caspharm

I used to belong to a guild in the SF Bay Area that had 200+ members. They would alternate with odd months in the morning and even months met at night. We would have a guest speaker most meetings and sometimes there was a class the following day after the evening meeting.

captlynhall

I joined the local guild about 3 months ago and think is is quite large. Perhaps 400 members or so. I have not attended a meeting yet, so don't really know what to expect. Some of the meetings take place during the day, which I cannot attend as I work full time. The evening meetings seem to be on Monday, which should be great because that is my day off, but seems like after I finish all my errands for the day, I am too tired to get back in the car and go to a meeting. The other thing I am concerned about is feeling pressured to do charity quilts. It's not that I think that is a bad thing, it's just that at my age, after working all day, taking care of the house and garden, and then trying to work on the quilts I have in progress, there is just no energy left.

Tothill

I used to go to a embroidery group that met in a local woman's home. It was the first Tuesday of each month from 10:00 am until all was done. We would bring our lunch, pay $5.00 to whomever was doing the program and $2.00 for coffee/tea.

I had to wait until there was space for me in the group, due to space constraints. I loved going, but now work m-f days and can no longer attend.

I used to belong to another group that used a church hall. We never got close to capacity, thank goodness, because it would have been hard to turn anyone away. Most people aged out as their children headed to school.

Christine-

My guild has 300 members, 100 on average come to the meetings each month. There are some benefits of having a large group. The group can afford to do more activities, and the show and tell time is wonderful! You're bound to find someone who has the same taste you do. We meet in a church, once a month, year round.

Pilgrim

I belong to a guild and we have two meetings - one is from 1-3 pm and the evening one is 7-9. There are more in the afternoon meeting than the evening but a lot of women work and the evening one is best for them. We have over 300 members and keep growing. Lots of fun and ideas. We do a lot of charity work and are having our guild quilt show in September. We have one every two years. Mississippi Valley Quilters Guild is the name and we welcome all. We have a web site as well.

psumom

I belong to a Guild that does limit membership to 50. Our meeting place can't hold many more than that, but the founders idea was to keep things small so everyone would have the chance to get to know the others. When I moved to this area, I had to wait 5 months to get in. I totally understood their rules, and didn't feel hurt or inferior! We have meetings once a month, on Saturday morning. We also have speakers, demos, challenges, sew-ins, etc. There is a much larger Guild in the area, but I really haven't been interested in joining.

Quilting Nonnie

"It is really frustrating because such a small percentage actually help, run for office, show and tell and so on, but we have to plan ahead just in case they decide to come. The guild seriously discussed limiting membership to 50 a few years ago, but it was voted down by the same people who make such a small contribution. Of course those people are there with bells on for a party or free class."

I understand your feelings, there are people like that in any organization I think. And sometimes it feels that just a few people contribute. But not all are just non-contributers, there are other reasons.

It could be that many of those people have difficulties in contributing. At one point in my guild I was membership chairman. It was a very time consuming job. During that year, I started having high blood pressure. That was a first for me. I do tend to say yes to things thinking I can fit it all in. I resigned from the membership chair, cut a few other things and the blood pressure has been fine.

I've not increased my level of "volunteer-ship" since then.

Other people may have very demanding jobs that require them to work when they get home and the guild is the only place they go for "a night out."

Not everyone who is chronically ill looks sick, but it limits what you can do. We have one lady I know of in our guild that has fibromyalgia. She hardly is able to quilt, but she comes to meetings and is the sweetest kindest person I know.

My husband has not been able to walk for a year. Because of that, all of the house upkeep, chores, yardwork, etc. fall on me. I work full time. It doesn't leave me a lot of time to spare. I am now the guild email "blast" person.

My friend had to take a job to help out with finances. Before that she was a member of two guilds and had a job in each. Now she is a mail carrier and her job usually has her home between five and seven at night.

There are people who have cancer, or their spouse does. Or a serious illness. Or something devastating going on in their life that we don't know.

People come to guilds because they love quilting and want the company. Their contribution is their presence and if that's all they can contribute they are as welcome as anyone else.

blueheavenfla

The same limitations (fire code/space) caused us to limit our membership. We are an "offshoot" of an even larger guild. No one is stopping those who can't get into a guild from starting one. I started a mini group of 6 a year ago and we have doubled already. Someone just has to take the responsibility for getting things rolling. That may mean finding a place, contacting the waiting list from another group, contacting the newspaper for publicity. The main thing the ones on the waiting list have to understand is that it is not personal. A larger place is not always available!

puzzler

The Northwest Quilters of Portland, OR meet in two groups (with some overlap, I'm sure). Meetings in odd number months are in the morning, meetings in even numbered months are in evenings. All else is the same as a guild with only one meeting.

puzzler