Please Tell me about your very first guild meeting ...
 

https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images/smilies/smile.png I belonged to a ladies group and I made new friends with several ladies in the club. I admired a lovely quilted table topper that was used at our meetings to place our refreshments. My 3 friends said they belong to a quilt guild and invited me to come as their guest. I went to the guild meeting.... a Year later! I won the door prize at that first meeting and was told to come back next month with a new door prize for give a way. Long story...short, I joined and still belong. (since 2009)

My guild's quilt show, they were offering a special initiation rate for new members, so I joined. When I attended the first guild meeting I didn't know anyone so I sat in a row of empty seats. One of the ladies (Mary) came over and sat next to me. She introduced herself and we started talking. She was very friendly and took me around the room to show me the various activity tables. When it came time to introduce new members, other ladies in the guild turned around and introduced themselves and welcomed me. Pre-Covid all the members were invited to go out to lunch after the meeting. Again, I didn't know anyone, but I went. Everyone was very friendly and I've made some great new friends.

I showed up at a meeting, not knowing anyone. I brought my first quilt I made for show and tell if they had one. I got there early so had time to chat with the members setting up for the program, how to join, the rules etc. At show and tell I got up introduced myself and showed my quilt. I told a bit about the quilt and thanked everyone for being nice and accepting me as a new member.
During the business meeting I raised my hand to help with the guild's quilt show. After the quilt show I knew most all members by name and they knew me.

While in the doctor's waiting room with my mother, a sweet lady commented on her wheelchair quilt and invited me to her quilt guild at a church. I was so excited to meet anyone else that quilts! Then Corona... never made ithttps://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images/smilies/wave.gif

I showed up at the meeting not knowing anyone. I also showed up a bit early so I could ask about joining and all that. There was a time for new people to be introduced, so that did happen. Those sitting right next to me were friendly.

After the meeting there was a social aspect, everyone broke into groups and they were all chatting and having a good time, no one asked me to join and as I looked around, it really looked like I'd be interfering if I tried to butt into one of the groups, so after standing around and looking at things on tables, I left.

I kept going for several more meetings, and they were about the same. Never got approached by anyone other than to say hello at the start. I work full time, and most of the extra stuff was done during the work week so signing up was never an option. I attended 3-4 meetings and then missed one, and when I went back they were all taking about the Christmas party and I felt totally lost as it was obvious this was discussed at the meeting I missed. They were all very excited and I really felt left out (again). I wasn't going to sign up for the Christmas party and find myself sitting alone so that was the last meeting I attended. Never got any contact from anyone with the guild when I stopped showing up.

BTW - I think there were normally 35-40 people at a meeting, and it was a smaller community so most people were family friends or long time acquaintances. Since DH and I had no family in the state, it was like since I wasn't related to anyone, no one wanted me to join in their group. Those that were brought by friends and introduced around that way seemed to be more accepted.

I have since moved and hope to find a group to join, but I didn't move far enough away to be in an area with a different guild. There isn't much in the way of quilting groups around.

My guild meets at night but all the classes, sew days, workshops etc are all in the daytime. There is no happy medium for those that work. The ones that come to the day time activities form a close group and become more familiar with each other's lives. It took me much longer to get to know the members that only came to the meetings. Don't let working days stop you from going to meetings, it is worth going to see the fantastic show and tell at each meeting and stay motivated.

I wish I could find a smallish guild. The one here is huge and just not fun. I joined for a year but it didn't work for me.
I used to belong to a group where we met in each others homes once a month and that was a lot of fun. Slowly people moved etc and we disbanded. I miss it. Right now I don't have any quilter friends in my area :(

I met a lady with a license plate quilter. She invited me to a meeting. I went not really knowing anybody. The lady that invited me had called the house after I left to tell me she couldn't make it. Nobody said anything to me before or during the social, but I enjoyed the meeting so much I joined. The president at the time and I have become very good friends. This was in 2000, and I've held different offices, but now they zoom, and we have lost members due to this. Before the zoom we have been greeting people that didn't come with someone from the guild to welcome them.

