we are a small town in north alabama named spruce pine just got a coummiunty center the ladies want to get a group together to quilt everyone will be welcome does any one have any ideals for me ? i'am a long time quilter just for the love of it.

It depends on what you want to get out of it and/or put into it.

I belong to a very small group - and we all just "do our own thing."

Some groups are goal oriented - created to make "give-away quilts" or to raise money or whatever.

We have three or four gals that meet in my home once a week. We decided to keep it small, so we wouldn't have to rent a place and to keep it homey. We also made an agreement about the tone of our get-togethers: no gossip, positive encouragement only with honest opinions when asked for, only healthy snacks (rats!). We all work on whatever we wish and don't limit it to quilting. We do crochet, knitting, tatting, sewing, mending, etc. We love it!

I'm in a small group that has gotten together for close to ten years. We all do our own thing. But from time to time we have made quilts for community members who have health struggles or for breast cancer awareness auctions. It started when there were several of us with small kids that needed a night away. Sometimes we have 4 or 5 in the group sometimes we have 20. Depends where people are in their lives. We share patterns and swap fabric and magazines. We have had our own mini retreats and scheduled all day sewing marathons. Sometimes we don't get a lot of sewing done, but we do a lot of fellowship.

Does the community center have "rules" you need to follow such as having a goal and keeping minutes, etc. If not, then incorporate the ideas listed above that work with your group. I have a group that ranges from 4 to 11 people that meet once a week in a friends house and we bring pot luck and work on whatever most of the time. We also make lap quilts and pillowcases for donation. The idea is to keep it fun and organized but not too complicated.

I've started several of these groups, some of which became quilt guilds with executive boards and non-profit status. But each started with a like-minded group of ladies who just wanted a place to meet other quilters and work on their own projects.

The first meeting is usually a get-acquainted, show-us-what-you're-working-on time. Often we play an interview game...arrange seats in a bit of a circle, interview the person on your left - learn about their quilting AND non-quilting life. You will introduce your new friend, and YOU will BE interviewed and introduced at the next meeting. Great way to make a new friend!

At the second meeting we usually chatted about whether we wanted to be more formal.....with a name, by-laws, board members, and a set date and time for meeting. Let people talk about what they hoped, expected, desired from the group when they first heard about it.

Sometimes we just wanted someone to keep track of us all, notify everybody else of time/date/location changes, and be the one to unlock and lock up. You will always have those who come and "take" and never seem to give back (put up chairs, tables, pick up trash, bring snacks/clean up, etc.) and at some point you have to chose to accept that as just the way people are and let it go.

As you continue to meet, someone will begin to ask questions about how to do something and you can then offer to have a little workshop at a meeting, or have someone present a small "program", or do a "meet the quilter" once a month or so where someone shares their progression as a quilter from beginning to present day.

It'll be fun! Just enjoy it and let it happen. The girl who started our first group wanted an organized guild, pushed hard for setting it up and then was not elected the president and left, hurt.

Jan in VA

You might also decide sooner or later about food - it is easier if each person brings his/her own beverage - and no food is involved.

It also depends on the time of day - if the group meets from 1-4, for example, most would have eaten lunch and would go home to fix supper/dinner if they have someone they need to feed.

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