I must say, after having been a member of at least 8 or 9 quilds over the years, I have never met a happy or understanding want-to-be guild member who didn't 'make it' because some guild limited its membership. To a person they have all had hurt feelings and a bad taste in their mouths for a group of fellow quilters who could be so exclusive as to reject another quilter. No matter the reason.
I have also been in two guilds that have made the serious and sometimes painful decision to move the meeting location to accommodate growth. And that quickly appeared to benefit everyone!
Wouldn't it be awkward if Quilters Newsletter Magazine or McCall's Quilting magazine printed only, say, 50,000 copies because that's how many rolled off the presses in one 24 hour day and they just didn't want to bother to run them a second day?
Jan in VA