texas granny

Hi all I have read what you have said about your experince with guilds. I belong to the Austin area quilt guild we have over 600 members. We are an evening meeting but we do also have morning meeting 4 time a year for the member that work. We also have several men in our group and also younger members. We welcome new guest evey month .We ask member to please welcome new member and guess that are sitting next to them. We have work shops every month and the speaker speaks at the morning and the evening meeting. So if any of you are in the Austin Texas area were having out meeting this monday 10.am morning and 6.45 pm Our show and tell last 15 to 20 minutes then we have our short business meeting then the speaker starts after that. Maybe those that have had a bad time trying to get into a guild needs to go up to there president and tell her what your upset about so it can be fixed. I have always found most quilter to be very helpfull in sharing what they know. Texas garnny

ggquilter

Daytime meetings are usually formed because members do not want to go to an evening meeting. Many older people do not drive after dark. If the only meetings in your area are daytime at a time when you can't attend maybe you could start an evening group. We have a small group at our church we started with 13 and shrunk but we enjoy our times together. Getting together with just a few people who are friendly and want to learn and share can be just as good as a large group.

Oklahoma Suzie

me too, I would go to your quild

Jois

We used to move around every 3-4 years or so and I've found it easier to find another quilter and join whatever quilt groups I could find with a friend. And that might help, send out the message to join your group or club and bring a friend.

Jois

MadQuilter

One of my favorite guild meetings is mentor night. There are stations set up and experienced members teach something to the members at large. The time allows for visiting/watching 3 different lessons. I always learn SOMETHING! For me, I go to a meeting when the guest speaker interests me so my goal is met no matter what. I do not go to socialize -that's what the QB is for.

ProLongarmARTQUILTER

OK I'm with Carla sue ,My experiences would curl your Hair,Not Good at the guild. Unbelievable, Unpleasantness and all because I'm different and I do things differently. Like I had to figure the quilt thing out for myself and I Just quilt my own way. some of you might not like it but mostly I Think You All are very nice folks. I'm not perfect but some think they are at guild ,

Linsoblu

I belong to a great quilt guild of about 50 ladies young and old. Everyone is very supportive and willing to teach you if you are having trouble. We do a quilt show every year and raise money for some group in our town that needs help. I'm proud to belong to this quilt guild and anyone is welcome. I'm sorry to hear so many have had terrible times with the ones they have been to. We just did a class for children in our town the kids were great and those of us who helped had a great time. Hopefully we made some kids future quilters. We plan to do another class in the fall.

Rainy Day

We have two guilds near where I live - one is closely knit and pretty cliquey, the other is great. Guess which one I am joining?

MarieM

I'm the president of our local guild in a rather small community, I'm new to the area (about 3 years)and new to quilting so was surprised when asked to be the president. Then realized they couldn't get anyone else to accept the position. We have about 40 members. We try to keep our meetings informative with some sort of quilting related demonstration. When you get 40 women together there are usually cliques and at least one or two negative people. To break into the cliques I showed interest in the work these women were doing and asked them lots of specific questions. As for the negative people we've actually had a few people leave our group (you can't be all things to all people) but we've also had some who have become involved in some of our service projects (quilts of valor and comfort quilts for the community) and some of there negativity has diminished. Most of our members are really good about greeting visitors. Our monthly newsletters with meeting minutes and upcoming events help us all to keep in touch. At a recent meeting we asked each member to bring their favorite tool, tip or trick for quilting. These will be published this summer and shared with guild members. A fun way to recognize each persons special talent and share our knowledge. We also have monthly exchanges, last year was pin wheels this year it is 6" batik blocks. We (14 of us) are also finishing a round robin this month. We have another member who is going to start a mystery quilt group this fall. Tap into your members and you'd be surprised how positive the group becomes.

BellaBoo

Should we clap or make a sad face?

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