QBeth

IMHO, the Guild President and Officers set the tone of the group. If there's snotty behaviour and cliques, then the leaders are essentially allowing this to happen. Perhaps you could discuss this with them?? Let them know that you won't be coming back and why.

We had a similar problem in my Guild a few years back. Much to her credit, the President gave a little speech about how everyone is welcome here and all should be made welcome. It helped.

Best of luck. Don't let the snots win!

hokieappmom

LMBO. You go girl.

aberi

Oh my gosh... how dreadful.... nobody deserves to be treated that way... I do not belong to our local guild. I have met some of the members in sewing classes given by lqs and just find they think they are above us newbies.... I get what I need in a guild type surrounding at this board.. it is awesome....
But I do want to say if I was you I would call them out on it....I would ask them what happened or what did you do to cause such a behavior? Watch how many people fidgit in their seats. I would also tell them that I was raised to be accepting of everyone thats what makes the America's or Canada so great we are multinational and we accept everyone.....and then I would say.. I was taught to treat people the way you would like them to treat you.. so does that mean you want me to a ( you know what?) How would you feel? and then I would say that I was not coming back unless there was an appology made on behalf of the group and unless their attitudes changed and then I would walk out..... At least I could have spoken my piece... We all support you here and you can sew with us anytime.... I hope you find another group to which you will feel more welcome.

Jingle

Some people feel if they put someone else down, it will built themselves up. I am not a joiner and find dealing with people usually don't make me happy. I like myself and spend lots of time with me. I never put me down.

Joan

Sending you big HUGS. It seems more than a few quilters have had similiar experiences at guilds. They all seem to be different.

I would concentrate on finding a few other like minded individuals who quilt and making your own little group. Four or five people who really just like to get together to sew.

My pet peeve with "my" quilt guild is that they are so "tied" up with business that it doesn't seem to be about sewing. We are getting ready for a quilt show and it's all about trying to get people to volunteer to do different jobs. This has been going on for several months and I do hope we can get back to sewing and talking about quilting.

brwnntwn

reading all this makes me afraid to join a guild - though I have been hoping to find a group of some kind - nobody understands my passion or the joy I get from this. I am just a begginner but have a zillion ideas flashing around in my head. Love this on line forum - but would like some human contact oo!

ANYWAY - this is supposed to be about you! I am so sorry that happened to you. Mean people .... well they do not make this world a better place. I am guessing there was some missunderstanding somewhere along the line! I wouldn't have the guts to do it - but maybe you should just ask somebody what the problem is/was?

seamstome

I went to a guild meeting once. I was a beginner and was proud to show my work off because I thought I was doing good for how long I had been doing it. Looking back it was not very good but then whose first few quilts are? They treated me badly and made some nasty remarks that I will never forget. I never went back and would not show anybody my work. I dropped out of quilting.

Now I got back into it, ten years later. I decided to join another guild in another town which was a big step after the last one. They are nice and I have done show and tell with my stuff. It is not convenient to get there and I only know one or two people so I miss alot. Now they do have their cliques but they havent been rude.

I went to a binding class recently. All of us were experienced and looking for shortcuts except this one woman who was making her first quilt. She was struggling to keep up and had never used a walking foot, etc. She kept apologizing but we wouldnt hear of it. It WAS supposed to be a beginning class. She had nothing to apologize about because she was doing really well for where she was. Plus we were all there with Berninas. Pfaffs and Janomes with all the bells and whistles. She was working with a stripped down Brother and we were faster partially because we had auto-cutters and pre-programmed stitches.

Having all been there and been intimidated, we took her right under our wing. We invited her to the next class which is cording, prairie points, etc and I hope she comes because she does nice work.

Quilt4u

Belive or not It was the President that said the first words to me. I don't need that kind of stress in my life .I went there to enjoy myself. No one quilts around where I live And this guild was the closest to my house. So I'm looking for a new one. Maybe when I move I'll find one that I can enjoy again. So any one thayt is looking for a guild to join I tell you join. Don't let this post stop you. there are alot of great guilds out there.

dglvr

This is why I quit going to the guild here. Its a small town and guild is suppose to be a fun function. There are a few here that made me dread going so I quit going. I don't need to be a part of that and others shouldn't either. I have my other sewing friends and the quiltboard here. Who needs those other people.
Sorry that has happened to you.

ShowMama

My guild also has it's cliques, but there are also many other talented quilters who are friendly and helpful and make the guild fun. Don't let a few people sour your opinion of a larger group. We've actually had a few of the snobs try to get involved in our activities because we're doing fun and interesting things, and that's what being a guild member is about.

Also, remember, it's not just quilt guilds who have rude people. It's just in some people's nature. A number of years ago my husband and I visited my parent's church, but because my parents were in the choir, we went into the sanctuary on our own and sat down. A few minutes later I felt a tap on my shoulder. Turning around, I saw an elderly couple sitting behind me. The wife leaned forward and said, "I just wanted you to know that y'all are sitting in our place, but that's OK for this week." How Christian!