My guild costs nothing. No yearly fee, no project cost, no class fees.

I like it.

Here is the URL.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/


tim in san jose

hehe tim Nice guild ;)

We have a fundraiser raffle quilt every two years and sell tickets but no one required to buy them. Mostly we ask for volunteers to sit at a booth at different events and sell the tickets to the public. We make two to three thousand with the raffle quilt but it take a lot of volunteer time. A guild is like any other group. You have to do a little something to support it.

I'm with K_jupiter.... my guild is this one with all of you... thanks
Cathy

the guild in my area charges yearly dues, for workshops/class and retreats. people do bring snacks for the group but its not required. the lectures are free.

once a year we are all required to teach a technique to the group. this is my favorite part of the guild because we are such a varied artistic group the topics are from across the board.

i taught the group how to make dyed ombre fabric this year.

My local quilt guild charges dues of $15 per year. If we go to a class, there is a small fee -- usually $20 or less.

Every two years we do have a quilt show where a quilt is made and raffled off. We are given tickets to sell/buy. Year before last, I just turned all my tickets back in and no one said anything! Of course, they do expect you to volunteer some time working at the show if you can or at least have one quilt to show (whether it's perfect or not!).

I have tickets for this year's show (held in Sept.) but I haven't sold any -- guess I'd better get busy and do that!! :-)

Like most others here, I pay only an annual membership fee ($20). There are occassional classes offered which are a separate fee. Generally these are taught by members and cost $5 per person. Once every several years, we have a "well known" person come in; there is generally a small fee to participate.

We do, as a group, an opportunity quilt. Materials are purchased by the guild, all members are asked to assemble at least one block, more if they are able. The organizing committee takes care of basting & quilting (which may be donated by a member who is a long-armer OR hand quilted by members). We are all asked to sell tickets, both individually and at a venue in half-hour shifts (we sell them at a street festival and at a local produce/craft/flea market set up one weekend). There is no monetary cost to members. For the most part, the assembly and selling of the tickets, we try to help out as we can to benefit others, but we do not have to.

If costs are getting to be too much - if members are being asked to give money, etc. - I'd suggest looking for alternatives, including forums such as this. Great info, lots of good people, etc.

I guess one thing to remember is the "guild" is totally made up of volunteers just like you and I and if no one volunteers then there's no guild. In the past I did serve as President and it's a great way to really get to know the other members. Now I volunteer my time by making care quilts as it's something that I can do in the evenings after work. I think if everyone does their little part a guild can be a wonderful caring group. We pay $35 per year, but we also hold a 50/50 draw each meeting to help raise a little extra to help pay for door prizes. We make a raffle quilt each year and encourage everyone to work on it, (newbies included) and also to sell raffle tickets to raise more money for the guild to use on workshops and speakers. Because we are non-profit we donate proceeds from the quilt each year to a charity that the guild votes on. We only ask $1/ticket and I sold 150 in one day, while I sat and enjoyed a spring festival at my workplace.

Another option is to start a new guild with your friends.

My guild fees are $30 per year and we are asked to sell $25 of Opportunity Quilt tickets, as well as donate items for raffle, but only the fees are mandatory. I don't like to sell tickets so I usually buy them myself and give them as gifts. It still makes my yearly cost less than $5 per meeting, less than I would pay for a movie, so I think it is worth it.