tezell0801

I went to my first quilt guild meeting last night as a guest. It was interesting and the speaker was very good and had some awesome projects to share with us. Not sure if I am ready to join just yet. One thing it did was make me wish we had a quilting/sewing group in our area. Maybe something a tad less formal than the quilting guild, and smaller! There were so many there last night. Didn't not get that warm and friendly feeling. It was more of an informational meeting - not get together and share type meeting to me. Now I would be interested in starting a stitching group. Get together once a month, share tips and ideas, maybe have a sewing retreat once a year, and a sew in day every now and then. We could also pick a charity and as a group work on quilts for them.

So have you done this? Is it too much work? I work full time and keep grand children a lot on weekends. But I would really like the idea of a smaller, more personal quilting group of friends.

If you have done it, or are in a group like this please share any and all do's or don'ts.
Terri

Pagzz

I think a small group is a good idea. I was introduced to the ladies in my bee by a woman who coordinates the small groups at my larger guild.

if you enjoyed the lecture and might go again to the big group I suggest you ask if they have smaller groups and then consider joining one or starting one. If the larger group has a newsletter you could see if you could post something there asking if people would like to meet with you and post just what you wrote above with your contact info.

mic-pa

I started a small group to do exactly what you describe. I announced in church about starting a quilt group and had several people ready to join. We now have 13 gals, give or take depending on the day and we meet twice a month in the church's social room. No rules or formal meeting. Then we plan on two trips a year to various quilt shops and a different gal plans the trip so we have a variety. Lots of fun and nice group.

crashnquilt

I have a wonderful group of friends that do just this. We all used to belong to a local quilt guild and this is how we met. In a way we do lots of charity work. We all make quilts and then we have one gal that if we wish, will keep the quilts we donate. Whenever someone in the community has a catastrophic event i.e. house fire, tornado, or whatever, she will take our donations to the family in need.
We have also made KID COMFORT QUILTS for deployed armed services.
We have all become very close to each other in friendships. That is the most wonderful part. We have 12 in our group at the moment. What is so great about this is WE ALL GET ALONG AND LOVE EACH OTHER.
Here is how we work our "meetings"
1. Only 6 of us have places large enough to fit all of us with machines. So on the last Saturday of each month one of the six will host a SIT N SEW. The hostess will provide lunch and drinks. The rest of us will bring various items. I bring the morning KRISPY KREMES, another may bring a dessert or salad, and so on.
2. We have NO FORMAL RULES. We are just a bunch of friends gathering in one place to sew and have companionship.
If there is a shop hop or quilt show, we usually go as a group. We do have quilt retreats which are an absolute BLAST!

I can honestly say I will probably never join another guild. But I refuse to give up my "sewing sisters". My gals are a very special kind of group and I do believe I would not be as passionate about sewing without them.

I so hope you can bring a group together and have as much fun as us. GOOD LUCK!

Chasezzz

I am co-leader for such a group at our church. The group existed before I joined, so I didn't work on the initial organizational part. We have a lot of fun and are very productive doing charitable things as well as building our quilting skills and enjoying the time sewing together. We are beginning our planning for the coming year and found this general outline worked well in 2013, so we'll probably do again in 2014. We had a "theme" for each quarter (Q1 teach a basic quilting skill through a project each member can do for themselves--in 2013 that was HSTs; Q2 projects for a specific identified charity--this year quilts for the child protection sections of the sheriff and police departments; Q3 a simple quilt pattern all can do either for the charitable shelf or themselves, this year rag quilt; and Q4 a holiday theme project). In addition, on an ad hoc basis throughout the year leaders show quick projects that may appeal to group members, and those who are interested may do these. At our meetings we always have a show-and-tell that allows the sharing of individual projects underway as well as those being done for the quarterly "theme." One thing we emphasize is we are happy to have those of any skill level join in...we'll even teach them to sew. We have instituted a "two foot rule" for our group charitable projects...if you can't see the "mistake" from two feet away, don't worry about correcting it! This approach has reduced the stress for less skilled quilters who are working along side much more experienced ones. I think you could lead a group even given your schedule if you share some responsibilities with others in the group and keep things simple/flexible.

Lori S

I was a part of an informal group( until I moved). I found the smaller group was more to my liking. The down side is not having access to the speakers of a large guild.

Jackie Spencer

Our small group started about 5 years ago, with 5 of us, we have had several others come and go. We meet the first Sat. of every month at our local Library. They let us use a large room with Micro Wave and Coffee Maker. We are there from 9 to 4, everyone brings food and we have a pitch in. We bring our sewing machines or whatever we want to work on. The Library doe's not charge us anything. Once in awhile something will come up at the Library and we won't be able to use the room, but they let us know ahead of time, then we just plan a road trip. These ladies have become my Dearest friends and we are all very close. Some times we bring our machines and don't sew a stitch, just sit and talk. I really look forward to our meetings.

Misty's Mom

Our group is a quilting club with show and tell, a quick lesson by our leader and lots of fun and fellowship. This is no ya guild, but a group that loves quilting and comparing notes and their love of quilting.

sewmom

A few years ago a lady at our church started a quilt group to make quilts for our graduating seniors. She was told there were only 4 or 5. The first year we made 9 and this year we are making somewhere around 16. We meet every week and used to do other things on other weeks. But since we are a small group we are working on them every week. There are only about 6 that come regularly. We have started a once a month on Sat. At the church( we normally meet at the leader's house) for the ladies that would like to help but can't come during the week. It was a great success. Currently we are making reversible blocks that are QAYG and scrappy because we work with donated fabric and no one has a LA.
We have been on a couple of quilt retreats and shop hops and these ladies are becoming very good friends to me. Some I knew before and others not. I love them all and we have the best time together. I encourage any quilter to have a small group to sew with- we learn from each other too.

chickadee_42us

This is exactly how I felt when I visited Kaufman County Quilt Guild, you know I didn't get the warm friendly vibe and to adhere to all bylaws - so many charity quilts, so many hours in preparation of this or that event.
My area is rather rural and I doubt anyone would get together on evenings or Saturdays to have small quilting groups, including myself!