Guidelines for Hosting
The Gathering of Quilters

The purpose of The Gathering is to assemble Quilters from Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and Ohio for a day of fun and celebrating quilting!

The Gathering Steering Committee which is composed of Host Guild's representatives from the past five or six years will pass on some guidelines, hints and information to ensure a successful event in the following years. These are only guidelines and not set in stone. You are encouraged to be creative in planning to make your Gathering exciting and new!

The Planning: this is a two year process mainly because engaging a speaker and securing a venue should be done well in advance. Click here to view Timeline and click here to view Committee Structure.

Choosing a Site: The Gathering is growing every year. Your site should accommodate at least 1,000 people plus room for vendors. Check Parking, Restrooms, Sound Systems, Stage, and availability of tables and chairs.

Vendors: space determines the number, allow plenty of aisle space between vendors. Choose a variety…fabrics, notions, embellishments, books, gift trends, quilting supplies of interest and sewing machines (only one or two). Too many vendors results in unhappy vendors and too few in unhappy quilters! If vendors are in the same room as the program, shopping will be unable to go on. Be sure your vendors are aware of the setup. Otherwise, vendors may be open for the duration of event hours.

Quilt Show: Larger Guilds may want to show only their members' quilts while smaller groups may invite other clubs to participate. Consider how to acquire and disperse the quilts.

Record Keeping: IMPORTANT for the next host!!! Keep records of mailing lists, vendor and door prize contacts, copies of letters, contracts, fliers and procedures. KEEP Everything and anything that may need to be referenced.

Mailings: First mailing to quilt guilds/clubs should be by end of August of preceding year. Info includes: Where, When, Speaker, Registration form and any additional info needed to promote the event to clubs. Mail informational Fliers to quilt shops and quilt shows at same time.

WEB Site: If the host club has an existing site it should be utilized in promoting The Gathering. The hosts' site may be linked to this current site: www.colorsgonewild.com/thegathering to access the information available. Colorsgonewild will cooperate with future hosts to provide up-to-date online info to quilters!

Hosting Frequency: as determined by the steering committee, a time span of five years is required before a Host Guild may repeat. EX: '04 to '09
The Program: Traditionally, the program has followed this structure…

    Registration
    Welcome, Roll Call
    Speaker
    Lunch
    Show and Tell
    Announcements of Awards and Winners of Block Exchange

Steering Committee:

    Leatha Anderson: letharae@yahoo.com Sisters of the Cloth '04 & '09
    Maxine Stovall: wratgirl@aol.com Sisters of the Cloth '04 & '09
    Nancy Mullen: sweetnan36@aol.comm Noble Nimble Thimbles '06
    Pam Fawley: dgpamfawley@hotmail.com Creative Threaders '08
    Nancy Jacoby: sports_unlimited@verizon.net Vendor
    Modena Mitchell: modenamitchell@hotmail.com Sew Pieceful '08