clsurz

I've been curious for some time as to what other quilt guilds do throughout the country and figured I'd ask here.

If you belong to a quilt guild what are some of the things YOUR guild does throughout the year.

Some of the things I've read over the last several months and heard from our area and online by doing a search of what guilds offer many of them are very active and others not so much and some in between.

So since I asked the question I guess I'll start with ours the Wayne County Quilt Guild in Jesup, GA.

1- Officers and committees run for a period of two years;
2- Annual business meeting is held every January;
3- Monthly meetings are held twice a month with one being in the morning and the other in the evening;
4- Each month we have at least one teaching us something new about quilting, tools used, sewing, etc.;
5- Do charity quilts year round for displaced children taken from there homes; we also make quilts for other necessary needs such as the Austrialia couple months ago; for Japan last month and now we are getting ready to make quilts for those hit by tornadoes in Southern States recently; and we also made a quilt for a family who was burned out in a neighboring town last month when fires burned out several acres in that town.
6- Each March we participate in the dogwood festival promoting the guild and also raffling off a quilt made by the guild and money made is donated to a worth cause. This year we sold over $850 worth of tickets and after expenses taken out to make the quild the balance was donated this year to the county library to use for children's programs they run throughout the year;
7- We have a retreat each year usually in the fall and this year it is at the end of August;
8- After the morning monthly guild meeting we go to lunch at some resturant and than go to a local church for a "sew after" and we help each other out with projects we work on for each other as well as for the guild projects;
9- Throughout the month various ones meet in each others home in mini-groups to socialize, sew and quilt. I go with a group every Wednesday at a ladies place where she has a mobile home on her property that is used exclusively for use for such purposes. Boy do we have a good time. We eat, drink, sew, and work on each others projects and these ladies are wonderful in helping new folks like me to learn to sew and quilt.
10- The guild also has a "Big Sister, Little Sister" program which is a seasoned and active quilter of the guild is matched with a new member for a full year to help answer questions, teach them how to quilt, and such. I was fortunate to be paired with the lady whose home I go to each Wednesday and a couple other ladies in that same group got each one as well who are part of the guild but now also of this Wednesday meet if they wish to attend.

I'm probably missing some things we do since I'm still learning and new in this guild, only 4 months, going into my 5th now.

ANYWAY who is next to share what y'all do and what type of guild are you! I know some guilds are laid back and just friends getting together and some are much larger with few hundred members. Our guild only has 40 something members so we are small compared to others.

lbaillie

I'm not sure I'm the best to answer this question since I just joined a guild Stringtown Guild in Burlington, Ky, I have only been to 2 meetings, but it looks like a speaker is schedule for each month, we just picked our Charity project for the year, making doll quilts. They will go the the Salvation Army (I think) to go along with the dolls that are given out at xmas. So far I really like it, I'm hoping as I get to know people there is more socializing and sewing get to gathers.

ruck9085

Nothing to do with your question, just confused. I always thought Jessup was in the mountains, not on the coast.

Quilter7x

Wow, you’re in a very active group!

I'm in three quilting groups. For one of them, we meet at a Senior Center and we make items to donate to their bazaar. In another one, we're making pillowcases for teenagers with cancer and in the third group, we're making the heart shaped pillows with matching bags to be given to ladies who have just had mastectomies.

Each of the three groups puts on a yearly retreat, which are always wonderful.

Two of the groups meet monthly and there is a business meeting before the event. The event could be a trunk show, a guest speaker, "4 corners", which is where someone is in each corner of the room to show someone something new. There are Saturday open-sew days for $5 each, which covers the rental of the place we have it at.

The other group meets twice a month. One is a business meeting and the other is a learning session. This group sometimes has full day Saturday classes, usually taught by a member. These are usually for something that need more time than our two hour time slot for a regular meeting.

raedar63

The only local one I ran across don't seem to take to new members lol

BZ quilting

Our guild also has a get this our of my site month, where the members bring things they no longer want and we have a silent auction and the proceeds go to the guild.

May in Jersey

My Guild has 10 regular meetings a year, a bi-annual quilt show, raffles off a quilt each year, Community Outreach Program that distributes quilts and pillowcases to people in need, hosptials, food banks, churchs, etc.. Our monthly meetings begin with current business, then Show and Tell, a break for refreshments, then program of the month. Programs are mostly trunk shows by guest speakers or guild members, this month (May) we held our annual tea. We also have many workshop programs by guest teachers or guild members. We try to get newcomers to feel welcome but holding one or two Getting To Know You meetings a year where everyone is seated at tables and we share quilting and personal talk with each other. Our monthly newsletter features articles by our president and members, calendar of meetings, workshops, Sew In days, quilt shows by local guilds, etc. as well as ads by local quilt shops. Guild hosts the annual meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Guilds. We have a large stash room where we can help ourselves to anything we need, stash is always growing with donations from members who downsize their stashes. All in all it's a good group that has been in together for 25 years.

We meetl in the buildings of a local park and use the park, it's grounds and buildings for our quilt shows. In return we donate the proceeds of our annual raffle quilt to the park as our "rent" for the year, an arrangment that suits both the park and our guild. Guild members need to join the Park, fee for me this year was $25, which besides making me a guild member entitles me to park activities. May in Jersey

icon17

I don't belong to one So... I get the Idea of What a Guild is But other than the companionship/help/learning are there any other things you get when you are a member of a Guild? Is there a Cost for joining one? 8-)

Grama Lehr

Our guild, THE NITE OWLS, are doing much doing all of the above, the only thing they don't do is the Big sister, Little sister program, that sounds really interesting.
I only joined our guild in January, but I love it and have already made several new friends. I LOVE IT!! :D
Our charities are Ronald Mc Donald house, Quilts of Valor and the babies at the local Neo-natal ward of the hospital. We are also doing quilts for Japan. We have a free sew the third Saturday of the month when we work on these projects.
I have really enjoyed every single moment of my time spent with the guild!
Our dues are $35 a year. This sounds kinda silly, but it makes it easy to remember. The month you were born, you bring snacks, and a "gift" to raffle off. They sell raffle tickets, 5 for a dollar, and the money goes to the guild fund. They do block of the month, I am not real sure how that one works. They pull names at the beginning of the meeting for attendance, and you get all kinds of things for being there. We also make blocks for those sick or in the hospital. They are a kind caring bunch of women.

Ripped on Scotch

I'm the VP for my guild... here is what we do

*Officers and committees run for a period of two years (All but VP. it is a 3 year commitment first year you are VP second year you are president, then the 3rd year you are an advisor)

* Monthly meetings are the first Monday of the month, we have one in the afternoon and one in the evening

*Each month we have something from the program committee. Some times is a new technique, sometimes it's a trunk show. We always try to have 1 big speaker every year.

*Charity Quilts - we do them all year round but we have 1 day that is dedicated to putting them together. From Sept 1- Dec 31 we had handed out over 100 quilts to various charities in the area.

* Every other year we have a quilt show.

* We have a retreat each year. This year it is the end of May.

* Once a month we have a "stashbusters" where we rent a location and anyone can come and work on a project. there are normally a few people there so if you need help there are peopl there to help.

* We have a yahoo group so we can email and arrange outings as a group for anyt quilt shows or Shop hops that we want to go to

* we have different classes and round Robins and such through out the year so everyone has the ability to participate.
* At every meeting members are encouraged to bring finished items as a show and tell for everyone to see.

Our guild has 230 members so we have a large group.