earthwalker

Perhaps now is the time for a new offshoot of the traditional Guild set-up...a place for Bohemian Eclectic Quilters....that way the fear/gender/age factor is eliminated....and people can get down to the business of sharing fabulous fabrics, creative design ideas, stitchery and the fellowship of others travelling their "Quilting Odyssey"...whatever their style or "level" is perceived to be. Hmm....sounds like this group doesn't it?

Ps. Doesn't everyone remember how terrifying "show and tell" was at school!

BlueChicken

Oh my goodness... I would SO join that club! lol "The Bohemian Eclectic Quilters"

Shemjo

I am ready to join the "Bohemian Eclectic Quilters"! I am already of Bohemian heritage! What a wonderful idea! I think we already belong to it here! :lol:

Somebunny

These posts are SO helpful. I have been looking for a group to join and now I know what to look for AND how to do my best to contribute. I think like smiles, encouragement is contagious. If you do it, others will follow, and all others are unhappy people, you can't change that. I am so thankful for all of you, your encouragement and knowledge. I have been sewing non-stop since joining this great group. The recognition one gets from posting a picture here is out of this world, good. I can’t wait to get another quilt done so I can have that again. Thanks.

lovetoquilt

My husband is a Pastor. I join a guild every time we move to a new Church. I loved the guild I was a member of at our last church. After we moved I joined the guild here. It was not a friendly guild at all. I tried talking to ladies each meeting but they seem to ignor the newer members. It was all business and if you were not in the "click" you were not part of them. After about 6 months of going to this guild my husband asked me one day. "You aren't happy with this guild are you?" I had to tell him no. So he came up with a great idea. He told me if I wanted to go back to the guild where we came from I could. It was about 1 hour and 20 minutes away, but I loved it. I couldn't believe that he actually saw a difference in me when I came home from this guild. So once a month I go that hour and twenty minutes but it is nothing to me because I love it. There are between 20 and 30 ladies but they don't have a click and they were so happy for me to come back. Thanks for letting me vent. I also enjoy this board. I have learned a lot even though I don't get on here as much as I would like. The life of a pastor's wife is pretty busy.

Eddie

Me, too!!! Where do I sign up?!?!? :mrgreen:

Eddie

I'm sure the majority are probably older women, as the few who I know personally that are in the guild are older age (50/60+). From the photos of their meetings that I've seen on their web site, that seems to be true as well.

I've been giving this some thought and think I'll speak with a lady in the guild who used to be president. She's still very active in it and is a super nice person. I was thinking I'd write her a letter expressing my interest and asking about this rule and whether it is actually still enforced or not. I'll defer to her good judgment as to how she thinks a man in the guild would be received. I think she'll be straight with me about it and will let me know whether it would be a good idea or not. Just because I possibly could join, doesn't mean it would be a good thing to do if I get cold shouldered at all the meetings. We're going on vacation next week, so I think I'll ponder the letter over that and take it up when I get back.

kwhite

Good idea. I may look into mine here too.

quiltsRfun

I think this is your loophole. Talk with some of the members and maybe they'll invite you. Maybe it's an archaic rule that needs to be changed.

Cathe

Having written a few bylaws in my time... I imagine that they are talking about "men" as regards the spouses of the members. If a man was the member and wanted to bring his non-member wife, you would have the same problem -- nonmembers wanting the same benefits as the dues-paying members.

Children are an obvious potential distraction/disruption in a formal meeting, and I can see that non-quilting, non-member spouses might be, too. The goal is to have a focused membership who are there to learn about quilting. Social interaction is nice, but the monthly meetings are often quite structured "business/lecture" meetings.