I belong to a quilt group. We don't have officers or rules. We have meetings where we just talk about quilts; we don't do any actual sewing. We've become great friends over the years, so our conversations now involve our work, homes, families, etc. We have show-n-tell and talk about things we've learned, classes we've taken, problems we've had with a technique or a fabric, etc. We meet in our homes and usually everyone brings a snack of some kind. These meetings usually last about 3 hours.
We also have all-day sew days about 4 times a year, where we bring our machines, fabric, tools, etc. and sew all day long. We utilize community rooms that are available for free at our local fire stations, libraries, and public utility company. I would suggest such a venue for your meetings at first, until you get to know everyone.
Don't feel nervous. Just explain to everyone exactly what you explained to us - you're a beginner quilter, you'd like to meet up to learn skills and make friends. They may even have some suggestions about venues that you're unaware of. Quilters are a kind bunch the world around.
Last edited by Peckish; 03-27-2016 at 01:21 PM.