Can someone explain what a quilting guild is please. What do you usually do in a guild? How do you join etc..

Thanks

I am a member of the Golden Rand Guild in Johannesburg. It is like a club for quilters and organises quarterly meeting where we have a show and tell (you bring your quilts for people to see), a brief talk from someone - generally about quilting but could be something of interest to quilters - we had one about ergonomics to prevent backstrain/wrist strain etc. The local shops also are at the quarterly meetings so you can shop and catch up with people who don't live too close to you. They also act as a communicator regarding home clubs, and charity drives.

We are having an National quilt festival in September and my guild is the organisers this year.

They are great "clubs" to belong to ... you get lots of nice input and help with quilting issues - very much like this board!

Suggest you join one near you - they are not expensive to join (well at least in South Africa they aren't) and can lead you to meeting a lot of people with quilting as their hobby/passion/obsession.

I haven't had a great experience with a guild.
Here in Memphis, we seem to have "snooty" guilds. All are longarmers or machine quilters, etc.
The fee was $25 to join and then $10 per meeting.
There was show and tell and a local quilt show (which also cost to attend)

I have friends I quilt with, and we invite everyone we meet who shows the least bit of interest! We know have about 10 in the group, we meet off and on Saturday mornings from 9:30 to noon. We quilt around a frame and bring our latest show and tell projects. We are all beginners, so there is only friendship and not criticism.

If you are in Memphis area, pm me and I'll issue you an invite!

Purple

Thanks! Everytime I'm in Hancock someone asks if I'm in a guild and I really didn't know what "guild" meant.

Purple, I'm in FL, but thanks.

I've avoided finding a guild . . .I've been afraid that it would become a very competitve forum and I quilt for relaxation. I'd be glad to hear otherwise from you ladies (and gents) who do belong to guilds.

There is a small guild in the tiny town that I live in and I know almost everyone there. I went a few times, but I found it a waste of time and almost everything they talked about, I had already learned from my daughter. However, I went to a few retreats that her guild goes on and I enjoyed them very much. I wish she were still in So. California so we could still go - But she had to go and move!!

I beong to the Sun Country Quilters in Red Bluff, CA. We have a fairly large group, I think we have about 250 actuve members. We meet on the 4th Monday evening of each month. There is always some kind of program. Some times it is a sew-in when we work on community quilts. Last month was a fun Quilt-a-thon. There was 16 teams of three who raced to put a mystery quilt top together and the tops will be quilted this month by volunteers and then the quilts will be given to various organizations such as adult services and child protective services. The teams were cheered on by the quild members and fat quaarter prizes were given for different judging as first, second and third place finishers, best colors, most accurate piecing, etc. It was a lot of fun. I was one of the on lookers. We also have one meeting to make blocks for the community quilts and the blocks are then put together by a group that meets weekly to assemble the quilts. I have to be close to home as DH needs constant care but I bring home work to do. When I am able I try to go to these meetings, it is almost like a quilting bee. We have many wonderful speakers on all kinds of subjects and trunk shows by members. We always have show and tell each meeting. Of course we have refreshments and every two years we have a hugh quilt show for a weekend and open to the public. It is a big event. The quilts are displayed with props, very perfessionally done, we have venders, a gift shop with members' handiwork and books and magazines and trunk shows, demonstrations on different ways of quilting, piecing, etc. and we have an area where the public actually design a block with precut 2 1/2"
fabric squares on felt boards and quild members sew nine patches that will become community quilt tops.
As all groups sometimes there are some clicks but the group as a whole are very friendly and non polictial. We change officers every year . .
Our guild even has a website: http://www.suncountryquilters.com and a monthly newsletter and we also give scholarship to high school graduates.

Some stores will offer a 10% discount if you're a guild member, so maybe that's why they ask you.
I've been members of 2 different guilds for many years, and think it is mostly a rewarding experience. Yes there are people there who aren't my first choice of friends, but then there are wonderful people there who will do anything for those less fortunate and offer help any time it's needed. I also belong to a group of 8 ... all originally met through my guild.

I'm a member of a "Night" guild (there's a "Day" guild too :-) ). I joined to learn more about quilting. The members are all very nice but the quilt police also attend. :( It seems very cliquey too, but that may be because I'm a younger member and most ladies have known each other for MANY years. I like it because there are some members who are SOOOOO talented - and who are so willing to teach those willing to learn! They're just like the ladies here...
I have heard that there is an applique society here in town and to join you must be invited!?! But then again, they're work is very nice...

I belong to a guild of about 60 members. We meet once a month and the membership is $12 a year (no charge to attend the meeting). It's a lovely group of people who welcomes everyone with encouragement. I'm sorry that some people have had bad experiences at guilds, but I encourage everyone to attend a few meetings at their local guild before deciding whether or not to join. A guild can be a great place to learn, regardless of what level quilter you are, and also a place to meet people who share your interest in quilting.

