Originally Posted by Eddie

They have a website with their bylaws posted on it and it says that membership is open to ladies only and that men and children are specifically prohibited from any guild functions.

I'm not sure I would get in the door if I tried to crash one of their meetings, and I really wouldn't want to make any waves within the group. I can respect (maybe not fully understand) that they want to have a closed group like this. I know several members of the guild personally, so am thinking I might casually ask about the policy some time and see what they say. Here's what the bylaws state:

"Men and children (under the age of 12) unless specifically invited to participate, shall be excluded from all guild activities."

That's pretty explicit, in my opinion. :) I'd like to participate and help with whatever needs doing. I'm President of our local historic park, and am editor and past vice-president and treasurer of our county historical society. So I understand how difficult it can be to get "doers" involved in helping run the organization and making it function. I think I would have a lot to offer in that regard, but doesn't look like it's a possibility. Oh, well. Maybe it'll change some day.

Originally Posted by 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.

Originally Posted by weezie

I would think a quilt guild's main objective would be to support. This "blanket" support needs to cover ALL members as well as community needs of children/charity, etc. ... what is life without kindness to others? When I read some of the quilt guild horror stories, I am reminded of the frequent cruelty of school children, including the "closing of ranks" against a newcomer. It's unacceptable in adults .... that's my opinion and I'm sticking with it! For those of you who do belong to a fine guild and treasure your membership and fellow members, I say: Good for you; you are very fortunate and are aware of it.