To add to my previous post- I had one of the members come to me and tell me my quilt was one of the prettier ones she has ever seen. There was absolutely nothing wrong with my seams, corners or blocks. I thanked her and we remain friends to this day ....

Lafpeaches, that is one of the main reasons I don't try to find one to go to, I'm shy as it is and on top of that I have the nasty habit of smoking so I know I smell a bit of smoke (I do spray myself with Odor Out before going anywhere in public) and with the cliques I so often hear about I'm sure one of them would ask me to leave which would embarrass me to tears. I want to add that I do not smoke in my house & always wash my hands before I even walk into my sewing/craft room.

I was invited to a Guild meeting in the late 80s. "Come to hear the great speakers, you don't
have to get involved in the quilting, was the invitation!" O yeah, right!! I have been adicted and quilting ever since and love the meetings, the people and all the quilts I have made over the last 25 years plus the many, many friends. You live in a friendly area, my daughter lives there too, but she isn't a quilter. Have fun. Just me in Pleasant Hill CA

It's not exactly always summer but close enough for what you mean, I think! This guild meets 2x a month, except there are a couple months where they have a special regular event in place of a meeting. (The fabric sale I went to last month was one of those.) The nice thing for me, though, is that they only meet in the evenings, which is when I'm free. There is another local guild that meets during working hours only, so I didn't even really look at that one.

I was so nervous! Partially from horror stories, partially from past similar experiences, and partially just due to my personality. But it was nothing like I feared it would be and I hope you have the same good experience I had! People were laughing, telling jokes, applauding & complimenting eachother's quilts... I didn't see or hear any negativity anywhere in the room. It was a very friendly and relaxed environment.

Oh I absolutely intend to get involved, that's about 90% of the draw of the guild for me. I didn't think to try to count heads but it seems like it's a small-ish but very busy group and they were obviously hungry for volunteers in a couple areas. I'm excited to jump in and see what I can do to help! I also plan to attend classes and unstructured "sew-cials" (I think that's what they call them). I want to meet people and learn stuff so I plan to take part in a lot!

Please don't judge every guild by that one. Each guild has a personality of its own, and like people, some you like, some you don't.

I just wanted to update this a bit - I went to the guild meeting last night and formally joined up, and promptly won a copy of City Quilts (a book I've been wanting) in a raffle! Woohoo!

And once again, everybody I talked to was very friendly, warm, and welcoming. Several people recognized me and said they were happy to see that I came back and cheered when I said I had formally joined, which made me feel great! So anybody else out there who was like me and scared of going...just go and see. Maybe you'll get lucky! I seem to have gotten very lucky, and I'm really happy and excited about it. I've already signed up for a class to make a quilt that intimidates the heck out of me (all hexagons and triangles, yikes!) and I can't wait to see if they can teach me some new skills! I'm also really looking forward to making a whole bunch of new friends. :)

I do get a little lost still now and then, and I wish they had an "official", dedicated person for taking newbies in hand - it's a busy group and it feels like there is a LOT to learn - lots of names and faces, lots of projects, lots of acronyms... I'm trying to be bold and ask questions but I'm sure I'm missing things and I have occasional bouts of shyness that make me keep quiet. I wish I had a specific person I could get to know quickly and ask all my questions. Once I learn the ropes and people's names and get comfortable there I think I will suggest that role, and volunteer for the job. :)