I am trying to find a quilt group to join and was wondering if there are any UK quilters from Hampshire who could point me to one or recommend one?
I found a few online, but they all require a fee, so I'd like to get some info before joining one.
This is what I found:
http://www.quiltersdomain.co.uk/findlist.asp?t=1&c=34

Hi Stummel - I'm 'from' Hampshire, at least I grew up in the New Forest! :-D But I live in France now so can't help you with the quilt groups, other than to suggest asking in your local fabric shop. Just wanted to say hi, really! :-D

Oh, thank you! I just came back from a weekend trip in the New Forest :)
I haven't even been able to find a quilt shop here, only Fabricland in a shopping Centre, and they are awful! Another one I found online was closed down when we got there. I buy all my fabric from online shops in other cities.

Hi again Stummel - I'm in south-west England, so no direct help either... but I just contacted someone in a local group here (which I also found on quiltersdomain), and she was super friendly and invited me to come to a meeting or two before I decide to join. Nothing else has happened yet but I thought I'd let you know. This isn't Germany, no immediate threat of forms to be filled out and all that... :-D

^^ :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Yes, indeed. Although lots of rules, just different ones :-D

Thanks for the responses, I will contact all the different groups and try to go along to see which ones I like.

Well the Germans can't be worse than the French - they INVENTED 'des formulaires' - in quadruplicate!!! LOL

What a good idea... I wish I was in Hampshire! I'm in Surrey, and I'd love to find a group of local quilters I could join, but like you say, a more informal group then the more expensive options. I hadn't heard of the quilters domain - thank you for the link.

I assume you are looking for a local live one rather than a virtual one.

Here in the states, we have extension offices connected with Universities. These extension offices have homemaker groups. The homemaker groups frequently have quilt guilds. My homemaker dues are $7.50 per year and my quilt guild dues are $12.00 a year. We meet at least one day a month 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and we have at least one, but sometimes two UFO days a month for the same amount of time. There is also a night guild, but they do not set up their machines and actually sew.

It amounts to $1.00 per month for the use the extension office, which also has many tools for our use (rotary cutters, mats, templates, irons and boards), but I seriously look forward to loading my equipment on those scheduled days and moving into the extension office.

That guild and this group and I am in quilting heaven. You might have a similar resource in the UK -- just a thought.

Again, welcome, you will love it here. There is so much knowledge and assistance on these pages. Good luck with your search.

Thank you everyone for your replies!
I am fine with paying fees, but just don't know if I can go "test" the different groups to see which one I like. Because of their names I assume they all are interested in different kinds of quilting, but I am not experienced enough to know which one would be my "thing" if you know what I mean, so I don't want to go to all of them and pay fees for all of them in order to decide. I don't know if there is a pop-in and see option, and they are all a fair way from where I live, apart from one.

Thank you Aurora for the tip, I will look into that! I did find some quilting classes associated with or offered by colleges/universities here, but didin't really understand what they were. I might email them to find out :)

Oh, and I found a fabric store in town today! Their cottons/quilting section isn't that big, but I was so excited to be in a proper fabric store and promptly spent too much money... :lol:

Salmonsweet, thanks for the info, I will contact a few and see if I can come and meet them before joining.

Hope you also find a group in your area!:thumbup:
My proplem is that because of my husband's job we move every two years, so it takes a while to get acquainted with the town etc., find good shops and groups.