Congratulations...quite and honor and it is wonderful you will be able to reconnect.

Congratulations on the honor. You deserve it! I think you are such an asset here on the board and you must have been a fabulous teacher! Keep up the good work. I love you useful comments here on the board. (Because of health issues, I no longer attend my guild.)

Congratulations, Jan! Such contributions you and your mother have made to promote quilting and to finally be rewarded for them. They're lucky to have you and your expertise!

I am so happy you have received this honor. I only "know" you through QB, but you seem to be a wonderful quilter who does not mind sharing her work and knowledge with those of us who are not so experienced or are confused about an issue with a quilt. I hope you are able to go back to your guild and enjoy all they have to offer.

That's awesome! I am not terribly surprised though - you're extremely helpful and supportive here on the board and I imagine you're even more so in person. They'd be foolish NOT to try to retain you in the guild, I'm sure you're a much bigger asset to them than you think. :)

I don't think my guild has different levels of membership; I do know that if you have limited income you can apply for a hardship discount and if you have extra income you can "sponsor" someone else and cover their membership anonymously, but other than that I think we all pay the same $40 a year. I think they waive membership fees for the current board members, which seems fair to me considering how much work those ladies put in.

I think my guild has about 150-200 people, about half of which are actually active.

Congratulations to you and your well deserved honor. It's good to know you are known for your kindness and generosity locally as well as nationally. This board has a wonderful outreach and I know I always look for your remarkable answers.
Our guild is small compared to a lot of others but it is a wonderful group. We have several retreats a year and have several long arm quilters that are very talented. We all seem to get along and that makes for a pleasant night out.
Thank you for being such a generous and giving person.

Congratulations, Jan! I can't think of anyone who I think deserves a lifetime membership more. You are clearly so knowledgeable and so willing to share that knowledge that it seems a given that they should so recognize you.

Happy future meetings!

How wonderful! You have obviously been an asset to your guild to be honored this way. So glad you will be able to start attending again.

Jan, I am so thrilled for you. Our local guild is full of wonderful people, and since their meetings are held in rented space, they are limited by what the venue provides as seating, and because of hip damage by a severe burn, as an infant, I can't bear to sit in the chairs for very long, so I don't attend very often. My membership has lapsed, but those wonderful people have left me on their email list for the newsletter, so I can keep up with what they are doing, and know the dates of the semi-annual quilt shows, classes etc. as far as I am aware, the dues are still only $25 per year, for everyone.

Jan this post gave me hope. Kindness is wonderful and you certainly deserve it. I am soooo happy for you!

Jan congratulations this is a well deserved honor. I have never heard of this before but I can think of one member in my guild that also deserves such an honor. Thank you for sharing this and all of your wonderful posts. You have been an inspiration to me.

What a nice thing for you!

Lifetime membership - wow! Good for you, and take advantage of it whenever you can.

By the way, you are anything but a "lesser talent"! I don't know you personally, but I see your skill, your tutorials and your kindness, to others on this board! You always have something good, helpful and positive to say when we need help. You definitely deserve the lifetime membership!

I used to belong to a quilt guild and even served as president and other positions on the Board of Directors, however, when I started working again, I could not make the meetings as they met in the morning, and I have not yet found another guild.

Congrats. I don't know about my current guilds, but my former guild in CA had some lifetime memberships that they would give out to previous office holders and longtime members.

Congratulations, and it is great.

Sure sounds to me like you totally deserve that lifetime membership. Your generosity has been recognized & I'm happy that they honoured in this way. I'm glad you are able to take part in the meetings, even with an hour drive, so enjoy & let us know how things are. My guild has only 45 members but we enjoy ourselves & it's nice to meet with people that have the same hobby.

A little twist on guild info--just got home from my guild meetings today and 2things related to your post, Jan. One was our decision to sponsor a college scholarship for a student intending a major in a FACS related degree, in honor of your founder. and the 2nd is that our Beginning quilt class that starts in a little over a week is grown to 24 , and 15 of those are new to our Guild. From past experience, I know that of those 15, probably about half will not become active on-going members past this first year-but about 1/2 will jump in whole-hearted. I'd highly recommend other guilds wanting to increase interest in quilting-especially among younger people, consider offering basic classes as a free benefit of membership!

