Jordan

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.

tranum

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.

Sharongn

What is a license plate quilter?

Watson

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

grannie cheechee

Sharongn, specially ordered tag for car. A friend has a tag I kuilt, and her husband wouldn't drive the car unless she's with him. Too many people were asking if he was a quilter.

cjsews

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.

Barb2018

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.

Onebyone

juliasb

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.

Anniedeb

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.