All of the guilds near me are meeting at hours that i cannot attend. I wish there were "quilting groups" that could meet and sew instead of the politics of the guilds. I hope no one is offended by this. I mean no bad oppinions of the various quilds. I know they do very good works also.

Aw, Eddie, thats too bad...I've seen your quilts, and you would be a great addition to ANY guild! THEIR loss!
I'm not in a guild, not brave enough, and dont know any quilters close by to go with me!

Ha! I know exactly what you mean. I and some friends felt the same way about our local guild and you know, we solved the problem. We had a coup by volunteering for various positions and once the Board had changed hands, so did the focus of "politics." Sadly, no matter what group it is, there will always be politics being played by certain members, and that can make or break a group. Maybe it's time to think of your own coup. ;)

Thanks for all the info. I belong to a small group (dues are $10 a month or $3 per session). We meet in a converted farm house with fabric room, cutting table, sewing machines, and we have 3 days each week available to us to come and work. The dues are used for heat/cool, purchasing supplies and some fabric (which we can purchase for $3 a yard). The owner/instructor kinda makes the rules with some input from us.

My guild has several men . They even get to go on the retreats when they have them,.. I really feel you should get to go to the one closes to your home. I would fight them on not alowing men in the quild. Do you know of any other men in the area that quilt. Get some of the ladies in your area that your friends with to help get you in.

I belong to 4 guilds. One collects no dues, 5 women who are working on a common project. 2 of my guilds have $10 annual dues, but each member is required to buy or sell $30 in raffle tickets for out raffle quilt. The 4th guild charges $15 per year. All are very active in charity projects. The total # of member of all groups combined would be about 150 people.

Thats terrible that they won't let men join the guild. We had our first male join this year and the rest of us want him to speak to our husbands about quilting...

And a well controlled vocabulary !

Oh no, you really don't want to do that! Just think, it means you'll have to share your fabric stash. :shock: Lol. I keep trying to get my husband involved but no such luck. He's got a degree in computers and I think he'd be great in either designing or helping me to design my own patterns. He knows all the terms and enough tips and tricks to impress any quilter (and has helped a few out!) but he isn't interested in being a part of the actual process. I have to laugh. He can even stand in front of a quilt at a show and pick out the problems (such as using too many fabrics of the same value, which causes the pattern to be lost) or point to excellent workmanship, but he simply doesn't want to dip his fingers into the fabric.

At least I don't have to worry about sharing room on my design board. :lol:


And the patience of a saint! I was only president for a year. I can't imagine doing it for 6 years. Impressive!

I belong to a large guild (200+ members) with about 70-80 people attending each month. Our dues are $20/year and we do donate $$$ to the church where we meet and pay for the custodian to set up the chairs each month.

Our dues go to getting national teachers but we also have workshops each month given by our members which cost anywhere from $5-$10 depending on preparation and copying costs.

At our meetings we have door prizes. Those with birthdays during the month bring a $5 gift and names are drawn. We also have a raffle prize donated by a member each month.

We have small groups that meet at other times such as a 1930's repro "Bee"; crazy quilting "Bee"; donation quilt "Bee", etc.