I posted an invite a couple of years ago, suggesting about an area about 30 or 40 miles around where I live. I have access to a great quilting room. Our first meeting was at a quilt shop which had just moved, about 25 miles from where I live. The day went wonderfully. A few of us meet once a month at my place because I have a great quilting area.

Perhaps starting off with a meeting at a quilt shop was the clincher for us. We got to see each other before committing to anything. Now, I've got to get going and meet a couple of them at a quilt show near where they live.

My very best friends are some that I met through an online group. When we decided to meet, we met as a group in a library meeting room. That was more than 10 years ago & we are more sisters than friends now. We have laughed together, cried together & lost friends from the group to death. If one of the group is in need for anything, we come together to help. Every year we have a group picnic & even our families are close now. I've also met some pretty strange (IMHO) people from another group. I didn't mind meeting others as long as it was a public place at first - some clicked - some didn't. Now I don't obligate to meet for several reasons. I no longer drive, every time I leave home I have to load up the car with oxygen tanks, & have someone drive me & it just physically takes every thing out of me to be away from home. I can't be gone longer than 6 hours anyway, or miss a breathing treatment - the inhaler just doesn't hold me as well as the nebulizer supplied meds. I think the secret to successful meetings is to take it slow & make it public

Hugs
Shirley in Indiana

One of my closest friends was a fellow quilter I met on an online forum (not here). She was collecting the new state quarters for her granddaughter, and was hoping to swap with someone on the other side of the country (because different states were released from different mints). We started pm-ing each other, then exchanged emails and really hit it off. However, this relationship took TIME to build. We emailed each other several times a day - pictures of quilts we liked, links to patterns, etc. Really got to know each other. We discovered that we're opposites in just about everything; the kinds of movies we like, our fabric preferences, the style of quilts we like, our musical tastes, etc. We started exchanging "squishies" or packages of goodies. I learned that if I didn't like the fabric or the pattern, chances were she WOULD! Being friends with her has forced me to expand my quilting horizons, and I mean that in a good way. I started out traditional and she's more modern, but being friends has helped us to experiment and grow in our tastes and skills.

We decided to start a blog together and worked on that together for a year or so. Then one day she told me she had a motel room in Paducah, and if I could get there, I could share her room. So we finally met in April 2010 and had a blast! My turn, and I got a room in Houston earlier this month and told her if she could get there, she could share my room. Once again, we had a blast! This has been one of the most rewarding relationships I have ever had. I love my Cin!

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Don't give up on trying to meet new people. It can be very rewarding. Just take the time to grow the relationship, don't force it. Meet in neutral and fun locations, like maybe a joint LQS shopping trip followed by coffee and a scone. Good luck and have fun!

have meet 4 on board with 2 of theme 1 moved but get together to quilt on Thursdays with another a great way to meet new friends

I am a member of a board here in Australia and a few of us within a short distance arranged to meet in Sydney. It was chosen because there were plenty of things to do/see if no one else turned up. Five us said we would meet and 5 us of turned up at the appointed time and place. We had a fabulous day and I now have a lasting friendship with one of the ladies.

So I say go for it. Arrange a convenient place maybe a fabric shop so if the other does not turn up at least you have not wasted your journey.

I have online friends that I met years ago on a sewing machine repair board. :) We are still good friends we have been though a lot with each other cancer, anyersum surgery, gall bladder stuff , family stuffs out the wazoo . I would love to meet them someday. Ones in TX and one is in Mass. And they are about that far apart in personality. LOL .. I am also a loner. I prefer my own company or the company of 4 leggeds .. I can take humans in small doses and have a good time. :)

Please don't take it personal that the person doesn't want to meet you--some of us are not "people persons".
Glad to hear it put that way,Jan. I am the same way but I have always just called myself a hermit or recluse. I seem to be getting more so as I age. I just found out the home of a hermit is called a hermitage.

I have met several online friends and really enjoyed it each time. A public place is always the best idea for the first time. Some have wanted to meet again, and some I never heard from about getting together again after that. I don't think it was that either of us did anything wrong, just our paths don't naturally cross and other things get/got in the way of meeting up again.

Well I haven't met anybody on this board but this sure has been an interesting discussion. Many people like the amininoty of a chat room. Speaking of chat rooms I keep forgetting we have one on this board. I have never used it. But like the others have posted the QB member was hopefully just shy!

meeing
 

wish i lived near you i tried that too & it didn't work I would love to meet someone who lives near me & loves to quilt Happy Thanksgiving