I used to belong to two guilds in Texas I loved the one and the other I didn't care for much but i just joined one in Ontario by my cottage and I just love it the women are great. I think guilds are great if you have a good mix of women. I really missed being part of a guild as you can take classes and do challenges and they have a quilt show to be part of usually.
Dawn

I forgot to post a link for you to look at LOL
I just joined mine here in Canada as I have been here for 2 years without being part of a group and very excited to find one, heres the link so you can have an idea what a guild is
http://www.pinetreequiltersguildofmuskoka.com/

American Quilt Society? That sounds nice! We have one local quild, based on what I hear it's pretty good sized complete with a website, but they meet during the day when I am knee deep in my "mommy duties" I wish they had a night section too. :(

sewnsewer2, where in fl are you located? I'm here too, and so is Moonpi. I doubt you're by me, as I wouldn't be able to find a Hancocks even with a map and a compass from where I live. But maybe someone else?

I feel a bit shy with my work, everyone is always so nice here, I don't feel I need to worry of "that's horrible and so ...untraditional" or something, even now I think I've found the right longarmer, but don't feel ready to CALL and would rather email....

Lorretta I had a membership with them until I moved back to Canada so I join the Canadian quilters assoc. They are both a great organization.
Dawn

Thank you everyone for all the great info on guilds!

Elizabeth, I'm in central FL by Cocoa Beach. Hancock is 2-1/2 miles from home.

I belong to the Hammersmith Gild we meet once a month and are off for the summer we put on a show every two years in Oct. We have classes and trips some for the wwekend others for the day. I can always fine someone to help me out sicen we are 100 strong and have a waiting list to join.

Quilt4you,
What kind of weekend classes and trips do you do? That sounds interesting.

The guild here (though I am not a part of it) gets a 20% off discount in the stores. As a quilting instructor I get a 20% discount too as well as my students. I love it!

Shop Hops ,Bus tours, Quilt get aways, classas are making all different quilts We had this year a milldalion mistrey quilt I was in that one and it will be in the show

We also get a 20% off in quilt shops. We also have a block a month program I just won a fat quter an a 5$gift card fro doing all the blocks for the season we have a drawing each month to see who will get the blocks each month

Its a shame you didn't make it to the CQA quilt conference this year!!! Its here in St. John's this week! I am going with the rest of our Thursday night quilting group tonight. We are meeting for supper first at Pasta Plus restaurant then heading over to the university to see what we can find!!! We are really looking forward to seeing the Merchant's Market! I was chatting with a few girls from the Singer Sewing World store not far from the office here the other day and they said the Merchant's Market was incredible!! I was warned to hang on to my money cause there will be sooooooo many things you will want to buy and may find yourself broke before the end of the night!!!!

Have you been to any of their conferences before? I wanted to do one or two of their workshops, but first, where I wasn't a CQA member, those members got first dibs on registering for the workshops first. When I was ready to register, the courses I wanted were filled :( Not to mention the workshops were very costly. I did find out back in February though, that some of the instructors (that are here from around the world) will be spending more time here on the island and offering workshops in some of the quilt shops. I am attending a landscape wallhanigng workshop on Monday. I am taking Monday off work to do this course. I can't WAIT!! I will be shown how to do more creative FM embroidery and thread painting which is something I always wanted to try!

Oh that sounds like so much fun!!! I don't have the time to join our guild here. I know many of the guild members as I used to work in a quilt store here years ago. Another reason I haven't joined is because of a nasty nasty evvvil EX-MIL!!! Mind you, she has been my ex MIL for about 8 years now and she loathes the ground I stand on.... the woman is very very childish and immature and loves to put me down every chance and opportunity she can. The last time she tried that was at the quilt store a few years ago. She tried to embarass me in front of her friends, but I had enough of her crap and I put her in her place and embarassed her in front of her friends. She never came back to that store again!! LOL I wouldn't care WHAT she said to me now, but I still don't wish to join. I don't wish to cause a scene, cause I know I would say something to her again if I had to.

But after saying that all, another reason I haven't joined is because I just dont' have the time!! Between working on my designs to sell, prepping projects and lessons plan for teaching, teaching :) and just general fun, I don't have time. Maybe one of these days I might do so when things maybe slow down for me... hee hee don't see that happening anytime soon!!

Until then, I consider this place here to be the BEST guild of all!!! You don't have to wait one day out of each month to meet, you can come here all day all night 365 days 24/7!!! Everyone is sooooooooooo nice and supportive and inspirational!! Its just a shame we all couldn't be closer together!! Just THINK of the fun retreats and sewing sessions we could all have!!! What fun!

