All the years I’ve been quilting, I’ve never joined a Quilt Guild.  I’ve heard horror stories of insider discontent, political unrest, power clicks, and even cheating to win awards at shows.  Now all that sounds perfectly awful and I’ve steered clear of joining for fear I would be unhappy and wasting my time. 

The local quilt guild puts on a show every other year.  It’s always a great show and the quilts are fantastic. In a weaker moment at this year’s show I walked up to the sign up booth and handed over a check and filled out the form. I am now a card-carrying member of an organized Quilt Guild! An enticement for signing up was each new member’s name went in to a hopper and if your name was drawn they made your name badge for you.  Never being a lucky person I wrote that off immediately!  A few days after the show I receive a call telling me I won the nametag!! Pinch me! I still can’t believe it!  This is a good start, everyone is friendly and open to boot!

I decided if I was a member I should become involved in some of the activities offered.   I decide I would like to work with the Charity Quilt Committee.  They meet once a month for three hours at the LQS (local quilt store) and hand tie, bind, and label donated quilts.  Surely I can offer three hours a month.  I’m sure they also piece but not at this regular meeting.  The quilts are used by; local emergency agencies, homeless shelters, and my favorite charity: Hospice.  I’m sure there are more but I’m still learning about the guild.

I was a total failure with the hand tying, I have a thumb that won’t even open loose jar lids anymore much less poke a needle threaded with double crochet thread into and out of a quilt then tie a square knot!  I quit after an hour, I offered to machine quilt a few quilts for them as Hospice asked for machine quilted donations because they are washed often and hold up better if machine quilted.  I came home and iced my thumb and arm to reduce the swelling. 

The next experience was the annual meeting in which quilts and sewing items are auctioned off to raise money for guest speakers and teachers for the guild in the coming year.  It was a wonderful and fun experience!  Dinner was a huge potluck where the desserts became my main meal!  I was made to feel welcome at all times and got to meet people I have something in common with, I could talk “quilt” and no one nodded off!  There was a high energy in the room, lots of laughter and giggles.

Long arm quilters lead a solitary quilting life while we work.  We can’t just pick out our huge machines and haul them to a get together.  We work alone and only see other quilters for drop off and pick up.  At times, we only converse with customers via email and projects are shipped back and forth.  So joining a quilt guild may be a perfect solution for making new friends and finding a social life! Unfortunately the tying quilts didn’t work out for me and I’ll still be quilting alone for the Charity Committee, but I’m sure I can still go and maybe thread needles for them.

If you have hesitated, I say go ahead and join a local Quilt Guild! Just being with so many quilters at once was inspiring!