I made up these prize packs for Quarter 1 winners over in the Quiltalong. Since the Quiltalong is not only about sharing quilting projects, but also about trying to help keep everyone motivated to work on their projects, we have quarterly prizes. In previous years, members could earn tickets to a quarterly raffle and at the end of the quarter, one name would be drawn to win a prize. Well, this year, I decided to change things up and make the Quitltalong more fun and exciting for everyone! Instead of having a single winner at the end of the first quarter, every Quiltalong participant had the ability to win a prize!!
I had planned on continuing with our previous format of each member earning points by completing certain tasks (ie. making one of the Quiltalong blocks of the month can earn you up to 2 points or completing a quarterly challenge can earn you up to 4 points) and each member who had earned a total of 7 points during a quarter would win a prize. But then @AIMR introduced WIPGO over in the 50 Projects or Bust thread and it got me thinking about how much fun it would be to incorporate a Bingo game into the Quiltalong. Thus, Quiltalong Bingo was born, giving each participant an additional way to earn the quarterly prize. As a result, participants could earn a prize by either accumulating 7 points or by getting a bingo throughout the quarter.
When I came up with the idea for prizes, I already had the first quarter prize figured out. Confession time 
: A few years ago, I came up with the grand idea of sending out a fun little package to everyone participating in the Quiltalong. I made up multiple gift pockets and cards and also spent a good deal of time creating other fun surprises to go along with these packages. Unfortunately, I got busy with other things, time passed, and the packages never got sent out.
So, I was excited when I came up with the ‘prizes for everyone’ idea, because this was my chance to finally send out those fun packages. So, now that you know the whole backstory, here are the Quilting Friends Prize Packs!
Each prize pack came tucked into a gift pocket and included a quilted card, a fat quarter of fabric, a vinyl decal, two stickers, and a spool of holoshimmer thread.
The gift pockets were actually where this whole package started. Kimberbell created these heartfelt gift pockets to be stitched out on an embroidery machine. I instantly fell in love with the Quilt pocket and knew I had to have the design. These pockets are intended to be stitched out onto felt fabric, but when looking for a tutorial, I came across a lady who was using cork fabric. Personally, I think they look so much better with the cork and I am so glad to have come across that particular tutorial! I happened to already have 25 yards of the tape measure style twill ribbon just waiting to be used in a project and felt that it was perfect for these gift pockets. I wasn’t sure what I would tie onto the pocket until I came across a post by a lady who was tying thread onto hers. I love the holoshimmer thread, so it was a perfect fit! Altogether, I had a lot of fun creating these pockets!
The cards were created with a layer of batting, a layer of fabric, and some holoshimmer thread. Once the needle and thread design had been stitched out on my embroidery hoop,I then stitched the block onto a card.
There were two quilt related stickers included in a small paper bag. One of them was based on an Etsy sticker that I had come across and the other was of my own design (with the help of a graphics pack I had purchased), as was the vinyl decal.
To finish off the prize packs, each received an official seal.
I really enjoyed creating these prize packs and am looking forward to creating more for future quarters! Next, be on the lookout for the Maker/Destructor Prize Pack!
