Welcome from South Louisiana.
In the winter there are many quilters in the surrounding area around Tucson, mainly snowbirds from the frozen north. Locally in Tucson, you have a couple of guilds that might be worth looking into. It's nice to have quilty friends that you can call or go sew with.
http://www.tucsonquiltersguild.com/
http://www.tucsonmodernquilts.com/