I joined our local quilt guild two years ago and I just love being a member. Our website is www.towpathquiltguild.org/
We still have some charter members actively involved. There is such a wealth of talent in this guild and yet no one is ever made to feel "unworthy". There are workshops offered that are either free (if members are teaching) or a ridiculously inexpensive fee ($25 for a 3 hour class). i like the idea that we do worthwhile service projects, such as quilts to the military or lap quilts to nursing homes. The guild has brought in some well known speakers, such as Carol Taylor. Our Holiday Party is the biggest social event of the year and is so much fun. And, guess who offered to be the chairperson for the 2008 Holiday Party? You guessed it, "Yours Truly". Should be fun. We have a big quilt show every two years and our next one is Spring 2009. It is a really nice show, but alot of work to put together. I would know, because I helped with the last one. I could go on and on about Towpth Quilt Guild, but I'll spare you. But, please, take a peek at the website and I think it will give you a good idea of how fortunate I am to be a member of this organization :wink: Nita

Quilting Aggi
That would of been so nice to go. I hope one year I can make it when it is held closer to me. It would of been nice to go back to Newfoundland as it has been years since I lived there In Gander. I have not taken any class with them but I have been very lucky to Take a lot of great classes with well known quilters when I liven in Austin and I got to go to the Houston show twice.
I did try to do the challenge one year but I was too late there were no more packages left but i should try again LOL
Dawn

One of these days I will get to the big quilt show in Houston!!!! It's definetly on my list of places to see when it comes to my quilting!

I starting quilting 2 years ago in Kelowna BC and the ladies were fantastic, they took me under their wings and taught me all I needed to know to get started. I could only go to evening guild meetings because I attended classes in the mornings, but then when school was done, I got to go every Tuesday morning. Show and Tell was a blast, and of the 125 members there were always at least 40 or 50 ladies present, so I got to see a lot of works in progress. They did a lot of charity work so my first 4 quilts were for the community.
Now that I have moved back down to the coast, I found a guild here in Richmond BC and the ladies work on Mondays and Fridays on community projects only, so i have finished to crib quilts for them and just finished a lap robe top last night. Thursday is do your own thing, so I am usually there for a chat and a bit of advice etc. There are only about 20 active members though, but it is great fun.
Andi

:twisted: :evil: Guild? Some kinda Quiltzillas, I saw

I like the guild here. My only problem is I can't seem to get to meetings consistently. We're either gone or have the grandson about half the time. Not their fault :) , just seems to work out that way. The ladies are all very nice and there are some amazing talents amongst them. I love the show and tells, and each meeting the vp has a planned lesson of some kind. Our community outreach is making bears for the EMT folks to carry on the ambulance and hand out to kids in traumatic situations. Last year they handed out 700+ bears.

I really like the guild I've been attending for about 1 1/2 years. They are about 30 strong and meet during the day.

We have some amazing quilters and some beginners. Each month we have our business meeting, a lunch provided by 3 members at a time, show & tell, BOM, and a program which is usually a technique lesson.

Once a year we have a retreat at an area lodge and I get to go this year!

We also ask that each member make 5 charity projects that we then donate. We make lap quilts for the area nursing homes, youth size quilts for the Shriners Children's Hospital in St. Louis, lap quilts for a women's shelter and some others as the need arise.

We also do a quilt raffle each year that provides the income for our guild. We pay $19 per year in dues, nothing per meeting and we pay our own way for the retreat. They sometimes work in day trips to places of interest or area LQS too.

It's a good group.

Everyone's comments about guilds have been interesting to read. I have had a positive and a negative experience.

In VA I belongs to Quilter's Unlimited. http://www.quiltersunlimited.org/index.htm It is a HUGE guild with over 1000 memebers, so it is divided into 12 chapters. There were day and night meetings on different days of the week, in different locations and each chapter was totally different. The chapter that I belonged to met on Tuesday mornings-the first week of the month was a business meeting, the third Tuesday was a program meeting, the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays were sit-and-sew. There was show and tell every week. They had guest speakers, block of the month activities, classes, demos, workshops, retreats, and bus trips to area quilt shows, etc. Everyone was really supportive and willing to help. I found that the more I attended and met people, the more fun I had and the more I got out of it. It was a great group of ladies and I had a good experience. The guild even has a big non-juried quilt show every year and all the quilts in it belong to guild members-they have LOTS of vendors, too-it is a fun show.

So, when I moved to GA I knew I wanted to find a guild to meet fellow quilters, make new friends and have that same companionship I had in VA. My closest guild was 30 miles away, but I joined and attended the once a month meetings. There were about 75 members and most of the ladies were in their 70s and 80s (no offense to anyone here :D ). They had all been friends for years, were very set in their ways, and did not care about sharing their love of quilting with "an outsider". Even though I did not feel very welcome, I decided to keep attending (we have retired here and I need to make the most of this) and even volunteered for a job with their upcoming quilt show. When some family problems arose and I was not able to attend meetings for several months in a row, no one called to find out why and when I returned, no one even noticed I had been gone. I found this very disheartening because they spent part of every meeting talking about this person and the other's health, etc. I finally gave up and quit.

