HAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Love it!! You can participate - just let the organizers know you do not want your name included in the drawing!

Sue

I have been unable to participate this year as a result of last years flood. Everything is everywhere! Chaos reigns supreme!

But I have taken part for five years, won several times and then like you, had enough to keep me busy of my own. So for the last two years, I have sent blocks on but asked that my name not be entered in the draw. By sending blocks, it makes for a better group for the winner. And there is no reason you have to leave your name in.

Theresa

Yeah, but what happens if all the participants opt out of winning? :D

Donna

Then I guess Valarie and Jennifer can split them???

Theresa

Donate to project Linus or some other group that does charity quilts.

bkay

It is a conundrum. And when I first participated, I felt the same way. However, instead of a burden, maybe try to view winning the lotto blocks as an opportunity that enables you to further hone your skills beyond block construction. It's an extension of the quilting process as you now get to decide layout, sash or not, border or not, backing, quilting design, binding, etc. all from the "joy" of winning a batch of blocks!

Jennifer

P.S. I've already removed my name from the May lotto, so Val gets them if everyone else opts out. :-)

Hey, I like it. You have a great point of view.

So, I will make a lap quilt from last month's blocks and donate it to someone.
Bkay,

I need to chime in....sorry this is so long.....

Jan: 6 participants, 3 opt out, Feb: 7 participants, 3 opt out, Mar: 4 with 1 out, Apr: 6 with 2 opt out. Sorry folks I don't want the blocks either, nor would I have the time to assemble, quilt and bind for project Linus...which is a great idea by the way.

May I make a few SUGGESTIONS: Jennifer did a lot of preparation for the 2018 lotto, but the participation is down, I suspect it has been dwindling over the recent past, so...1) we move the lotto to even months only 2) run out the current year, however if you send in blocks you are in the drawing 3) we continue with the current lotto with a Twist: if you are interested in the block for the month, make a lap quilt or table runner or wall hanging, whatever and post at month end...similar to a sew along that you see on many quilters blogs; no mailings, no winner, but we get to see what each of us has created. You can make it in whatever colors you want, however you want, but you use the block selected for the month. This last idea is my personal favorite.

Well that's my thoughts. If we continue as is, the same person will win at least twice, perhaps thrice or more in one year!

Your Thoughts?

I've never viewed someone omitting their name from the lotto for a particular month as a negative. In fact, I thought the remaining participants might even view it in a positive light because it increases their chances of winning. In the past, folks requested to have their name removed (for a variety of reasons). Since I never understood it to be a problem, I just assumed we would continue the lotto in the same manner.

Since I've already made all the sample blocks for this year and some folks may be working ahead, let's finish out 2018. I understand your concerns, Val. So if we now want to require that folks must leave their name in the drawing, that's fine with me. I will defer to you, since you are handling the drawing and I don't have strong feelings one way or the other, especially since the winner can do whatever they want with the blocks.

As far as next year, I'm open to changing things up!

Jennifer

P.S. So, January only had three names and I still didn't win?!?! I loved those mini bow ties!!!!! Hahaha!

Feeling philosophical this morning so forgive the rambling!

I am wondering if some group participation events like Lotto have a "shelf life". Just for my own amusement, I searched past years Lotto postings. In 2012, there were several months when the number of blocks received was well over 25 and one month, there were 50 blocks. But at the same time, I realized that many, many of the block makers seem to no longer visit this site. Or at least post regularly.

Members come and go for various reasons and it is great to see new names and posters. But those members from years past and their postings are missed. I know I miss them with their remarks, advice and wisdom, the glue that keeps a group together.

I remember when I first found this site, I was so impressed by the number of members and their very active participation that I wanted to join this quilt guild. And I am certainly glad I did. I like hearing about weddings and babies and graduations and all of life's events, as well as what is going on in the sewing room. And am so inspired by the beautiful quilt photos.

So maybe the suggestion for a BOM might be an option to keep us all connected.

Sharon, you hang in there. You have a lot of seniority.

Ok, off the soap box and away to Home Depot for some light fixtures.

Theresa

I understand your lament, Theresa. I was very active on the Gardenweb Hosta forum for several years. Yes, people come and go. However when Gardenweb sold to Houzz, lots of the regular posters quit posting. Some quit because Houzz changed the way that photos showed up. (Detailed, beautiful hosta photos were a big part of the joy of the site.) Some quit because they didn't like the attempt to "facebook" the site. A couple of the really knowledgeable people quit just because they didn't like Houzz.

Besides those changes, the search engines no longer showed gardenweb at the top of inquiries about hosta. Instead, Pinterest, Facebook and the like showed up when people searched for hosta answers. Also, Facebook became very popular and now, potentials posters look to facebook for information about hosta instead of the internet.

So, you have fewer visitors coming to the site looking for information and decide they like the company and stick around for a while. A smaller group is a reality that probably won't change. I just checked the passionflower forum, which used to be active, and the last post was two weeks ago. Houzz' mission is to sell product, not build forum traffic.

So, what we do now is the question.

bkay

Not so much a lament as an observation.

Theresa

Exactly, Sorry that I mis-characterized it.

bkay

i agree with Teresa and Bkay....it's just what we have observed...the question is how to continue so we can share, and support each other in our quilt journey?

I have never joined in with the Lotto. In my mind, very few of the blocks interest me personally. Those that do interest me, I forget about until that month has passed. :) That being said, I loved the Birthday Blocks group that we did on the forum in the past. I think doing a block, for a specific person each month, made it more interesting for me. Even though I might not be personally interested in the block, I was feeling good about making it for someone else in their colors. Sometimes I even made multiples just because it felt good to give to one of my forum friends. And by choosing my own birthday month block and colors, I was getting a set of blocks that were of my choice. I am not sure if we have enough participation anymore for a Birthday Blocks group, but it might be a consideration.

