mpspeedy

I belong to two guilds. The first one I was a member when it was only half a dozen or so of us and we met on a lady's sunporch. It is now at least 120 members and we rent the social hall at the largest church in the county. We have one big meeting the first wednesday of every month and a second smaller one the third wednesday. They are both in the evening. They do a lot of community projects, Block of the Month and donate to a lot of local chairities. They have a show every other year and a Bingo Fund Raiser every year. In the last couple of years we haven't had as many speakers or presentors as in the past. They have two huge retreats every year with almost every minute planned and accounted for. That is not my idea of a retreat. That guild is a good 20 minute drive for me and by this point I don't know at least 80% if the membership except by face if that. I don't know if the officers meet seperately or not.
The second guild is a morning group, almost an hour drive for me. It is not quite as large and was founded by Mimi Dietrich. She is a sweetheart and the members of the guild have seen her through two boughts with Breast Cancer. That group is much more laid back. They still do a lot of chairity sewing but there is not as much pressure. They also have a covered dish luncheon at each meeting. They also have a show every two years and a Bingo every year. I have gone on retreat with them for the last five years at least. It is usually only about 20-25 people and there is no pressure to do certain projects. They don't meet in July and August. They to have cut back on speakers as they are getting more expensive every year.
I am at a point in my life where I am not particulary intersted in learning a lot of new quilting skills. I enjoy trunk shows etc. and I have a lot of friends in both guilds. If the weather is iffy or I am tired I usually stay home. I do belong to a very small Bee from the closer guild that meets twice a month at a local Bernina dealer's. We usually bring some handwork, chat and then go out to lunch. It is much more enjoyable to me at this point than either of the guild meetings.

An Arm Long

Our guild is very small and close knit. We have 22 members and meet twice a month from 10 AM to 3PM at the local library. We have two officers - president and treasurer, but various guild members have jobs that they are responsible for before each meeting - like getting the key to the library room where we meet and providing the cakes for birthdays. When a new member comes, they are assigned a mentor and we have some handouts for them from some of our classes that members have done. Right now we are doing mystery quilts led by one of our members. In alternate weeks, we have an applique group that meets. All members of the guild are welcome, but only about a dozen attend. Those meetings are in member homes.

We do a couple of outreach projects each year and have done quilts for raffle for organizations in the community. 2 years ago, we did a beautiful Dorchester County quilt for the library to thank them for the use of our room.

I love this group of wonderful women. It has turned out to be a very supportive and friendly bunch.

I think the small size is what makes it work so well.