Is this a good idea?

This is an idea I’ve had for a raffle for a quilt show I’m vending in August. It’s a fabric cake!

free motion quilting | Leah DayThe thing is, this is the smaller version. The real raffle version will have a 20 inch base and 9 layers, probably totaling over 200 fat quarters.

There’s a lot of expense in putting this together though, so I wanted to run it by all you awesome quilters first!

Would you pay $1 for a chance to win an 9 layer fabric cake? Post your opinion in the comments below!

LeahDay

Leah Day has been teaching online since 2009. She's the creator of the Free Motion Quilting Project, a blog filled with thousands of quilting tutorial videos. Leah has written several books including 365 Free Motion Quilting Designs, Explore Walking Foot Quilting with Leah Day, and Mally the Maker and the Queen in the Quilt.

46 Responses

  1. Mrs. Smith says:

    Heck yeah… if the fabric is cute, I'd toss in several dollars!

  2. I'd probably buy 10 of them!

  3. At $1 per chance, I'd buy 20! What a great draw for your booth!

    MGM

  4. AnnieO says:

    You betcha! We all know that a fat quarter is nearing $3 apiece these days. I'd buy plenty of chances!

  5. Gale Yawn says:

    Cute idea. If the fabric is cute and from the latest collections, I'd buy several tickets. If it is just blah old fabric, maybe not cause I already have so much of that.

  6. Debbie says:

    If I were lucky enough to be able to attend that show, I would put in for more chances than just one! Cute idea, Leah!

  7. Chariot says:

    That's a great idea! I'd definitely buy a couple tickets.
    But I have a couple suggestions..I'd use wider ribbon on the layers and keep the dangling ends cut shorter so the focus stays on the fabric. Also, think about some kind of topper for the cake.
    Love the idea, that's a lot of fabric to win!

  8. Sally says:

    I like the idea a lot but those fabrics are a little too "tame" for me. If they were brighter, I'd buy several chances in a heart beat.

  9. Maria says:

    Definately I would buy several tickets.
    We are having our tri-annul hanging in October, how do you essemble one of these lovely cakes??

  10. Kissthis says:

    9 layers… over 200 fat 1/4s?? I'd buy at least 10 tickets!

  11. Anonymous says:

    I'd be in for at least $25!!!

  12. Yvette says:

    Yes!! Where do I sign up? LOL!

  13. Are u kidding me? Only a dollar? Like the other lady said… HECK YEAH!!!

  14. Lesly says:

    Wouldn't I just!

  15. Elzaan says:

    Wonderful! I would love to have a chance at that!

  16. Anne D says:

    Are you kidding? I would buy more than 1 ticket. What a great prize

  17. Trudi says:

    I think that's a resounding YES! $1 or even £1 a ticket, I'd buy mulitples! Good luck!

  18. Farscapegirl says:

    Absolutely YES!! I'd probably buy $5-$10 worth of tickets for a chance to win $200 worth of Different FQ's! Very generous…you could divide the cake by 1/3 and have 2 raffles… one for the large cake @ $1 a ticket and the smaller cake for 50 cents a ticket. Raffles are fun! And tons of people love to gamble

  19. $1 chance for 200 fat quarters? Absolutely!!!

  20. Judy M says:

    Wow, I'd almost consider making a much smaller cake (only three layers) or making the raffle ticket more expensive. It will be a great promotion for your business!
    I'd probably be likely to take a few chances if I liked the fabrics, but if not, they'd end up in my fat quarter graveyard! I'm probably a certifiable fabric snob, won't use a fabric unless I love it.
    $600 worth of material seems extravagant for such a small investment. You'd need to sell at least 600 tickets to break even.
    Are you there multiple days to raffle off a smaller version each day??

  21. Lori Jo says:

    I wish the show was closer to me!! I want at least 20 tickets…why not!! A great prize!

  22. Claudia says:

    Yes……sounds like a great idea!!

  23. paulette says:

    YES!! Definitely!!
    Paulette

  24. Anonymous says:

    Yes, Yes i would. I would buy over 10 if i could.

