Anne from Guam Posted March 4, 2013 Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 Every year our quilt group makes a raffle quilt for charity. It always causes a lot of tension in our small group of 10 because our cutting,piecing and design skill vary greatly. Then we end up making a quilt that is very basic. To compound this issue, members think we should all contribute fabric from our own stashessothat we don't have to buy anything.Do you have any suggestions on how to tactfully address this problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted March 4, 2013 Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 Choose a simple block--like a friendship star, log cabin, or pinwheel block. Make a paper-piecing pattern with step-by-step instructions on how to paper piece. Then have a sewing machine demo to show how to paper piece. Mark on the pattern which color(s) go in each section and of course the piecing sequence. Remind them to piece over the outside cutting line and also tell them to leave the paper in and not trim the block. Whoever assembles the blocks will make sure the cutting line is covered and then trim the blocks. The paper can be removed after assembly. This step eliminates the dreaded not-quite-big-enough and the way-too-big blocks that happen with a group effort. My recommendation would be to have a similar "background color"--white, off white, white-on-white, white-on-beige--get my drift? And allow them to choose any other color or colors that they like. You can limit the color range to mediums and darks but don't be surprised when there is a wild floral thrown in or Kaffe fabric! My guild did a gorgeous raffle quilt using paper-pieced log cabins. The organizer actually pre-cut the logs and handed out a packet with every needed piece and the pattern. That was so easy to piece, most of us did at least 5 blocks.The LC was all light on one side and green/teal/dark blues on the other. It was beautiful, went together painlessly, and there were so many different options for setting the blocks, it was a joy to work on. Good luck and have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primitive1 Posted March 4, 2013 Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 Linda has a good idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne from Guam Posted March 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 Yes paper piecing would solve a big problem. I was also thinking about buying a kit so all of the fabrics would be beautiful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zora Posted March 5, 2013 Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 Linda, that's a great idea. If I ever again work on a group quilt, I will give this a try. It certainly would eliminate a lot of headaches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimerickson Posted March 5, 2013 Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 Ann: Our sewing group is doing the 2014 raffle quilt for our guild. What we've chosen is an applique of varrious stylized flower wreaths on a black batik background. Several of the gals are doing the applique, and the sashing will match the block background fabric. One of the ladies and I are not up to the applique. She won't do anything, and I'll do the quilting. We bought fabric specifically for the background and the backing. Everyone is using their varrious colorful batiks for the flower weaths. It wouldn't have been possible to use "stash" fabric for the background unless everyone happened to have the same fabric in their "stash" It's given everyone a chance to skill build. Anything that's not right gets re-done with instructions. BTW it's looking really nice. We have about half of the 20 blocks done so far. So I'd say yes to the group project, but no to the "stash" fabric. In my mind, that would just be too limiting. After all it is a fund raiser, and that should justify spending a little on the materials. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne from Guam Posted March 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 Here is this year's raffle quilt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne from Guam Posted March 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 Jim, I like the idea of purchasing the background and backing. Everyone does seem to have batiks too. Getting everyone to agree to hand applique on the other hand would be a stretch and I could hardly suggest it. I usually back out of the piecing process because I do the quilting and binding, like you. Next year is our 10th anniversary so it would justify something special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimerickson Posted March 5, 2013 Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 Ann: I wasn't realy suggesting that you all do appliques. The idea was make a quilt that's formed from several similar but not identical blocks. Get the group to talk about quilts they'd like to make, or piecing techniques that they'd like to learn, or improve their skills on. Once you've decided on that, then look for a pattern that does what you want. We started with a quilt that was too small. We looked for similar quilts, and adopted and resized blocks from them to fit our project. It's been fun, and is going pretty well. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busy Quilting Posted March 5, 2013 Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 Ann my quilt group last year made a variation of the Judy Niemeyer Reflection pattern. I asked them to contribute neutral or landscape coloured batik Fat Quarters, I did take out a few of their fabrics that weren't batiks. I purchased back Kona as the sashing fabric and a batik backing fabric. It is foundation pieced, I showed them in a group how to foundation piece and they took fabrics and blocks home to complete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne from Guam Posted March 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 Wow Lyn, that pattern looks difficult but its probably a cinch with a foundation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busy Quilting Posted March 5, 2013 Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 Ann they were able to finish a block in less than half an hour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bekah Posted March 5, 2013 Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 Lynn that is a realy prett quilt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bekah Posted March 5, 2013 Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 Anne I like that quilt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaMissy Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 Since your group is so small may I suggest that for each opportunity that you keep say 10% of the funds raised to purchase material for the next opportunity quilt. I love paper piecing but many don't because of the time it takes to remove the paper. How about a sampler quilt. The blocks could still meet each persons skill level but give some variety to the quilt and allow those with more mature skills to also shine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra Darlington Posted March 7, 2013 Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 Anne and Lyn, they are both very pretty quilts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witha'K'quilting Posted March 7, 2013 Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 Anne...nothing wrong with last years quilt. Its beautiful. Lyn...gorgeous quilt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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