Chasezzz

I think these groups are wonderful...I co-lead one that celebrated its 10th year in 2015. I think too they need to reflect the interest and skills of those participating. Our group has grown to the point that the church provides us with rooms specifically for our use that are kept locked when we are not there (we have donated sewing machines so no one needs to bring a machine, our supplies and projects are safely stored between meetings, our completed projects are stored there pending delivery to their destination etc.). We tend to divide our activities into quarters, do one quilt pattern a year for our donation quilts (something easy that builds skills and keeps the interest), do a smaller project one quarter for a designated charity (have done adult bibs for a home for severely mentally limited adults, pillow cases using the tube method of construction for special need camps/overseas orphanage, etc), and do holiday projects that are given out at the church's ladies holiday brunch via drawings (highlights the quilt ministry and always creates good buzz). We do some small projects that members can do for their own use too (zippered bags, tabletoppers). In addition to our external donations, our shelf of completed quilts allows us to give a lap quilt to any member facing chemo, newborns in the congregation, for young couples in the church in celebration of their weddings and so on. Hope these ideas spark some ideas that will be appropriate to your group.

mckwilter

The first thing you need to do is decide to which charities you are going to donate your quilts. There are so many worthy causes. Wheelchair/lap quilts for the VA, kid quilts for hospitals, homeless shelters/battered women shelters, military groups, Meals on Wheels, pre-natal programs at the high schools. Also, if you are also sewists, you can make walker bags, chemo caps, or bags for shelters that you can fill with sample bottles, hygiene products, etc. You could change projects or run two at the same time. Good luck and God Bless you in your endeavors.

Jan in VA

[QUOTE=Chasezzz;7432512....Our group has grown to the point that the church provides us with rooms specifically for our use that are kept locked when we are not there (we have donated sewing machines so no one needs to bring a machine, our supplies and projects are safely stored between meetings, our completed projects are stored there pending delivery to their destination etc.).... [/QUOTE]

Chasezzz, I LOVE that your church is able to do this for you all!!

Our guild moved to a new location 2 years ago and the church has been very generous with a huge closet space for our fabric, batting, and tools; no machines though, or special room just for our use. We contribute each meeting with canned food for their Donation Food Pantry and they have been so supportive and grateful to have use there, it's amazing.
Yesterday we had over 21 members present. We sorted through the huge fabric donation from my mother's stash (she recently had a stroke and I had to close her apartment), a major undertaking. It added boxes and boxes to an already overflowing fabric collection for this group.

*We make rolls of binding at some of our meetings;
*some times we cut 4" or 5' or 6" squares for later incorporation into a top;
*sometimes we make a top from orphan blocks donated to us or leftover from other projects we did;
*sometimes we piece with BOM that the guild gives us each month specifically for this work;
*usually there is a small group layering quilts (ours are usually about 45 x 55-60", sometimes smaller for infants/children) which are then passed on to whoever is doing the quilting -- some are passed out at guild meetings, some are done by longarmer members, some are done on site by members of the charity group; some sew bindings on by machine at the meetings.

As you can see, with our large group, each quilt is often handled in many stages by several different members, each member doing their own preferred type of work on the quilts.
Our guild donated over 250 quilts last year, about average for us. They go to local domestic violence shelters, hospitals, group homes, American Legion, very occasionally to Habitat for Humanity, needy families from the news or member's information. We also have a special guild group that makes fabric bears and footballs for the local hospital.

The BEST suggestion I have to is arrange for your fabric and batting storage as quickly as possible! Lugging this stuff around, plus machines, tools, plus purses, lunch, and pillows to sit on to sew can be a bit of a pain for members who are getting older! Having the major part of your stash on site is the best help you can imagine.

