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How to Quilt>Holiday Quilt Parties
Party Fun for Quilters
Holidays are just around the corner! If you are lucky enough to have a party planned for your quilters guild or your quilting friends, you should think of a fun game or two to add to the festivities. You can plan many games quickly using simple notions and supplies you already have on hand. For instance, how about a race? Split the guests into two equal groups so each has a racing opponent. Have participants race to successfully carry either a thimble or bobbin to the finish line in a teaspoon! Whichever notion you choose, you should use the same for each participant to be fair. To add to the difficulty – have them carry the spoon in their mouths. Of course, you’ll want to furnish each racer with their own spoon. Another easy game using notions would be a bobbin race. Beforehand, paint some bobbins using various colors. Each player picks a different color bobbin. Set up a long card table with a starting line and a finish line. Quilters will roll their bobbins from the starting line to see which makes it to the finish line first. If you can accumulate quite a number of thimbles, thimble stacking would be a fun game. Put all the thimbles in a sack and have each participant reach in to take one. Player one starts the game by putting her thimble down. Player two stacks hers on top, etc. After the first round of thimbles have been stacked, players grab another one from the bag and repeat. Soon, the thimble tower will fall. The winner of the game is the last player to put the thimble on the stack without knocking it over. If you plan to have games at your party, you will need to have some prizes on hand, too. Prizes for your quilt games don’t have to be expensive and can be a lot of fun to make. One great prize idea would be a fat quarter stack. You can buy these, of course, or you can make a stack from your own stash. Simply cut some of your fabric (a holiday theme would be nice) into fat quarters, fold them neatly, and tie together with raffia or a themed ribbon. You could also create a quilt pattern prize pack. Create cardstock templates of a few of your favorite patterns. Put each pattern in a different zipper-sealed plastic bag along with a diagram or photo of the quilt block design (if you use software like EQ6, this is an easy task). The quilt patterns will make a nice prize. Of course, other great prizes include pin cushions, quilting gloves, anti-fray products, threads, bobbins, needles – anything a quilter might use. If you are looking for a “big” prize, consider giving a gift certificate to a local fabric store or a new quilt book that has been recently released. If you want to plan a fun activity for your quilters’ party, but want to stay away from games, how about organizing a quilted ornament swap? Each quilter brings an ornament they have created using some quilting skill. Assign each ornament a number. Have party goers draw a corresponding number later in the party. Whichever number they receive is the ornament they get. Cookie exchanges are popular holiday parties, so why not borrow from that theme to create a quilting book/magazine exchange. Tell your guests to bring an old magazine or book to swap in the exchange. Not only will everyone get a fresh look at quilting projects and articles featured, you’ll be recycling! No matter which kind of holiday gathering you choose, you and your quilting friends are sure to have a great time!
Happy Quilting!
Penny Halgren www.How-to-Quilt.com
©2009, Penny Halgren This article courtesy of http://www.How-To-Quilt.com. You may freely reprint this article on your website or in your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author name and URL remain intact.
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