Back again to beg you creative ones for your good ideas.
September is our guild birthday party. In the past we've been given a little something as part of the festivities. Most often it has been a fat quarter (often of quite dubious fabric). Last year we were given a nice notepad with the guild name on it.
I asked around a bit with guild members and mostly got a blank stare when I asked for ideas. Uh oh! One person suggested a mug and a few others shrugged. Another person said "what about a little plant?"
Either of these could work. But I thought I'd ask here if any of you have gotten something for a gift like this that you enjoyed. Possibly quilt related but not strictly required.
Once we were given the opportunity to buy (we don't do gifts!!) some little wooden pressers (for use where finger-pressing is usually used). Mine is one of the small things I use most often. The other valuable small thing is a stitch ripper. Neither of these things would cost very much and are very useful. Stitch rippers do get blunt ... ... and my little wooden thing is now as smooth as glass, on the pressing face. And its rounded handle sits nicely in my hand. . In message , Marcella Peek writes
How about an emery? Could be that your quilters already have one but they eventually need replacing. I use mine frequently to keep my pins and needles sharp and the poor thing has sprung a leak. Polly
I'm not a mug person... but I do like little notepads -- you could probably get some made at a moderate cost at a local printer with your quilt guilds name and logo. If you need to hit a minimum # -- you could save the rest and use as door prizes - or just plain offer them for sale at a future date. Because you use them us -- you always need more!
Here is a link to one online store -- where the minimum is a dozen @ under $3 per.... not sure what your budget is -- but seems likely in the ball park.
not to be forgotten tho i cant recall what it is called.... that plastic thing with a sharpish edge for marking fabric with a dent only, nothing to wash or brush off. it might sound japanese? it is white, well mine is. hmmmm, someone will know what i mean.
i also like the wooden seam presser for both regular and paper piecing. any of those smallish useful but often only bought by gadget folks items. i wonder if you could get someone to etch the guild name or just the logo onto any of these items to make them extra special and less likely to be lost in the crowd of sewing tools.
ok, to carry on wondering...if the guild could get a small steel type branding tool made to use on various things for yrs to come. like a mini iron with a logo on a head that swaps out with the usual head. dont those new mini irons come with swap out heads now? got a metal worker husband in the guild that might be able to make one for the guild.
ok, i think too much, sorry. its to keep me from thinking about the other stuff in my head, and it aint visions of sugarplums either. sorry. j.
"Marcella Peek" wrote... Oh, I'm getting a good list here so far!
Two votes for seam rippers wooden seam presser emery for pin/needle sharpening note pads
This may sound a bit cheesy, but here goes anyway - - - Ask each member to donate one small quilting item of the sort that they like to use, which could be a seam ripper, packet of needles, marker, needle threader, emery strawberry, needle holder, whatever. (This is a good chance for members to pass on things they seem to have multiples of and will never use.) Make sure there is one item donated for each member -- if somebody forgets, ask somebody else to double-donate or paw through your own stuff to make the number come out right. Take all of the donations, wrap each in tissue, and put each one in a little bag -- all bags the same size so you can't tell what's in it. On the birthday celebration, everybody gets to choose a present. Or you could do the same thing asking everybody to donate a fat quarter.
Ooooo! Mary! great suggestion. i thought of thimbles, pin cushions, seam rippers, small snips (or scissors), needle threaders, spools of great thread, measuring tapes. so many great notions. the door prize could be 3 or 4 fat quarters tied with a ribbon in the newest fabric line.
depends on your budget. I have a gadget that I have used and demoed in classes at the LQS, and they sell like crazy when people see how neat they are to use. It is by Sally Schneider and is called "Sally's Gizmo". I got mine a couple of years ago in Houston after going to one of her talks and it is a wonder. It is used to make half square triangle units (triangle squares) from the same strips that squares are cut from for a block. Yes there are other ways, but this one needs just one measurement to remember.... 1". You cut a rectangles one inch longer than wide. Use the gizmo to draw your stitching lines on the lighter fabric back, pair right sides sides together, sew on the lines cut between (trim your seam allowances if you wish), press and 2 "perfect" squares. No paper to rip off or buy more of and it works for whatever size strip you are using. You could probably get them straight from Sally, I know that at the lecture in Houston they were just under $3 each, and you might get a price break for getting them for a guild.
