Our 2017 quilt show, Binding Canada Together: One Quilt at a Time, is only two short months away -- Friday and Saturday, September 23 and 24 -- and after many months of hard work, everything is falling into place. As chair for the Orchard Valley Quilters Guild’s biennial quilt show, I will give you a behind the scenes rundown of all the work that goes into staging our show.
Event planning starts at least a year ahead with setting a date and then booking a venue. Next we booked Show Time, a company who sets up pipes and curtains to hang the quilts. Three of the guild members met with the Regional Manager of Show Time at the hall to plan the layout, the number of curtains required, and to determine the cost.
A committee team was set up of co-chair, publicity, acquisitions, boutique, raffle, and volunteer coordinators. Discussions took place on what patterns and fabric would be used for a raffle quilt. Then a few gals sewed that up. Photos of the 3 raffle prizes were submitted to Gail Lewis (Raffle Coordinator) who then ordered the ticket booklets. Joanne Gaudet, Publicity Chair, secured funding of a city grant. Joanne has been printing posters, handouts, inquiring about ads, and posting the show on social media.
About a month prior to the show, four of us do a layout where we create an accurate floor plan for a reference used when the quilts are hung. Vendors were invited and their payment secured. Security is booked 8 p.m. to 8 a.m., and I fill in the gaps between closing time and when security arrives.
The guild sells pins as a fundraiser. The design and colour for 100 pins was established through collaboration with Mr. Pin Man, an Edmonton company. In August and September there will be a blitz on putting up posters and advertising the dates on social media.
In order to raise awareness of our event, I arranged to have the raffle quilt hung at Linda’s Quilt Shoppe with tickets available. It will then be moved to Cottage Quilting the following month. On July 1 the Canada 150 quilt was hung downtown, and will be hung again July 27 at Arts on the Avenue, all in hopes of increasing interest for the quilt show.
The day before the show, Show Time starts setting up at 8 a.m. The acquisition team receives quilts until 1 p.m. and then the hanging team starts set up, which usually takes at least 4 hours. Susan Campbell, Sue Greenwell and I troubleshoot, and address any problems during the two-day show.
After the show, a volunteer team takes the quilts down and the acquisition team ensures the safe pick up by the rightful owners. Show Time returns to pick up their equipment, then a bit of tidying up, a sweep and it’s over until the next show.
Marg Frisque
Orchard Valley Quilters Guild Show Chair
Event planning starts at least a year ahead with setting a date and then booking a venue. Next we booked Show Time, a company who sets up pipes and curtains to hang the quilts. Three of the guild members met with the Regional Manager of Show Time at the hall to plan the layout, the number of curtains required, and to determine the cost.
A committee team was set up of co-chair, publicity, acquisitions, boutique, raffle, and volunteer coordinators. Discussions took place on what patterns and fabric would be used for a raffle quilt. Then a few gals sewed that up. Photos of the 3 raffle prizes were submitted to Gail Lewis (Raffle Coordinator) who then ordered the ticket booklets. Joanne Gaudet, Publicity Chair, secured funding of a city grant. Joanne has been printing posters, handouts, inquiring about ads, and posting the show on social media.
About a month prior to the show, four of us do a layout where we create an accurate floor plan for a reference used when the quilts are hung. Vendors were invited and their payment secured. Security is booked 8 p.m. to 8 a.m., and I fill in the gaps between closing time and when security arrives.
The guild sells pins as a fundraiser. The design and colour for 100 pins was established through collaboration with Mr. Pin Man, an Edmonton company. In August and September there will be a blitz on putting up posters and advertising the dates on social media.
In order to raise awareness of our event, I arranged to have the raffle quilt hung at Linda’s Quilt Shoppe with tickets available. It will then be moved to Cottage Quilting the following month. On July 1 the Canada 150 quilt was hung downtown, and will be hung again July 27 at Arts on the Avenue, all in hopes of increasing interest for the quilt show.
The day before the show, Show Time starts setting up at 8 a.m. The acquisition team receives quilts until 1 p.m. and then the hanging team starts set up, which usually takes at least 4 hours. Susan Campbell, Sue Greenwell and I troubleshoot, and address any problems during the two-day show.
After the show, a volunteer team takes the quilts down and the acquisition team ensures the safe pick up by the rightful owners. Show Time returns to pick up their equipment, then a bit of tidying up, a sweep and it’s over until the next show.
Marg Frisque
Orchard Valley Quilters Guild Show Chair
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