Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Ticket Raffle 2018

Our STLMQG Ticket Raffle is always a lot of fun, and the money we raise goes right back into our guild. This will be our 8th year hosting the raffle, and while many of our members are well aware of how it works, we want to make sure that everyone can get in on the fun. Plus, we're making a few changes this year to hopefully improve the process, so be sure to read through the full post.

How the Raffle Works:
Members donate fabulous items at the November and December meetings and are issued tickets in exchange for the retail value of their complete donation. Items are bundled, if necessary, and displayed at the December meeting. In December, members can purchase tickets or use those they were issued for their donation to take a chance at winning donated items.

What Should I Donate?
Donations should be things that your fellow members would like to win and should generally be modern, new, and unused. There are, of course, a few exceptions (for instance, books may be gently used). The key to donating is to ask yourself -- will others in the modern guild be excited about this item? If the answer's yes, bring it on! If not, leave it at home. Do not use this as an opportunity to unload your magazines from 1997, that box of items you were going to donate to Goodwill, or items that would otherwise be trashed. 

Acceptable Donation Items:
  • Quilt-shop quality modern fabric (pre-cuts, yardage, gallon-size bags of modern fabric scraps, etc.)
  • Patterns for totes/handbags, modern quilts, etc.
  • Finished handmade items (modern quilts, handbags, wall hangings, pillows, etc.)
  • Quality thread (quilting, applique, embroidery, etc.)
  • Crafting supplies and sewing/quilting notions (English paper piecing supplies, embroidery kits, quilting rulers, etc.)
  • Sewing-themed decor and art
  • Quilting and sewing books
  • Be creative! We've had donations of wine, chocolate, and restaurant gift certificates in the past, which are also fun.

Ticket-to-Donation Exchange Rate (November and December):
If the estimated retail value of your entire donation is…
$10 or less = 5 tickets
$11-30 = 10 tickets
$31-50 = 15 tickets
$51 and up = 25 tickets

Tickets for Purchase (December):
1 ticket for $1
25 tickets for $20

Ticket Raffle Directions (December meeting):
Buy your tickets, or use the ones you received in exchange for your donation. On each ticket, write your last name and first initial or your full name (tip! bring return address labels to use if you don't want to write it out). Find the item(s) you wish to take a chance on, place your ticket in the corresponding bag, and cross your fingers. There is no limit to the amount of tickets you can place in each bag, so if you really want an item, go ahead and put all your eggs in one basket. After the meeting break, winners will be randomly selected. There is no limit to the amount you can win.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

NO MEETING this Saturday

Just a reminder that we will NOT have a meeting this Saturday, October 13 because of our annual retreat, which took place last weekend. You can read all about it here.

We look forward to seeing everyone at Hand-Sew Happy Hour on the 23rd or at November's meeting!

SewMeSTL 2018 Recap

This weekend, we celebrated our members at the 5th annual Sew Me St. Louis retreat. This year, we expanded the retreat to include a third day, which meant hours more sewing, laughs, and fun.
The SewMeSTL Committee worked hard over the past few months to ensure this was our best retreat yet. From collecting tons of raffle prizes to sewing and stuffing our awesome swag bags, they really took the retreat to the next level. Thank you so much to the committee!
The weekend included lots of bonuses, from massages to demos on accurate cutting, sewing skinny strips, machine quilting, and featherweights. Thank you to Lauren McMillan for the massages and Emily Amizich, Pam Hartig, Gretchen Watkin, and Cindi Templin for taking the time to share their knowledge in the demos.

We also got our hands on some beautiful fabric through the fat quarter swap organized by the Member Swap and Challenge Committee and the always raucous Scrap Dash.

One of the best parts of any retreat is seeing what everyone else is working on, and our members certainly had some beautiful projects to show off. Many members worked on their blocks for the guild QuiltCon charity quilt, and it was fun to see this one coming together. Check out the @stlmqg IG feed and #sewmestl for lots more pictures of everyone's projects and the nightly Show and Tells.
We're so glad that so many members were able to join us, and we're already dreaming of next year's fun. We hope you all had as much fun as we did!