Do you belong to a guild? How much are your dues and how are they used? Is there a committee to make decisions or all members involved in decision making?

i use to belong to a big quilt guild, 100 members, very structured, seemed the meetings were all business, then show and tell, no time for anything more. Dues were 15.00 year. Now i belong to a small group, 9 of us, we use to have 10. dues, but had too much money, so we quit collecting dues and bought local womens shelter a much needed tv,vcr. We make a raffle quilt each year and use proceeds to make quilts for families that have had house fires. Love the group, we make decisions together.

We are a small group (20-30) and our dues are $10 per month. This pays for heating/cooling, new machines, thread, fabric (which we pay $3 yard if we use it). There are several families who are low income and everything is given to them (no dues either). All decisions are basically made by owner of the quilt house where we meet. I just wondered what others do. Thanks

I belong to 3 quilds; all now charge $20/year
Dues are used in many ways, depending on the guild: programs, rental for meeting space, pay for newletter postage and printing (most now e-mail newsletter, but have to print for non-computer members), cards for members' loss, illness etc.
donations e.g. - the NE Quilt Museum.
Usually all members are not involved unless there's real contention over the decision. A committee or the Executive Board usually make the decisions.
Having been President of one of my Guilds for 6 yrs, let me tell you making decisions when there is controversy is a nightmare, requiring the skills of a negotiator and the patience of a saint.

We vote in an executive - president, vice, secty, treasurer each year; We have volunteers who run our library - books purchased from some membership money but also once a year we clear out our sewing rooms & the funds raised go to the library to purchase new books; we have a volunteer take photos for a scrapbook; we have a volunteer who runs the 50/50 draw (guild has to purchase a $10 lottery licence to run this); we have a volunteer to greet members & check in guests & she also has a small budget for door prizes; we have 2 volunteers who run membership - new cards etc and provides an up-to-date member listing; we have a volunteer who runs a care quilt committee once a month who has a budget for batting etc.; we have a program volunteer (this years it's 3 people) who plan ahead a year or two to bring in speakers (we had Pippa Moore one time; also Cathy Miller the singing quilter; Sharon Pedersen just to name a few)also have our own members demo some things - and this year they organized a mystery quilt, a UFO club and ?? can't remember what else. Our dues have been $35 but may be going up to $40; the guild pays $25/meeting for chair/table set up as well as the $50/meeting use of the church hall. We also have a raffle quilt committee that organizes a new quilt each year (we have to purchase a $25 lottery licence for this) & we vote on which charity will receive the proceeds. We also have a guild retreat committee that organizes a yearly local retreat, but it is not subsidized by the guild. We are a very diverse group, some loving art quilts, some loving hand work and others coming for the friendships, new & old. I've been a member since 1994 & watched our membership grow from approx. 30 to over 100 in 2000 when I was president, but I think it is down to about 80 at the moment. The guild also has to purchase insurance from the membership funds. And we also have a newsletter printed out quarterly.

I am a member of a guild, and have been since it started about 20 years ago. There are about 45 members.
We are a fun group and do a lot of charitable things in our town. Our dues are $20 per year. We work hard to raise money to bring in an internationally known teacher every other year with a quilt show on the alternate year. We also have a big Christmas party with the guild buying dinner.
We do a secret sister exchange(voluntary)and a lottery block of the month, someone picks a block out of a book and we all do it for ourselves if we want to. The next month someone else picks the pattern out of the same book. Lots of fun. We do a lot of other things also, retreats, sew-days, road trips and picnics.

I am in two guilds myself. They are both the same size average about 100 members. Dues are 25.00 a year. We use it for quilt shows, we have a guest speaker every month and they offer classes given by people like Trish who wrote the Turning Twenty books. It is worth it to me. We eat first, everyone brings something, then have a short meeting, have show and tell, have door prizes, the speaker and then hang around and visit. It is worth the friedships you get. We also have several Smaller Bees that come off it. We can't be in them all so we do what we want. I am in two so I can go to two retreats a year.LOL. My next one is in Mt Calm in August. They have a store inside too. waahoo.....can't wait.

