When I first moved here I was looking around my LQS and came upon a business card for a local longarm quilter. I called her to ask about doing a quilt for me and also asked her about any quilting groups nearby. She introduced me to a small group of some of the nicest ladies I've ever met who meet once a week and sew quilts (but you can also bring whatever thread or yarnwork project you're working on...it's very informal). If you don't have anything to work on you can just chat or help someone who needs a hand, and sometimes we all work on the group project which is a raffle quilt we try to do every year to raise funds for the little community center where we meet. I've been going there for almost 9 years now. Maybe you can do something similar?