Once a month I get together with friends to sew. It is only one day out of the month so I don't care if I get nothing done because it is very stimulating to be introduced to different ideas. We always meet at the same person's house as she doesn't want to travel. It takes more than an hour for all of us to drive there soyou can see how all of us love it. Usually it is a group of six. We have "show and tell" and we are thinking of having mini challenges. If someone has a technique they would like to demonstrate, we do that sometimes. Not everyone has to participate if they don't want to. I think this sort of meeting is beneficial as long as it doesn't fall into the trap of being a gossip session.