Does anyone know of a good quilt guild in AZ?

you can find a guild in your areas

http://www.quiltguilds.com/

i celebrated remembering two whole months in a row to attend our local guild's meeting on tuesday evening. i was a half hour late, but can blame the out-of-date listing on the internet.

nice bunch of ladies. haven't counted, but i think it's fewer than 20. dues are $15 per year. i don't know what else they use it for, but they do buy bazillions of fat quarters at a shop in our region during the annual sale. each member gets to pick one FQ from the table at each meeting.

they do at least one community project a year. this year it's quilts for wounded soldiers. that's what finally got me out of the house. :lol:

they've also arranged display space in a local building for a two-month quilt display. not a show. i completely forgot to get the details. :roll:

the Tucson Quilters guild has been around for 30 years,dues are 25.00 a year,monthly meetings,either tues nite or wed morning.we have a quilt show once a year and have several charities that we donate to,any more info you can pm me or google Tucson quilters guild

I belong to a guild of almost 600 our dues are 25 a year but will be going up next year. We have a monthly newsletter. Well know speakers every month with workshop on the weekend before the meeting. We also have projects we do for charity.
We have a show every other year

I belong to several local guilds. The guild here in Idaho Falls, Snake River Valley Quilt Guild, has annual membership dues of $20. It is valuable because they have a very extensive library and only members can check out a book, DVD, or templates/patterns. Members also receive first dibs at the classes and we have amazing national instructors come in. Just last month Sally Collins taught a couple of classes. (AMAZING!!!) There are about 150 members and a decent Board that runs it all, but any main decisions are voted on by the members as a whole. This guild is very active in charity, donating several thousand dollars every other year to a charity from the sales of our quilt raffle as well as being active in handing out hundreds of quilts a year to various needy organizations. We have the largest show in southeastern Idaho, coming up next year, which takes an amazing amount of structure and organization. There is even a group that are working on getting a quilt museum up and running. Several of our members teach nationally or have books & patterns out on the market for sale. Right now probably our most popular national teacher is Kim Diehl.

The second guild I belong to is only $5 a year. This guild is run much more like a club and usually there are only 30-40 people at the meetings. There is a Board but I haven't served on it so I don't know how involved it is. They do have local teachers come in but it seems to be more of a get-together than an actual classroom type setting. This guild is a lot of fun & it's easy to see the gals love visiting and quilting and having fun. Every year they make a quilt and raffle it off to charity, drawing in about $1500 to a local charity. These ladies are very generous and just fun to hang around! And I'd say a good quarter of them belong to the Idaho Falls guild.

The third guild's dues are $15 a year. This guild is very small, only about 40-50 ladies, and while there is a Board, most everything is decided by a majority vote by the members. Once a year the group gets together and creates several charity quilts, which are donated to needy families, those who have had home fires, and to the Veteran's Center.

The guild I belonged to in California was very similar to my guild in Idaho Falls, except it had probably half the people. Besides that it was remarkably similar. I get the impression most guilds are run with a Board, at least those with 30-50+ people in it. Once it grows beyond someone's livingroom or small classroom, I think structure becomes necessary or chaos takes over.

I belong to our state (Arkansas) guild, and the dues there are $25 per year. I'm going to be joining a guild in the next county over at the end of this month, and their dues are $15. I can't join the guild here in my own county because they won't let men join (Boo! Hisss! Discriminatory! :evil: )

The dues in the state guild are used for basic operations, such as monthly rent for the meeting room at the community center, newsletter printing, etc. We have a board that meets monthly to make decisions for direction of the guild, and any major decisions are presented to the members for a vote.

wow thats sad that they won't allow men!You would think they would embrace any one wanting to quilt regardless

I am in a guild and dues are $35/year. The money is used for expenses, like community center rental, postage, newletter printing, insurance, speakers, supplies for charity quilts, and the like. Decisions are made at board meetings and they are open to all members to attend. There is a constitution and bylaws I guess that indicate what needs to be voted on by the members which is done at the monthly meeting.

I was surprised how much a speaker costs and will try to avoid being in that board position.

The meeting format is short business, introductions of guests, show and tell, speaker and drawing for BOM and door prizes. I really enjoy it and when I don't figure it was just the attitude I choose that night and try to forget about it.

Yes, you would think so.

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[quote=Eddie]WHAT!?! :shock: I've never heard such a thing before. Wow, how very strange. We have several men in our guild and I have to tell you, most of us women are highly impressed by you men quilters. Impressed and fascinated. :lol: You think differently and often times you will approach quiltmaking in a different way. I especially love the design factor. Men seem to make more interesting patterns, or maybe it's just that you think logically and it shows in your designs and I'm drawn to that aspect of it. Whatever it is, I certainly can't imagine any guy being turned away from our guild. Heck, I think one of our founding members was a man!

From their bylaws that they have posted on their website:

:shock:

Eddie, Sounds like they might be a little intimidated by a man quilting as good or better than they do.LOL. We have three in our guild and two actually go to retreats. They have their own room of course.It's their loss, Eddie, not yours. By the way, I am still planning on send the last three brown telephone glass to you soon. I mailed out too much last month and have to spread it out a little. Thanks

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.

