Your thoughts on quilters guild

I belong to one of three guilds here, and thoroughly enjoy every meeting which is held once a month. With over 120 members, we have quilters of all levels, and one is bound to meet a new friend. Usually about 70 members show up for meetings, Of course some are snootie but i just tell myself that hey, we all had to start somewhere. We have a fantastic program each year with guest speakers, bring and brag, raffles, retreats, and much much more. To get to know more quilters, I volunteered to work on designing our guild's website. When meeting quilters who are far more advanced, I take the opportunity to ask them for advice, tips and ideas. Everyone loves to talk about their work and share what they know, and before long, you might find these people friendlier than you thought, once you break the ice.

I would love to join a guild but there are only two and although one is closer to me it is extremely large with over 500 members, the other one is smaller but much further away.

In any club, guild, community, there will be friendly ones and the superior ones. If you are easily upset by the loud, stuffy ones, you may not get to know the really sweet helpful (but quiet) ones. I'd say give it a try and stick around for a while. Try to meet/talk with several different people. I am sure you will make friends for life. I did :-)
You don't need a 100 people, just a handful of awesome ones:icon_wave:

Guilds can be a wonderful place to meet new friends that share your passion. The guild I belong to has about 70 members with about 40 attending the meetings. At every meeting there is always some sort of program or demostration so lots of good ideas are shared. In addition we usually have a couple all day workshops a year as well as one retreat. I'm not too comfortable walking into a crowd of new people so when I was an officer I made it a point that there be someone at the door to greet new guests/members. Guests are always welcome to attend and see if it's a fit or not. Within the quilt there are also a number of small groups that meet at different times. Try it and see.

I would like to try a guild as well but always assumed since I work that I would not be able to participate.Also not sure how to locate one in my area.

The Ohio Valley Quilter's Guild meets somewhere not too far away.... It's a great guild, and has about 400 + members. I did visit a couple of times, with a friend when I first started quilting.

I decided to join The Ohio Stars Quilters.... We really are not a guild.... More like a club....or a small faith sharing group. We have twenty or so active members, and our dues are $15.00 yearly. We do a lot of charity quilting.... Some of us meet quarterly, with many, many other quilters to sew for a local NICCU. I'm excited to be able to go for the first time next Monday.

I've visited guilds, but much prefer our small, fairly informal group. I like it that we are close enough to really support one another. We usually go out for lunch after our twice monthly meetings, and our small size means there are no cliques going off by themselves.. Some are closer friends than others, but no one is ever left out.....

I also like it that we really don't have any "rules"...... Just common sense.

This is not to say that guilds aren't a good thing.....because they are..... Guilds offer many opportunities a small group can't. I have problems heating and seeing, so the small group works better for me......and I like the closeness we share.

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Originally Posted by Carrie J

Meliswan, can only relate my personal experience in regards to your question. When I first moved to Commerce, I attended a meeting and the Guild in (and only one) in a neighboring town. I was pretty taken aback, it was very chilly reception-wise (and 50 bucks per year), not like the last guild I was in (that was like old home week). I eventually found a group of gals (10) that had started their own little quilting group. I haven't looked back since. My old guild, and the group I'm with now, did/do not require fees. If there is something that we want to attend, we all pitch in equally, assist each other in any project, join together to kick out quilts that are needed quickly, make lap quilts for the local NH's , and just generally enjoy not only our hobby, but each other as well. I don't do well with "stuffiness/stiffness" when it comes to large groups. Let alone dress to the "nines" when it comes to quilting. We do attend several local events and show/talk to folks and it's been a blast. I guess what I'm trying to say, is visit, if it fits you, then it's all good!

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Off topic, but have you visited the Quilt Mercantile in Celeste???

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Originally Posted by GrandmaE

I would like to try a guild as well but always assumed since I work that I would not be able to participate.Also not sure how to locate one in my area.

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GrandmaE, i am also in B'ham. There are 3 local guilds that I am aware of. Evergreen Quilters meets every Tues, Moonlighters meets in the evenings once a month, both of these have web sites and one in Lynden, Pieceables meets every third Tues eve. I belong to both Evergreen Quilters and Pieceables. If you would like to go to a meeting of either of them, I would be happy to take you.
Mary AKA Shadowirish.