Opps--that should say OUR guild founder!

Good for you Jan, Enjoy!!!!!

Congratulations. You really deserved the recognition. It's fabulous that the guild also recognized all you have done despite not being able to attend meetings.

Obviously the guild recognized having your generous nature and incredible talent as a life long member would serve as an inspiration to all members. Congratulations on a well deserved recognition.

Jan that is just the best news! Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!
I don't know how many guild members we currently have, but most of us would be 50+ in age.
There's so much to learn and continue learning and improving in quilting, that I love going to the meetings.
Edited to add: I don't know of any lifetime memberships, but if there are, they are not advertised. :-)

Congratulations! What a nice way for your guild to thank you for all that you've contributed through the years. Enjoy reconnecting with your guild and quilting friends!

That is wonderful and sounds as if it is well deserved! I'm also happy for the guild with their new board!

Oh wow! I thought when I posted this topic there might be 2-3 pages of responses.....not SEVEN!! And such sweet, encouraging words you've sent! I truly overwhelmed by all that's happened since the first of the year. They say all things happen in 3s; well, today's meeting confirmed that as the third, and showed me how much my God wants my future path to include getting back into my quilting life and friends in a serious way.
First I received that Lifetime Membership honor.
Second I shared here and received all this love from you all.
Third, I did go to the meeting this morning and it was the loveliest day ever!! It took me nearly 20 minutes to get across the room to a seat from all my old quilting friends hugging and welcoming me back! I was mentioned for the Membership during the meeting and was invited to lunch at Olive Garden with a group of 9 members. I was greatly inspired by the projects and BOMs they have going now and all the really beautiful show-and-tell quilts.
I can't wait to get into my sewing room tomorrow and finish setting it up from the move last July. My fingers are itching again and I look forward to finishing some UFOs for our tri-annual show in March.

My whole spirit is charged and energized by the kindnesses I've received, as they help me recover from surgeries and the 'loss' of Mom's company since her stroke and move to GA. 2016 WILL be a better year for me! I pray it will be so for all my dear buddies here as well.:thumbup:
Thank you. Love you guys!

Jan in VA

Right back at you Jan! I'm so happy it all turned out so well for you. Sounds like a great day. Sounds like this is something that will give you a well deserved boost. Happy quilting!!

Well isn't wonderful to be noticed and appreciated! You have obviously made an impact. Congratulations! You really do sound excited!

Congratulations! I know many here think you a well deserving recipient

Jan, I am so glad for you. Enjoy!

It is wonderful to hear when nice things happen to wonderful people!

Jan, Such a well deserved honor! Congratulations! I have always enjoyed your posts. I would love to meet up when you make a visit to Georgia. I'm in the middle of the state. Kaye.

Jan, I am very glad that you have such a good guild, you are always helping people and deserve the life time membership! Congrats!

Jan!! Congratulations on receiving such a nice honour from your guild!! So glad that you had a wonderful day at the meeting!! You certainly deserve the praise - you have always been so helpful here and I have learned a lot from you here at QB!
Wishing you a terrific Spring - have fun with all of your projects!! Be sure to post pics of them for us too :)

I wanted to add my voice to the congratulations! You are so helpful here, that I'm sure you must have been and will once again be an asset to them.

I am so glad to see something positive about guilds as it seems like people often say negative things about their own guild. Sorry...no help on "my guild" as I am not a member. Actually I've never been to a meeting.

What a nice way to be honoured.

My Modern guild is young only 2.5 years old. We have about 130 members. So no lifetime members yet.

We may be starting another guild in community about 2 hours from the first one. I live midway between the two locations and may join the new one too

Always nice for people to be recognized that deserve it! Good for you! Awesome!

Wasn't that a nice surprise! So glad you are taking them up on it! Good luck with your surgery as well.
I found a guild in Maine that I feel very comfortable in. Still deciding about finding one in Florida.

Obviously a very well-deserved honor! Good to hear that you will have time to enjoy your passion again.