I recently joined a guild, probably 35 membrs. No annual dues, when you sign in at the meeting, you pay $1.00. We have a Pres., Sec., treasurer, and sunshine lady. Ther is a sharing table, bring something to sell, cheap, proceeds to the local food pantry. We work on Quilts of Valour, and supporting the drive for a "comfort home" in our county. We donate individual quilts, and presented them with a big quilt to raffle. One lady picks a quilt BOM pattern, and decides the colors for it. When you bring the block in, you put your name in the box, somebody takes the blocks home to make a quilt. There is also social events, tomorrow is a shop hop. Being as I don't have a quilting friend, I have really enjoyed this guild and the nice ladies I've met there.

I am a member of the local guild, last count we had 250 members. Our dues are $35/year. That $ goes towards rental of the church, paying for speakers, books for the library, sewing days for anyone to go to, insurance, post office box, and other things that are used by all the members of the guild. We actually had over 300 at one point so it's now 2 meetings for the 1 guild. We also have a 50/50 draw at the meetings, all the proceeds go to Charity quilts that we make for the community. We also have a dinner at the end of the year where we pay $5 and the guild pays the rest.

I'm actually the VP next year so it should be an interesting time. Our guild asks for volunteers or all the different groups (program, library, show & tell, and Executive) if more then one person volunteers for an Exec position then it goes to a vote but in 5 years it hasn't happened yet. We go through the bylaws every year, present them to the guild and ask for any changes that they want then we take it to an open discussion and have everyone vote a month later so all views can be heard.

Program has to be the hardest because you are choosing who is the speaker every month but I think we do a good job of getting a good mix of things in there. But it's a great way to meet other quilters and learn new techniques!

I love the idea of Program! Right now that job belongs to the guild presidents in my area. You are right, I remember that being the hardest part of my job. Other than that it sounds like our guilds are remarkably alike, except we pay for our building rental fee through the raffle ticket sales. Various shops and members donate plenty of gifts to raffle off and it almost always covers the rental fee. And every other year we raffle off a quilt, part of which goes to charity and part of which goes to fund our educational program, which is how we can afford to get such amazing national teachers in and only charge members $35 a class. 8-)

Wow. They should be inviting you to join with your talent it would be so beneficial to have your expertise. Unbelievable!

I belong to two groups - one a guild, the other a small group.

The guild has dues of $25 a year. That covers speakers - usually have someone well-known 3 - 4 times a year - a monthly newsletter, directory, rent for meeting room, library books, books for donation to public libraries, fabric for charity quilts, workshops (2 or 3 per year), fabrics for a raffle quilt, an annual show (room rent, etc.), publicity, and courtesy - cards to sick members, etc., and donations to the International Quilt Study Center, Lincoln, NE. All our decisions are made by the board unless it is controversial. Our meetings are split - we start with refreshments (brought by members), program, sew and tell, then business. (Monthly meetings)

The small group meets for devotions, sharing of patterns and teaching skills. We meet monthly at a member's home, no dues, all teaching is done by members of the group. I guess this is more of a 'bee' than a guild. But I have learned a great deal from these ladies.

So far neither group has had any men interested in joining. But I recall nothing in the guild by-laws that would preclude men from joining. Sorry, Eddie, for the discrimination you have faced.

Our guild has about 40 members. We meet in the "community room" at our local school. We give them a donation, usually $100. Our dues are $10 per year. We use the money for quilts of valor and "comfort quilts" (given to women in the county who have cancer). We also have an annual quilt show (not judged) just a show. At our meetings we typically have a quilting related demonstration, show and tell and of course dessert. It is really a fun group.

Funny Eddie but please stop banging your head against the wall. It feels so good when you stop.
So far I have past that reply (Your head banging) 3 times and it does make me laugh.
I thought belonging to a guild would be different than it is. I like the speakers. Our dues are $25 per anum. The group does a lot of good works. A lot less join-ups in 09/10 than ever before. ? the economy.
I am glad to have anyone be in charge but not me. I can barely be in charge of myself.
The best parts are: making quilty friends, speakers, show and tell, and the library.

It costs $30 per year to join my guild and membership starts in June. If you joine in the middle of the year, dues are pro-rated. Also, no charge if you're just visiting.

My guild has a board that makes all the decisions--my only complaint is that the board tends to be clique-ish. That bugs me. I've adjusted my expectations and continue for the things I like about it: the speakers, the BOM, the charity quilting, and the challenge quilt we're doing this year. I've only been a member for about six months.

What was the rationale for excluding men? How long ago were these by-laws written. Sounds like they need to be challenged. Know anyone in the guild that would stir up the pot and challege this. I think attitudes are so different now and probably a majority of the people will not oppose changing the by-laws. I wonder how many people even know about this discriminatory by-law. I certainly would take up this issue if I was in that guild.

great idea!,makes waves Eddie, challenge the by-laws and say they need to be updated and include men'Get their mailing address and we can all write letters