My first guild meeting was with a very small guild. I had been invited by two of the ladies that I met at JAF when, as a very new and totally inexperienced quilter, I was asking about quilting supplies. Everyone made me feel welcome. The "entertainment" for the meeting was for everyone to bring their favorite quilting tool and explain why they liked it. When it got to me, I pulled out my credit card. I was still buying the basics and hadn't yet made a quilt.

As time went on, I also joined a huge guild in a nearby town, and then a medium-sized guild in another direction. I felt like Goldilocks with 3 guilds of different sizes. Each had something different to offer. The small guild couldn't afford to pay speakers, but everyone knew everyone else, and everyone contributed to show and tell. The huge guild had wonderful speakers and other events, and although everyone was friendly, it was impossible to know everyone. I would say that the medium-sized guild was "just right" but that's really wrong. All three were "just right" for me.

When I moved to another state, I wasn't worried about finding friends, because I knew that I would meet people when I joined the guild. I've found that it's easy to strike up a conversation with another quilter, no matter where you are.

When I moved to a new town I thought if I joined a guild this would be a way to know new people with the same interests as I had. That didn't work out so well. All the tables had certain people that had known each other for some time and no one ever ask me to join in with conversation. I sat by myself and soon left. For some reason I went back the next meeting and the same circles of people had their own table and people they wanted at their table. Not a comfortable situation. Never went back. As time went on my daughter introduced me to a lady from her church that was a quilter and she invited me to her house and the rest is history. She is a dear friend and our husbands are golfers and we all became very dear friends. We go out to eat together and play cards every week together. She knew a couple of other very nice ladies and we started our own little group of ladies and they are all so nice. We meet in my house usually once a week and have such a good time. So that is my story about joining a quilt guild-it just wasn't for me but I am very happy to have wonderful quilting friends nowl.

When I came for my first meeting, I was so impressed with the President and how she conducted the meeting with knowledge & humor. Her presence kept me coming back.

What is a license plate quilter?

Macybaby...that was my experience with one of the guilds in town.

With another guild, they had an Open House day so I went as they were going to have retailers there and I found everyone so welcoming! I ended up going to a meeting, thinking it was too good to be true, but no...people were really nice and I became a member and have been involved in teaching part of a seminar.

So...if another opportunity to try out a guild comes along, give it a shot!

Watson

My sister saw an ad in the paper and agreed to go with me. She doesn’t quilt. I met some great ladies and decided to join. Most of the members were quite welcoming. As with any large group, some stayed within their own little group. I have been a member for close to 20 yrs now. But, with the Covid, we haven’t met for a year now.

I used to go to my local quilt shop in town and was always welcomed, we could chat and sometimes had hilariously funny hours at a time. So I went to a guild meeting thinking it would be similar. Nope, it was filled with old, set in their ways, quilt policing ladies who insisted that their way was the right way. I was even told I should never even consider entering a quilt into the local county fair until I had been quilting at least 5 to 7 years. I'll never go back.

My first guild meeting was back about 27 years ago. I had only been quilting about 2 years at the most and a quilting acquaintance from a quilter I met online and lived with in a couple miles of me asked me if I wanted to go to her quilt guild they were just opening membership again because they were not at capacity at that time. So I went and fell in love. The charm exchange and book give away were great. So many quilters and so many beautiful quilts for Show and Tell. I was a bit overwhelmed. I joined that night and was tickled at each monthly meeting until I moved out of the area. I showed my first Show and Tell quilt there. It seemed there was something going on every month. I recall just sitting there and stitching one night as that was the plan for the evening.

I don't belong to a guild, and don't think I ever will. I have tried twice, and both times I've left feeling like the outsider I obviously was. The last time was at a very well known LQS that had extended invitations by email to customers. Once there they had absolutely no interest in anyone new, and all chit chatted between themselves. At one point they told us to "go tour the store" to get ideas. Not sure why we were invited , we already knew the store! After about 15 minutes 4 of us left, and went down the street to a local cafe for lunch. We talked, had a good time talking quilting, and parted ways. Afterwards I realized we should have started our own guild! Oftentimes it is extremely difficult for some of us to put ourselves out there. Shyness, panic, lack of self confidence, or any number of reasons hinder us. Don't think I want to do that again.