That is why I turned to this message board. You are now my guild. We may not go on retreats together, but the show and tell is great and you cannot beat the support.

Still, I would encourage anyone to try a guild, if they have the opportunity. Most quilters are wonderful and would welcome you with open arms.

Guild! Fun, lots of good friends to meet.. Share same common bond.. Inspiring, networking.. can be challenging for newbie to join in those quilt gangs, who might seem to you as criticism but are just trying to help you learn.. Our guild has huge book/tool/rulers borrowing all created by members. We pay a yearly fee, attend mthly, have small garage, craft sale by members, exchange with Grand forks quild, put up a huge show every 2yrs. Show/tell is everyones'favorite and the workshops.. Our guild is non-profit with over 300+ members huge group.

A great guild will have fundraisers to have workshops and programs from many different instructors. Lots of challenges and projects for members to choose which ones appeals to them to be part of. The board members will decide the running of the guild, no voting what to do by members which will cause bad feelings. No one is Boss, a President will keep the meeting flowing smoothly. Dues should be high enough from members to cover the basic expenses. A good website or Facebook guild page to read the newsletter and see pictures of Show and Tell from each meeting. I have left several guilds due to cheapskates, computer phobias, and tired programs. The guild I am in now is perfect for me. Over 100 members and everyone gets along!

I did not join a guild, because I dont have the time or schedule flexibility to contribute. But our LQS started a hand sewing club (you were not allowed to bring machines). And we started each making a Dear Jane. It was the best club around, we moved from Dear Jane to Applique.....funny hand quilting never caught on. But we loved show and tell, the encouragement, and the ability to shop once a month for more fabric. The LQS closed and most of us dispirsed. My 2 daughters bought homes/farms on both sides of Hubby and Me. So my days are now filled with grandchildren and family. So, guess what, this forum is my new place to see what others are doing, and a place to ask questions. I was not prepared for all the support and kindness that abounds here. You guys are the greatest.

I belong to a great guild. We have different programs. Some months classes by members. Sometimes classes by known teachers. Other times we just have a sit n sew. Always have show and tell. Encouragement is for all levels of quilters. That is what we are there for. To encourage and assist anyone that takes an interest in this fabulous art. Not all guilds are equal. You just have to try them out and find the one that fits you. And I hope you can find that special place

My group isn't a "guild" but rather a charity quilting group funded by the local Baptist church. Minimally funded. Mostly we make quilts out of our own stashes and fabrics that have been donated to us. The church buys some batting and lets us take the vans to quilt shows and shop hops. The group has dozens of members but only about 15 actually participate regularly. We make quilts for chemo and transplant patients, and children in hospitals and group homes. It's wonderfully rewarding.

We have two meetings a month and show and tell... you can bring your personal stuff as well as donations. No charge to join, you just have to be willing to donate at least 3 quilts a year. Most of us do at least ten times that many. Four times a year we have a "Quiltathon" where we all work on a project together for most of a Saturday. I am so happy to have found these ladies and have a great local group to share my love of quilting with. No clicks, just friendliness.

I belong to 2 guilds--my local, large general guild--we have lots of charity opportunities, monthly meetings (day & repeated at night), programs at all meetings, almost monthly workshops--usually taught by members but sometimes big names, an annual show, activities to introduce sewing to kids, beginner classes free for the membership (our other workshops are usually free or minimum fee) and just a great group. We are also one of 15 guilds that organize a huge regional show in the KC area. My machine quilters guild is mostly long arm quilters, but there are others in the guild too--we meet quarterly and have a charity project once a year. the focus is only on the machine quilting--the programs are mostly big name quilters (Dusty Farrell, Pat Barry, Angela Walters, Kris Viera, Janet Stone, etc) and very helpful--probably about half are professional quilters and all are very helpful to each other.

With any guild, the more you contribute and attend meetings, the more you get from the group. Go for it!

I belong to a quilting guild and really feel I get a lot out of it. It is a great way to meet wonderful people, have fun and advance your quilting skills. There are many activities going on - you could not possibly participate in everything.

I joined a guild for just one year and felt like an outsider. Everyone had established friendships and had their tables to sit at already made. I had just moved to this town so was looking for people with the same quilting interests and some social time. The guild did not work for me but eventually I have met about 6 ladies with quilting interests and we meet every Monday in one of our houses. We rotate who will host and we have so much fun. The ladies give opinions and advice if asked and we have show and tell too. All in all we just meet to sew together and have laughs and tons of fun.

I was invited to a guild potluck for introducing new members. When I left after some snide remarks, I knew it wasn't a place I wanted to be.