I finally found some courage and went to a local guild meeting
 

And now I'm wondering why I've been such a chicken about it for so long! I've wanted to visit this guild for over a year and was just too cowardly to go.

Thanks goes to willferg on this board, who brought me along to a fabric sale at the guild last month and helped me get my feet wet, so to speak. (Willferg - have you made anything with your fabric yet? I'm still moving my sewing room and haven't sewn in weeks! It's been terrible!)

So last night I FINALLY attended a meeting as a guest and it was really nice! Everybody was really friendly and welcoming, and three different ladies went out of their way to come talk to me and show me around and explain all the shorthand and acronyms they were using for their various programs and events. There was a show & tell session that was really neat to see, and it was just a lot of fun overall. Everyone seemed to be having a great time. Odd are that there is at least one or two people in the group with big egos and bad attitudes but I didn't notice them!

I'm going to go back to the next meeting in 2 weeks and formally join up....maybe even volunteer to help at the quilt show they're putting on next month! I always attend that show so it'd be neat to see it from behind the scenes.

I was invited to a small guild. The woman who invited me was out of town for a month so not there. It was a small cliquey, non welcoming group so never went back. No one made even a small effort to talk to me. I go to a sewing night with several other quilters. We always welcome and invite new people to come encouraging them to participate in our conversations. There is a huge guild that meets about 20 minutes from my home so may try them this summer.

glad you took the leap and found a good one. they all have different 'personalities'. i belong to two and they are completely different, but, thankfully, neither is unfriendly. the one i went to in MN seemed difficult to make friends at.

Glad you had such a good experience with your first guild meeting. I enjoy going to the work group every Tuesday. I learn a lot from those lovely ladies!

My guild is quite big, out in the country, and not terribly friendly. Most of the women grew up together or were neighbours or friends, went to the same church, or knew each other's parents or kids. They've all known each other (or of each other) forever, really. I get it.

So, I think my guild is not one I can easily integrate into (despite workshops and classes attended this past year). I think I will be looking for a new guild in the fall. Maybe one closer to a city where people come from all over. I think you really have to find a guild that is a good 'fit.'

Good for you for finding one that is a match!

After relocating to Southwest Michigan at the first of the year, I decided I would also check out a quild. I never joined one when I lived in Indiana. I found out about a smaller guild from a member here on the board and went to a meeting. I was able to sit with the QB member and a few people came up to me and introduced themselves. I went to a second meeting and again sat with the QB member and a different group of ladies. Not everyone came up to me but that was okay. I took a class they were offering last Saturday, met more of the members and had a wonderful time. I'm really glad I joined up with them! It is great that you took the plunge too and enjoyed it!!!

I'm so glad you took a deep breath and went. If I had a car, I think I might go to one too. It can be a bit un-nerving, because you don't know if they will be warm and friendly, but it looks like they were. So happy for you.

I was really unsure, I'm a bit younger than anybody there, and I wasn't sure if I'd be welcomed or if I'd just sort of stick out as an oddball. I saw one lady that I thought might be close to my age but then during show & tell she mentioned the quilt was made to commemorate her 60th birthday, so I guess I was pretty far off! (I'm 39 & I thought she might be mid-40's!) But I needn't have worried, only one person commented about my age and it was just to say she was glad to see younger people taking up quilting. :) (And it's really neat to be somewhere that I am considered "young"! LOL)

All in all I'm really excited! They have a class coming up for a style of quilt that intimidates me so I might just have to sign up for it and stretch myself some. :)

I join a group a few months ago and I am seeing power craving individuals surface. Very disappointed. But it meets only a mile and a half and can easily get there on the local bus. It is fun to share ideas with other quilters.

I am so glad you went to the meeting! How great that you had a good time and plan to join. I got a good vibe from the people there the night we went.

I did make one quick blanket from some fabric I bought. It was an irresistible piece of fabric – lime green with dachshunds on it. It was flannel and so soft. I bought it not knowing what I'd do with it, but found the perfect backing at home. I'm putting it on the pictures page right now!

Ooh, I gotta go look! I am having major sewing withdrawals right now. My sewing room is half upstairs and half downstairs at this point, and entirely unusable! I will be spending ALL WEEKEND moving furniture!

I think it's great that you have found a group where you feel comfortable and welcome. Don't let age hinder you from joining in their activities. When I retired, I joined a group where I was the youngest member (and I was 58). The oldest member was 90 (She died at 105!) We learned so much from each other.

I have zero reservations about spending time with people older than me, I just hope they have patience to put up with me! I am a pretty new quilter still (only been doing it seriously a couple years now) and I know there are TONS of things I can learn from these ladies. All my friends tell me I'm an old lady at heart anyway. Plus I've already had a hip replacement...so I think I'll fit in just fine, LOL!

Thanks for your thoughts and sharing. I still have not had enough never to go yet.

I do have a local store that has an open sew night and that is a fantastic group.

That's actually a neat side benefit of going to the guild meeting that I hadn't thought of - these ladies can clue me in to all the local classes that I don't know about! They mentioned several classes that I'd never heard of, and that's just what I heard in passing. Such a treasure trove of information.