I never got into the birthday block exchange. I think it was slowing down about the time I joined the forum. I did think it was a nice way to be involved.

Two other things we did that I did take part in were one time events. GrammyP organized a fat quarter exchange. There were about 10 of us who sent that number of FQs to her. There was a theme to the fabrics. She then divided them up and sent them back to us. I remember making a disappearing four patch with mine. I loved that quilt.

The other event was a fat quarter exchange but it was a 'travelling' one, a round robin style. One had been started for the state-side members, so one of the Cdn. members took on the organizing of that for us here. I can't remember what I did with those.

The obvious need for any of these groups is someone willing to organize, set up the criteria etc. Just as for Lotto, these members are treasured. Jennifer, Valarie, Sue, Linda and Kate. Did I miss anyone?? Thank you all.

So what is the way to go? I am not sure but maybe there are more suggestions out there.

Theresa

I haven't participated in any of the block lottos for various reasons, but the primary one is the same as the one starting this thread - I don't need any more projects! LOL

I have done birthday block exchanges. Jackie - I agree with all you said - you're making blocks specifically requested by participants, and you get blocks you requested. The last time I did one (with another forum) quite a few participants dropped out along the way, leaving those of us with later birthdays short-changed. I know stuff happens and sometimes you can't meet a commitment, but I ended up with only 7 blocks out of 12 that time.

In my opinion, if there are too few blocks in the lotto to make a good-size quilt (at least lap size), then maybe it's time to move on to another thing. I think postage costs may be an issue with some people, too.

I like the idea of a BOM or quilt-along. People can participate if they wish and share photos of their progress every month.

Donna

Teresa did a 'class' on making a landscape quilt a few years ago. I have never forgotten that and really enjoyed it.

Shall we finish the current 2018 lotto and let it stand as is? i sign up to help Jen, but she did most of the work with block and color selection. It's only fair for us to continue through 2018. I do understand Bkay dilemma, but I'm happy you mentioned this conundrum...good discussion from all. Theresa, I think you hit the nail on the head "shelf life".

I'd like to propose the following moving forward:

Start off 2019 with a BOM, with one twist... all interested let me know, I'll randomly assign you a month and on the first of your assigned month, you post your block with the link to the directions. Anyone can participate whenever they wish, use whatever colors, fabric they wish, just share on the site for all of to ogle and ahhh. If we don't have 12 volunteers, one for each month, that's ok, we will support the months we have volunteers for and take it from there.

i too participated in the last year of the birthday block, and that was fun. If anyone else would like to organize it and kick start it, I'll support.

ALL IN FAVOR, OF A BOM FOR 2019: POST A YES, I'll get in touch with you to see if you are interested in Posting you favorite block for one month.

Quilters: let's finish up the lotto with a bang!

Valarie

aka: littlehelen

Val - I'm more than happy to finish out the lotto for this year, if you no longer wish to be involved. Just let me know as I can easily finish out the remaining months.

Also, if folks want to start up something new, I don't see why we have to wait until next year. Maybe having several different things going on would promote more activity on the board.

Jennifer

Val, sounds like a plan. If we did that one block per month, we could have a sampler quilt by the end of the year. I guess that is the idea behind BOMs. Or we could make a whole quilt every month using that block and have twelve quilts. LOL! Or placemats or table runners. Doesn't have to be a quilt. Just use that block however we like. Posting our pictures would stir up the quilting juices.

Another twist could be something that Sharon mentioned, all Star blocks, or all Log Cabins.

Sign me up!

Theresa

Hey Theresa, cool ideas! Once we have some additional responses, II'll coordinate the BOM for all of us.

Hey Jen, as far as I can tell, the Lotto Rocks On for 2018! I'm in to support for all of this year ... for all who wish to participate, myself included!

V.

Val, Sign me up for the 2019 stay-at-home BOM, please. :-)

I would be interested in the BOM. I've been really bad at contributing to Lotto, but I'll try and do better until the end of 2018.

I didn't really get a chance to read everyone's comments but I just wanted to chime in. :) I really do enjoy this lotto block. I have only participated a few times, but would like to more. I am a newbie and unfortunately like many of you sometimes life gets in the way and there are just more important things to take care of at the moment. I would really like to get into quilting and I feel this is a good way to practice. I need to practice more. You'd think with being a perfectionist my squares would look right, but they always seemed to come out the wrong size. I apologize for that haha Plus I'd love to win one ;)

I understand where everyone is coming from. I really hope we keep something going. Maybe in time people will start to trickle in again.

Bump!

I somehow missed this thread when it was first posted. I agree with what everyone has said. I love the lotto but haven’t been very good at sending blocks.

I like the BOM idea. I’ll be happy to participate and to select and make a sample block for one month. Participation is low but we need something to keep this forum going. I love this forum and I’ve learnt so much from all of you.

For the BOM, it will be nice if we can plan ahead and figure out fabric requirements before January.

Ive been on the forum on and off since 2006 I think. We had fat quarter exchanges every month based on color and most of my stash was built that way. here’s a pic of a star block exchange from 2007 or so.

I must say as a relative newbie to this forum, I thoroughly enjoy seeing what everyone is making, listening to talk about different projects you lovely ladies have going at home, and getting ideas from all of you. I have not participated in the lotto blocks because I simply have too much going on in my sewing room already, but I think its wonderful to do group projects when you are able. I picked this forum over several others because I felt very welcome and supported by all of you. There is always encouragement and praise and honest opinions and I appreciate you all so much! I hope that when I retire I will have more of an opportunity to participate it BOM or whatever else is going on then.