i don't see why we can't be a group if we want to be! we could have a leader of the month, that way everyone gets to feel really involved and no one person is 'in charge'. how about instead of a theme, we concentrate on factions of art quilts, color, texture, painting, threadwork, any number of things.
i heard there's a train that goes from here to there and back again, so nyc isn't impossible to get to, and a person might could get unstuck, for a day!