Bink-A-Thon How-To Do List: Have your own event
Miriam Siegel & Susan Finch
 I HAVE ORGANIZED/ARRANGED OUR ENTIRE PAST BAT’S, ALL 10 OF THEM.
HERE ARE SOME TIPS AND INFORMATION TO HAVE A SMOOTH RUNNING BAT.WE HAVE HAD THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO PARTICICPATE CHANGE YEAR TO YEAR, BUT WE ALWAYS HAVE AT LEAST 40 PARTICIPANTS.
THESE ARE THE COMPLETE STEPS USED BY OUR CHAPTER. YOU MAY NOT CARE ABOUT PUBLICITY OR HAVING PEOPLE OUTSIDE YOUR CHAPTER SIGN UP OR FOOD. IF NOT, JUST SKIP THOSE ITEMS.
Best of luck!
Miriam Siegel, Vice President
FORMER Home Group BAT Chairperson
STEP 1 – LOCATION PLANNING 9-12 MONTHS OUT IF POSSIBLE:
- Select a BAT committee
- Pick date/time and secure a place to hold the BAT.(check to see if you can “set up” the night before)
- Assign a team to get the word out about your BAT; newspapers, radio, make flyers and drop at Fabric Shops, etc.
STEP 2 – 4 MONTHS OUT, IDEALLY
- Have a press release or flyers for local quilt shops, bulletin boards, crafters newsletters to tell them of the event and get people interested in signing up for the event. Get their phone AND emails AND addresses to keep them in the loop for other events.
- Try to find someone/restaurant/company to sponsor food for the lunches, breakfast pastries, coffee, drinks, etc. Many chapters do pot-lucks too.
STEP 3 – ONE MONTH OUT
- Make a diagram of your floor plan, taking into consideration the location of your electrical outlets and blowing fuses!
- If you are having food, (lunch) make sure you have enough paper goods for all. Include a RSVP, so you will have an accurate head count
- DO YOU NEED SIGNAGE? MAKE POSTERS OR HAVE A BANNER TO DIRECT PEOPLE TO YOUR EVENT. THIS IS A GREAT TEEN PROJECT – CHEERLEADERS ARE WONDERS AT POSTERS.
- You may have a lot of binkies that day. Are there particular agencies, shelters, etc. that will be receiving them? Perhaps you can arrange for a representative to arrive towards the end of your event to take the binkies. This would be one less item to worry about during clean up.
STEP 4 – DAY OF OR DAY BEFORE
- We set up “stations” around the room, divided as follows.
- “top sewers”
- pinners
- “edge sewers”
- turner (turns the binky right side out, after it has been sewed)
- “tie off” the quilts
- Verify labels are on, count and bag.
STEP 5 – DAY OF YOUR BAT
- If you are having food, (lunch) make sure you have enough paper goods for all. Include a RSVP, so you will have an accurate head count.
- Offer coffee in the a.m., if convenient. (We supply bottled water for all)
- Draft the “to do” list on the morning of the BAT and assign jobs to people:
-
put up banners/signs
-
set up sign-in area, pens, name tags,
-
set out labels
-
tape small brown bags to each sewing spot(secure with masking tape) used for catching loose scraps/ thread
-
arrange the “count and bag” area
-
make sure pins, needles,misc.supplies are out
We utilize non-sewers as “runners” they “run” the finished tops to the pinners ,pinners to sewers, sewers to bagging area, etc. Girl Scouts really enjoy this.
ONGOING:
Year round, we make what we call KITS”. We pre-cut fabric into squares, enough for one Binky, and place each one into a large Ziploc bag. We also include a backing fabric to match the finished size of the Binky. We take all of the KITS to the BAT and place them on the “sewing tables” it really saves time.
***SAVE THE ZIP BAGS TO RE-USE NEXT YEAR***
Towards the end of the BAT, if possible, invite one or more of the Agencies where you make Binky deliveries. It’s a great opportunity for them to see you “in action” and you won’t have to haul all the completed Binkies home.
Keep a list of donated items and send out Thank You notes.
This is a list of supplies we use and have at the BAT:
Duct tape
Scotch tape
Batting
Masking tape
Memo pads
KITS
Name tags
Large clamps
Fabric
Clear trash bags, 33 gallon size
Bottled water
Paper bowls for the “pins,” thread, etc.
Extension cords
Pens
Scissors
Brown paper bags
Binky labels
Craft thread
Sign-in sheets
Chocolate candy
Needles
Shop vac
Pins
DAY OF BAT: JOB ASSIGNMENTS
PUT UP BANNERS/POSTERS
1.
2.
PUT OUT PINS, CRAFT THREAD, NEEDLES
1.
2.
SIGN-IN SHEET AREA
1.
2.
BINKIE “TIE-OFF” AREA/BATTING
1.
2.
SETTING OUT KITS AND LABELS AT THE “SEWERS TABLES”
1.
IN CHARGE OF THE “RUNNERS”
1.
2.
TAPING SMALL BROWN BAGS TO TABLES
1.
2.
BAGGING AND COUNTING BINKIES
1.
2.
ASSIST IN PINNING (We use Non-Sewers for this.)
1.
2.
CUTTING BACKS AND BATTING
1.
2.
3.
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