I joined a guild a couple of years ago. It took a while to get acclimated and know people's names even though we wear name badges but how long can you stare at one's chest?! I'm there now and really look forward to our twice a month meetings. I love the give and take table where I'm able to get magazines to look at and bring back if I don't want them and odds and ends of fabric and notions. I'm gathering scraps for another scrappy quilt so some days I hit the mother lode there. My advice is to anyone visiting a guild give it a chance. It really takes more than one visit. If the cost to join isn't great (my guild is $15) then join and if after a while it's not you're cup of tea then move on.

How often does your guild meet? Do you meet during the summer? In know in some parts of the world it is always summer...I mean like here in Midwest where there is a big difference between winter and summer.......

I would love to be in a guild but tried one locally and was appalled at their behavior. Not too many around here so I will just keep sewing and enjoy my audio books. So happy you found a nice meeting.

When our club has a meeting, it is a meeting; every month. Secretary report, treasurer report, committee reports, etc. So we all sit there in silence. Then there is usually a demo or program. Those are usually very nice, but we all sit there in silence. Then if I really want to talk to someone afterwards, they've already gone home, and the ladies are trying to get the lights turned off so they can lock the door.
I do enjoy this group, when I get a chance to talk to someone, but I enjoy another group I go to that sits and sews from 4:00 till the wee hours if you want. Come and go as you please. If there are meeting things to talk about, it is done at the same time each evening, and all the sewing machines keep humming away. We talk about our quilt show, but not at every meeting. Those ladies have been very welcoming.

I'm so glad you have a great experience with your Guild. They are all so different comprised of different personalities. It takes all kinds to make a Guild work. Some work like Bees and are small and intimate and others are all business and power trips. I belong to a big Guild with plenty of both. If anyone has tried a local Guild and found them lacking, keep looking, there are lots of friendly people to make up for the bad ones.

A friendly quilt guild is so important. The one I belong to has ladies from 30's to 90's, and we have an absolute blast together. Am so thankful that when the work shifts & hours changed at work, I was able to keep my Thursdays off, so I can continue to attend my quilt guild meetings....those ladies are the highlight of my week.

I'm a joiner, but haven't yet worked up my courage to join a quilt guild. Maybe soon. I have a very busy life already, and am not sure that I want to add another "meeting to attend" to it. One of my friends in another club has invited me several times to go to guild with her, and they have a sewing/crafting day at the local free meeting hall which I have attended several times--just run out of time, so can't make up my mind to add something else.

And to the lady above who is remodeling/moving her sewing room, just keep at it, you'll get it done. I am doing the same thing right now, trying to locate a suitable place for the new embroidery machine that I recently bought at Paducah. I get one thing done on it, go and tackle a household chore then go back to rearranging, back and forth all day and even into the evening; plus I have about 6 quilts working/stewing in the back of my mind so am finding fabrics and materials for them as I putter from one place to the other. Plus keeping the laundry and ironing caught up; talking a GD into let's make her a new dress for a 4-H project; getting another quilt ready for the county fair; and getting my hair and nails done so I look nice for church on Sunday--and working on that is important as I am not the cute little thing that I once was.....

So, quilt guild may have to wait another few months.

Our local guild is small, but every time I have attended a meeting everyone is so friendly, I have really enjoyed meeting all of them. My health doesn't allow me to be real active with them, but whenI show up I am treated very kindly. I learn something new every time I attend. Wonderful, friendly country women. You will always be richer for knowing other quilters.

Sounds like you picked a goodie!

You give me courage to try and join a quilt guild - I have resisted the idea because I have heard and read so many horror stories but I need to see for myself.

Thank you for your posting!

I've been having a similar problem about going to a new guild meeting, so maybe I'll have to share some of your courage and attend. One problem is that it is at night, and I don't see as well as I used to at night, although it's a short distance away, I really have no excuse. Maybe this month when they meet. I had been invited to a guild meeting in NH by a neighbor and was met with a very friendly group of people, even though there were a few that were in a clique, the others were friendly and welcoming.

I went to a nearby guild and was overwhelmed!! 90 plus members and looking for more!!! I tried for a year but life got in the way and didn't go back. Don't miss it either. Too big, not exactly friendly and open. I need a smaller group

When I went to my guild for the first time I didn't know a soul and sat by myself the first few meetings. But I joined a small group that was going to make quilts for a local children's home, then I headed the Charity Quilt Committee for the next seven years. I made many friends that way and met one of my best quilt friends,she's 30 years older than me but that didn't matter we have been friends for 20 years and are still sewing together.

So my best advice is - get involved, volunteer, take classes, go on their bus trips, cultivate friends. Join a mini group. You will make friends for a lifetime. I did. :)

Just dive in an offer to help and you will be in and running. The guild I belong to has over 300 members and some are just there to enjoy the sight and sounds. Others really dig in and make the guild flow. Once they know you are willing to help and participate they will be more than glad to have you. They know that some just want to watch and that is ok as well. Enjoy it, you will meet lots of wonderful people. If you meet one bad apple, so be it, there's many more wonderful people.

Oh I am so glad it turned out good for you .. I was involved in one (once along time ago) and had a very bad experience. No one wanted to talk to me, I was not even introduced as a new guest, but I did return for several more meetings and found out others were treated the same. So a year later I went back new guild president etc.. and was greeted with women who had monies and flaunted it. I was criticized for my meeting of block corners, my technique in general in front of the whole guild. I was floored ... SO needless to say I have nothing nice to say to about Guilds.

But I am so glad you are happy with yours ! I hope that it keeps that way and you learn many new things !

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. :)