally agree there is no point into making a quilt you don't like just to give to a charity.

profannie

This is very enligthing, ladies! With your help I have settled into making this:

1) A lap/larger toddler size (45 X 65 inches)
2) A model that can be used as a sampler for creating a new listing/offer in my online shop porfolio
3) A gender neutral model
4) A model with a "big visual impact" (something that look complicated to make but is not - we quilters have several tricks for this like strip piecing etc.)
5) A model using my scraps

The auction will be held in November, after a Christmas concert. It's my children choir's fundraising. Many grand-parents will be there. I've sold many quilts to grandmothers who want to have a nice quilt to keep at home when their grandchildren are visiting :-) The key is to make something fun that both a children or an adult could enjoy. Someone mentionned SewFresh kind of pattern; could be Hartman also or anything similar.

I will indeed put a minimum bid if we do a silent auction.