My sister-in-law was a member of a large guild and loved it, so I sent in my application and check for the first year's dues, knowing we'd have a great time together. Almost immediately I was bombarded with e-mails telling me I had to join a committee, sign up to work at the annual quilt show, attend the weekend sew-alongs for charity, etc., etc., etc. I'm an introvert, so demands like this are unsettling! My sister-in-law couldn't attend for awhile and I didn't want to face the hordes on my own. As it turned out, I never did attend, and I'm my own happy guild of one.

I first joined a quilt guild shortly after learning to quilt (at about age 23). The main meeting was nice - show and tell, and I brought and showed the small wall hanging I was working on hand quilting. After the meeting was disappointing - it was a social time and nobody invited me into their circle and I didn't feel comfortable breaking in. At the next meeting, I was told that all members were expected to work at the upcoming show that was only two weeks away. At the time, I was working long hours and also taking a graduate course in the evening that had a lot of homework. I felt this expectation was sprung on me at the (relatively) last minute and it felt unfair. I still felt unwelcome during the social portion at the end of the meeting. I think I might have gone to one or two more meetings before I stopped going altogether and did not renew my membership after that.

Several decades later, in fall of 2019, I decided to try joining another quilt guild. This one felt much more welcoming. The people who sat next to me during the main part of the meeting introduced themselves and chatted nicely. One nice thing the guild did was have a small gathering in early December with all the new members (about 7 of us) with the officers at the club at one of their houses. We each brought a show and tell item and talked about how we started sewing and quilting. The officers each talked about how they had gotten involved with running the guild - clearly the intention was to get new members to consider get involved with running the guild at some point, but there was no pressure to do anything right away. I volunteered to work some shifts at the guild's show in the spring, and had a nice time chatting with other guild members, especially when taking a break in the kitchen.

I think any guild that wants to have new members join and get involved would be wise to think about how to make new members feel welcome. Having someone assigned to introduce new comers to some other members would be one way to approach the issue. If nobody is responsible for actively welcoming and chatting with new members it can end up with nobody doing it and driving away new members who would be wonderful assets to the guild.

The guild I'm in now is so friendly the visitors get a standing ovation, first in line at snack time and people saying come sit by us. We make sure of it. Too many have been there and felt the awkwardness. We may be in danger of running them off with too much welcome. LOL

The frame around my car license plate says I Love Quilting. DH does not like to drive my car at all.

The first time I attended a guild meeting was the last. It was way over-organized -- too much so for my comfort level. Very nice people, but I realized I am simply not a "joiner." Now I belong to a small group that meets in my home. It's a wonderful sisterhood, not so regimented, and very comfortable.

Same experience going in, but the difference is that I took a stick of dynamite (figuratively speaking, of course) and blew my way in. I can't say that there were ever any close friends for me in the group, except for my best friend forever, nor in the much smaller guild 20 or so miles away. Part of the reason was probably that most of the members were older and had known each other for a hundred years and really had no room for anyone else. Still, the workshops and the sew days and the show and tell were fun and there was enough socializing to make the two hour meeting once a month worth the time and effort.

I was involved with a Guild that was held at a church. It was a once a month meeting on a Saturday. It started at 9 am and ended at 3. Basically you came and sewed all day. We had all age groups, and if you wanted to know how to do something there was always someone there that knew. Once a year we made Project Linus quilts from kits that someone in the Guild put together. We all brought food to share for lunch, and had show and tell during lunch. Every so often something would be new in the quilting world and someone would present it to the group. But as time went on my Saturdays became too busy and I stopped going. Must admit I am not much of a joiner either.

I've threatened to put car eyelashes on my SUV to keep my husband from driving it. . . .

I went to a guild meeting in 1996. I sat crocheting a baby blanket and visiting with the woman next to me. I was crocheting because I'd just had a fire and lost my sewing machine and all supplies. I joined that night. The woman had spread the word and the next meeting they had 2 boxes of donated supplies - everything - thread, scissors, fabric, rulers, books! It was a beautiful surprise!

I tend to be introverted too. If you want to meet friends the best thing is to sign up to join a small group. The guild "bee" person will note which groups are accepting new members or help you connect with other newcomers to form a group. I have made lifelong friends this way. If your guild doesn't do this - run an ad in the newsletter and ask if others want to join you. Currently my group can't meet in person but we do a zoom sew along every Monday.