Originally Posted by Butterfli19
My neighbor invited me to her quilt guild meeting last week and other than her and the lady sitting next to me, I felt like an intruder. I tried to talk to people but got short answers back and no one seemed to want to acknowledge that I was there.
The other thing is, they had a show and tell and the quilts some of these ladies made were stunning, I mean fabulously breathtaking. Mine are small and simple. I'm also more of a doll maker than a quilt maker but the doll groups around me are more for collectors than makers.
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Am I not giving them a fair chance? Has anyone had anything similar happen?
My quilt guild is a little like that. The guild is so big (around 180-200) and many people don't always come to every meeting that I have no idea who is new. In my group, if you do talk to people, they try to be friendly, but they're a liitle anxious to talk to a friend so they don't stay very long.
As for the stunning quilts that they've made...oh, my gosh. Some of them are published in quilt magazines. My neighbor goes with me to the guild meetings and we just look at each other because their quilts are far above our quilts.
Now, after saying all of that, my guild is a great group to go to quilt retreats with. They are helpful, and not snobbish. They are great at giving tips on different things and they always admire what you are making. But you see, the quilt retreats are just a small group (maybe 20 or so). We all chit-chat and sew...(and eat chocolates)...sew..chit-chat. It is a lot of fun.
The best way to join in with the guild, is to get involved at their next quilt show. Volunteer at the many different jobs that they have.