Jan in VA

tessagin

Absolutely love the group name. As some others have suggested, something that would be fairly quick so no one gets over whelmed. Wishing blessings to your group.

carolina quilter

Thank you so much for your comments and suggestions - keep them coming.......I and a couple other experienced quilters will be leading the group. My fabric stash is so "out of control" ........., I will be sharing fabric for quite a while! Since I have a long arm quilting machine, most of the quilts will be quilted, since they seem to have a longer life. If anyone wants to tie quilts, we can do that as well. I had thought about doing one tie in a corner and including the date of blessing on the label. Our plan to is start with quilts for our congregation and their family members that may need a "Thread of Love". My prayer is that we will bless others as we receive blessings ourselvesl

sewbizgirl

I've been quilting with a wonderful church group for about a year. LOVE the time we spend together. We have two meetings a month in the coordinator's home... the first Tues. night at 6 and the 3rd Saturday morning at 9. Once a quarter we do a big "Quiltathon" on the Saturday, where we work together cutting donated fabric into usable strips and squares, or even learning a pattern and sewing. Our leader is a widow with a big house, and she devotes one room in the house to our group "stash"... fabrics that have been donated to us for charity quilting. We can stop by most any time and "shop the stash".

Our meetings typically cover needs that we will try to meet, and any other news for the group. We take prayer requests and pray together. Then we have "Sew and Tell". Everyone shows their completed quilts, whether they are to be donated or if they are personal quilts, taken home. It's very encouraging and keeps everyone finishing quilts! We share ideas and go on field trips together, to quilt shows or out for "stash enhancement". It's a wonderful group.

We mostly donate to hospitals... cancer treatment centers, transplant patients, children's hospitals. We also donate to women's shelters and crisis pregnancy centers, and to any other need that arises in the community.

lclang

Our guild decided to meet once a month at the local quilt shop, however it was so much fun that they now meet twice a month and take donations of fabric. One of our members passed away and her family donated a ton of fabrics and sewing supplies, more than they could store, so they contacted the family and asked if they could have a quilters garage sale for the items and fabric they could not use. The family agreed and the local quilters snapped up the stuff at the sale, makeing it a very successful fund raiser for the guild. They make "disaster quits" to be given to those who have a house fire, or are caught in a flood, etc.

Vinnie

We meet every week from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. We bring a lunch, and oftentimes someone brings something to share, or a cake for a birthday. We have some who hand quilt on a top, pieced at home by a member, for a raffle quilt. We use the money to purchase batting for our tied quilts donated to Lutheran World Relief. We share in the piecing for the donation quilts, sometimes at home, sometimes at our church. We also quilt for our members in nursing homes or those sick. We have also done the fleece tied quilts for a local charity donation. We have a room for our stash, fabric mostly donated from a quilter member. We have 2 sewing machines in our quilters room. Our group is small--less than 10 total-- with usually 5-6 there every week.

This is how I began quilting. My husband had purchased 2 quilt tops at a member's estate auction. The tops set in the closet for sometime. I asked the quilting group if they would hand quilt them for me for a predetermined amount. They said they would if I helped them. So at spring break and in the summer (I was teaching at the time.) I quilted with them. I was hooked! Now, I am retired, so I join them weekly. We love the time spent together. We share family stories, what we are working on or have finished. We also love the quilts we make and display in our gym before we send them off to LWR. Our quilts may not be award winning, but they are stitched with love, and the member who won our last raffle quilt loves it.

Good luck with your group. I hope it is as much fun as our group!

mckwilter

If the name may cause a problem, why not "Layers of Love" or "Threads of Caring"?

greaterexp

I get to meet with a few lovely ladies in our church. We just finished our first quilt top and will be loading it on a 2-roller frame soon. It has helped us to start off with an idea of what we wanted to do. The more experienced quilters help the newbies, but we all work together. Though we have different styles of sewing and quilting, it helped us to have a ministry in mind to donate to. It's for young girls coming out of sex-trafficking. We agreed that rather than churn out quilts quickly, we would hand quilt. We want to both enjoy the time together, but we also wanted these girls to feel loved and treasured. We hope that the time we invest in the slow quilting process will make the girls feel we know they are precious and worth investing in. We got the size requirements and other requests from the ministry; we didn't want to make anything that wouldn't be used! We choose patterns based on what the girls would like, rather than our own preferences.
I suggest having a plan, but be flexible. Set a positive tone--no gossiping! And we have a potluck each time, so we can linger longer.
Have fun with your group. We will be praying for its success!