  25. Darla says:

    Absolutely, I would buy tickets. Great Idea!

  26. jenj says:

    I would buy several tickets but only if I saw a majority of fabrics in there that I liked. Personally, I would rather have a smaller cake with really great designer fabrics in it. If I saw a lot of contemporary fabrics from designers like Amy Butler, Heather Ross, Kaffe Fassett, etc… I would definitely buy tickets. Fat quarter packs of generic quilting fabrics are plentiful and cheap online so they interest me less (I also don't use them very often.)

  27. debbie says:

    NO doubt, I would buy more than one chance! Cool idea 😉

  28. KTMae says:

    I would totally go for the $1 raffle. I might even go for a $5 raffle on that.

  29. Anonymous says:

    Hard to say…

    raffles are usually for some "cause"

    so while you are taking a chance you are supporting a cause

    you did not say what the cause is?

    200 fat quarters are 50 yards and like a prior lady said if the fabric is cute..go for it…. but only 2-3 chances.

    50 yards times 9 dollars a yard is $450 dollars cost to you…. so you have to sell 450 chances before you break even….

    wonder if I could make a cake from my stash????? probably could make dozens….

  30. Katie says:

    I would in a heartbeat

  31. Anonymous says:

    I would buy a ticket or 2 or 3 or… Even if there was fabric that wasn't something I loved, There are always fabric exchanges at guild, fat quarter drawings, donation quilts, fat quarter gift bags (1 fat quarter makes a bag),… you get the idea.

  32. Cheryl says:

    I agree with Chariot — somehow the ribbons are distracting from the fabric for me. Maybe you could arrange the fabric in color or value order?

    That said, yes, I'd buy a ticket or more for that kind of haul!

  33. Anonymous says:

    Definitely! I think the idea of a display card with a digital swatch of all the prints would be helpful. However, for $1 I'd take my changes to win such a big load of fabric!

    Heck, I'd probably pay $5 a chance.

  34. Sandy says:

    You have to charge MORE per ticket!! and yes, I would definitely buy several…and , I love your blog! Have done just a teensy bit of this FMQ – your demos and tips are super. Sandy

  35. Anonymous says:

    Leah, I'm a fabric-holic!! of course I'd buy a ticket or two or…..

  36. Hollie says:

    For sure I would! In a heartbeat!

  37. "Would you pay $1 for a chance to win an 9 layer fabric cake?"

    Are you kidding?? You do know you're talking to seamstresses, right? I'd be willing to pay far more than that and they wouldn't have to be all fancy-schmancy fabric either. I'd pay you $1 for a chance to win 2 pounds of scraps from your stash, let alone darling little fat quarters.

  38. trinity says:

    I would too, but I echo the idea that this is a LOT of fabric cost for just one prize…could you put a filler in the middle of each layer (styrofoam or whatever) so that only the outer layer was actually fabric? Then you could have several cakes that still looked amazing but with different fabrics…then you could do cakes by colour or designer or genre (modern vs. older smaller vs. holiday prints etc)…

    Obviously you would have to be very clear that it wasn't solid fabric, but I think people would get that.

    This reminds me of the diaper cake I got at my last baby shower…is that where you got the idea from?

  39. Jennifer says:

    I think it is a great idea and I think you'll have loads of quilters pay $1 to win it…even if it only had as many FQs as the one in your picutre.

  40. Leah Day says:

    Hi Everyone! Thanks for all your wonderful opinions and advice.

    However, it's come to my attention that it's actually illegal to raffle something like this unless all the proceeds go to charity.

    Soooo…that puts me into a pickle since I already purchased the styrofoam cake dummies to build this on. I'm sure I'll find something else to do with them though.

    And yes Trinity, I did get the idea from a diaper cake!

    Cheers,

    Leah Day

  41. Carol says:

    I would absolutely buy tickets – as many as $20 would buy – to win this beautiful, low-calorie 'cake'!!

  42. Karen says:

    Would definitely buy a ticket, or two or three or…

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