Sometimes people are surprised to hear that work is well underway on next year's raffle quilt. After all the show isn't until next April. It's true that as soon as one show finishes we start on the raffle quilt for the following year's show but we do have some good reasons for starting so early.
I'm sure most quilters will understand that sometimes quilts take longer than planned so it's good to have extra time up your sleeve, just in case it's needed. Even though the quilt show committee all pitch in to make the raffle quilt we tend to choose designs that take a lot of work.
The quilt needs to be finished for publicity and promotional reasons. Magazines are planning their editions often 6 months ahead and so we need the quilt ready for photos for their publications. We also need photos for our promotional material, posters, bookmarks and fliers.
The sooner the quilt is finished the sooner it can start it's tour of quilt shops. The raffle quilt does a tour of different quilt shops. It's a wonderful ambassador for the show as it entices people to buy raffle tickets and is a good reminder for people to put the 4th weekend in April in their diaries as the weekend of the quilt show.
It's great to have a task crossed off the list. With the raffle quilt finished the committee can concentrate on the other jobs and decisions that arise in the months leading up to the show. And it does get very busy! Organising a quilt show takes a years worth of work, but it's all so worth it. I"m sure you'll agree that seeing a big hall full of amazing quilts is a wonderful thing!!
Lovely to see all those snippets of previous years' raffle quilts. I have never thought about all the reasons why its good to have the quilt ready so soon. You ladies sure dont get much down time between shows!
ReplyDeleteIt's been such fun remaking Lots of Dots for this years raffle quilt. It's on it's way to the quilters this week!
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