first time
 

I went to the quilting guild for the first time today. It's a small group of a little over thirty people. Everyone was a lot older than me except for two other people. Everyone was very friendly and treated me like I belonged. They had the business meeting, show and tell, ate lunch- everyone brings something- then they had demos of how to do apliques and different quilting blocks. Wasn't what I expected but I learned a lot. May have to go a few times to get used to it. It was a very nice group of quilters.I thought you would sew all day but I only saw one sewing machine there.

Glad to hear that you had a positive experience. I hope that the fact that the people were friendly and that you learned a lot will mean that you will go back again. The knowledge that experienced quilters have is so valuable.

Sewing all day may happen at special meetings, classes, and retreats.

Dayle

Sounds like a good group to join!! I'm glad they welcomed you! Once you get to know the group and feel comfortable, maybe you could put forth the idea of a "sew day", if they don't already have one. I'm sure there would be interest in it. Do they have retreats?

Lucky you! You got to learn something new.

Our quilt guild has a meeting 1/month. In addition we have a "Sit and Sew" on the fourth Sat. of every month from 9-3, bring your lunch. We meet in a church hall that the guild rents for us out of our dues. Did you ask about something like this? I also have a small group (13) that meets 1/wk. on Wed. from 10-1, bring your lunch. We meet in the members homes that have space. Two members swap off the weeks.

I am so glad that you met with a friendly group. Finding encouraging people is at least half of what I would want in a group. I would try it for a while. I know that I learn so much from other quilters.

Our guild never sews during their meetings, but they have workshops once a month and individual "sewing bees." You might check and see if your guild has those. At least they were friendly! Sure beats a lot I have heard of. :)

Dina

Glad you had a better experience than I did. The only guild I ever joined was so full of cliques, and were totally ... and I mean totally ... unfriendly. I felt so very unwelcome; I felt invisible. I went to several meetings, even went through Christmas where gifts were exchanged, etc. Nothing ever changed. I finally realized it just was not for me. I never felt welcomed, never felt a part of it ... and I did put myself out there, trying. Most nights I sat by myself, with maybe a "hello" coming from a couple of people, but nothing more. Wish I could find a really nice/good group of people to share my love of quilting with. Sigh ...

I am not a joiner of anything, I prefer my own company. I have learned so much from this board and my lots of quilting books. I have read posts on here about Ladies taking lightweight machines to classes, etc. Hopfully you will continue to enjoy yourself.

I wish I could find a group like the one you describe. In my area I know of 3: one of them suffers from a superiority complex and doesn't want the less-experienced quilters. I tried another in which being single and childless felt like being from Mars - they talked about nothing, and I mean nothing, but husbands, children and grandchildren, and made no effort to include me in their conversations or find out anything about me or my life. I'm pretty good at talking about kids - I have nephews and nieces and friends with kids who I know well - but this felt very excluding. I don't think some of them had ever met a single person before! The 3rd has an agenda of trying to get members to join their church. I used to quilt with a friend, but that came to an end. So this board is now my quilting group, and that's a great gift. I don't mind working alone, and I come here for ideas, advice and inspiration - love it, especially as there are so many of us, from so many countries and different circumstances.