Another, less expensive, option is wax tailor's crayon. In the quilt shops you can buy "Miracle Chalk" in squares like tailor's chalk, and it disappears with heat. It is the same thing, but a whole lot more expensive. Last time I ordered some I got some for several other people in my guild, including for inclusion in our holiday party gift bags. It was about $7 (including shipping?) for a box of 48. Get the white, it is the one that disappears. ("Miracle Chalk" is about $5 for
2 or three pieces in most of the shops around here. Our cost per piece, including shipping was less than 50cents. this was a couple of years ago.) However, do not order this until the weather cools down!!! It is wax based and melts in the heat. (Don't ask.....)
One of the guilds I belong to sells a number of different things as fundraisers..... include pens with our name etc. These are really good pens, and I passed out a few of them in Houston a couple/three?? years ago.
At this years Xmas party, we gave each member a "reusable shopping bag kit". I think I may have gotten the directions from someone's post in RCTQ. We cut the pieces for the bag (2 pc) & the handle. We rolled the fabric up, with a copy of the pattern inside & tied it with the handle fabric. Those of us on the committee just rummaged thru our stashes to find fabrics that would work & that were not classified as "ugly".
I like the suggestion to give everyone a little wooden iron. Perhaps if you have a woodworker amongst the husbands of your members, he could whip them out in no time. Another idea that works really well (in my NSHO) is a small wallpaper roller. I keep it in my sewing cabinet. The one I found is a little heavier duty than others I saw, but it works great - I got mine at Lowes, but you might have to go to a paint store, cause I guess people don't wallpaper like they used to. Kathy A might be able to give you some tips on where to find them. I love mine.
Last year was my guild's silver anniversary. We were each given a set of silver colored beads spelling out the guild's initials, think scissors or rotary cutter decoration. There was a large variety of colors used for what the beads were strung on so they would be distinctive at most retreat/class situations.
At a retreat some years ago, we each received our name spelled in in letter beads. These were strung on a ribbon. I think of that retreat whenever I see those beads on my rotary cutter.
We don't do a birthday thing, but we do have a salad supper each July. One year, everyone was asked to bring a fat quarter of ugly fabric -- one of those "what was I thinking" pieces -- and we swapped those.
Julia > This may sound a bit cheesy, but here goes anyway - - - Ask each
How about a lanyard to hang around the neck (or just to use as an aid to keeping track of the attached item) with the guild name and the birthday date on it - could be used for scissors, rotary cutter, magnifying glass, seam ripper, cell phone, music player, memory key...... but probably not all at once.
Lizzy said: How about a lanyard to hang around the neck .....
------------------------------------------------ I made my own version of this with quilt material. I measured the length I wanted by about 3 inches wide. Then I used my Janome 6500 to write my name over and over the length of the material. Fold the material so the words are on top and machine stitch the edges, it ended up about 3/4 inches wide by around 25 inches long. I placed a large slip ring on the front (like a necklace) and use it to hold my little embroidery scissors.It could be stitched with the guild's name on it.
One year the guild gave us each a neck holder for scissors. The neck part was some kind of cord and the holder part was a little quilted square folded like a triangle to hold the scissors. (Picture folding a square potholder into a cone shape and stitched, but in a much smaller version.)
Perhaps this notion is old and worn, but what about needle books? There are a zillion free patterns online. So a pattern prinout, a scrap of wool felt and any cheap fabric in safety orange and you are good to go. OK, maybe the safety orange is over the top. I just misplace the things a lot. They are dead useful though, and if you have several you can sort your needles by the book and lose them all in an organized fashion.
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