ever done a group quilt at church?

[Oliveshoots]

I have this book I found at a yard sale that was full of all these breast cancer quilts. They were made out of squares that groups of women donated to be put into one large quilt. Each square had a special meaning to the woman who made it....the makers ranged from women who were fighting cancer, to women who just knew someone who had it or died from it. The only "rule" I think was that it had to be a certain size (obviously) and any shade of pink. Although some had bits of black or red, depending on their design. They were absolutely gorgeous.

SO....

My idea is to do one here at church....either in celebration of womanhood, or as a breast cancer tribute, or even as an Alzheimer's tribute. We have a yearly fundraiser for our adult daycare ministry in which they have a silent auction, and I would love to have a quilt done to auction off for that (which the Alzheimer's would fit in great....the event is called "A Night to Remember") and I think it would make some great money. But I also like the idea of a breast cancer one.

Any thoughts or ideas? I was kind of thinking shades of purple for celebrating womanhood, purple or blue for Alzheimer's, and of course pink for breast cancer.

For those of you who are experienced quilters, what kinds of "parameters" would you set for people wishing to donate a square? Certain type of fabric? How to determine colors (how to convey what you really want)? Size? Special instructions? How far ahead do the squares need to be donated? Any limits or "no-no's"?

If anyone has ever done something like this, or similar, with a large group of people, could you give me advice, or just share what you did?

Also, I dont' think it should be just women....i would like to think that it could include men who might be artistic/creative/skilled who would also like to donate a square.

Whaddaya think? :popcorn

[Rabbit]

I've been part of church quilting groups before, and seen quilts made from donated squares.

Donated squares give you a more "eclectic" quilt. When each quilter is buying their own fabric, even sticking with a common color, each square looks like a little miniquilt, not necessarily a cohesive piece of a whole. Which can also be very meaningful when each quilter has picked a design from their hearts to go with your theme. I think you have to set a measurement so that your squares can be pieced together, but you can be completely hands off beyond that, allowing squares that are mini works of art but not even pieced like hand-dyed batik squares and those decorated with fabric paints. If you specify a color, people run into trouble with the shading. Purply blues are nothing like greeny blues, yet they're both blue.

Quilts that really please the eye are better done in quilting groups, where everybody chips in for the fabric, and sits around a table together doing the piecing. One group I remember would do all of the piecing together, all these women gathered together talking women talk, and there in the background working over the quilting frame was one man, doing the most beautiful hand quilting. He was retired, and did all of the quilting while the women were piecing the next quilt. And he never really said much.

If you decide on starting a permanent quilting group at your church, some groups make their main work charity pieces, but some members bring in their own work and don't really do that much with the group's big project, but they're there to keep busy, make friends, share tips, get help, and have bible study time.

-Natalie

[Tengokujin]

I organized a group quilt a few years back..

I supplied each woman with a white muslin square, instructing her to leave a 1 " margin. I informed them that the stripping and back of the quilt would be in dusty blue, and to make decisions based on that. I was pretty free in letting people stitch, applique, or even draw with fabric paint. I was open to someone substituting a compatible background fabric if they liked.

I arranged the blocks, inserting some of my own making :D to balance things and not have really ugly things stand out.

You can't get locked into the totaly organized look that happens if you are designing a quilt on your own. It will always be more of a scrap quilt, but you can still apply principles of light and dark, etc. to the layout.

Have fun!

[jlschock]

I have never done a large group project but I have helped my SIL and MIL with quilts that kids make in our homeschool group. I also make quilts.
Tell the people that are interested to make for example a 12.5 inch block but keep the design in the 12" or even 11.5" so that you can square the block without cutting into their design. The one thing that IMO is the biggest problem is the seam allowance with inexperienced quilters. But then again working with adults vs. kids maybe different :shrug Before you put it all together I'd check the work of the person so that they have a 1/4" seam allowance (or so but no smaller than 3/16). So that you don't find a whole after you put it all together. BTDT
I'd be concerned about fabric type. like 100% cotton shrinks more than 50/50 so if you put different types of fabric together it may pull if you don't prewash the fabric first (hot water, through a spin cycle and then dry it)
Colors are a matter of personal opinion and if the people make their own it might not look eye pleasing.
You could look into signature quilt blocks. In these quilts each block has a signature/message on it on the front of the quilt. Like made by _______ or In memory of __________
And have fun :tu

[tiglet]

I've been part of dozens of group quilts, and there are two ways to do it that work well (IMO):
Make sure that people use 100% cotton for all fabrics. If you've got a really agreeable group of people, try to get everyone to pre-wash everything
1) You tell people an *unfinished* block size (12.5x12.5 works well) and a general theme (like "spicy and bright" - for a couple that loves hot chiles, for example, or tell people "This is the pattern we're using" and let them use whatever fabric they like, as a scrappy quilt.)

or
2) You buy a bunch of fabric that goes together. Cut it into fat quarters and dole it out. Tell people to make their blocks with it (again, specify a size) and that while they *can* use additional fabric, they have to use the fabric assigned somehow. This way all the colors go together.

If you find that your blocks are of widely varying sizes (which will happen, jlschock is exactly right) you may wind up sashing all the blocks yourself so that you've got something square-ish to work with. I'm sad to confirm that block sizes and block squareness can be a huge problem, even with all-adult sewers! :blush

Hooray for including men! They make some of the most original blocks, IMO. And make sure you'll have other experienced quilters to help you at the end, for putting the top together, quilting, borders, and binding. Sometimes my group collects $ from the non-quilters to pay someone to do the quilting instead of dumping it all on the quilt organizer, and that helps, too. (People who pay $ get to sign the gift card that goes with the quilt! ;) )

[mommyTay]

I organized a group quilt a few years back..

I supplied each woman with a white muslin square, instructing her to leave a 1 " margin. I informed them that the stripping and back of the quilt would be in dusty blue, and to make decisions based on that. I was pretty free in letting people stitch, applique, or even draw with fabric paint. I was open to someone substituting a compatible background fabric if they liked.

I arranged the blocks, inserting some of my own making to balance things and not have really ugly things stand out.

I did something similar to this about 10 years ago for my sil's wedding gift. I sent the blank squares to all the aunts and cousins and asked them to decorate them and send them back. It was a fun experience and my SIL and her DH adored it.