3 Reasons Quilt Guilds are Awesome

Me, just before speaking to the West Michigan Quilters Guild in November.

I often speak to guilds, but I’m also a proud member of a couple of them.   Tonight, I went to my local quilt guild’s meeting.  I needed to be out among other humans, and I was glad I went.  Here’s some reasons why Quilt Guilds are awesome:

-They are like minded.
No one quite “gets” you like another quilter and you’re in a room full of dozens of them, sometimes hundreds of them! At tonight’s meeting, we had a wearable art designer who was fabulous and so elegantly dressed in her beautiful creations, and just as I was thinking it someone asked “What do you wear to the grocery store?”. These are my people.

-The Show and Tell is like having a major quilt show every month.
I don’t know of any other place where you can sit in your chair and they just parade quilt after quilt for you. I love Show and Tell, it’s my favorite part of the meeting. The ones right before everyone gives the quilts as gifts for the holidays are great. The ones right after summer vacation is also. As a speaker, I love to sit through Show and Tell at the guilds I visit.

-It’s a hell of a value for your entertainment dollar.
Guilds range from $20 to $50 a year depending, but look at all you get! National speakers, quilting education and workshop opportunities, philanthropy and giving back to the community, chances to win prizes, the occasional and/or holiday potluck party, quilt related garage/rummage sales, challenges to stretch your abilities, a newsletter they worked hard to make, networking with other quilters, silent quilt auctions, bus trip opportunities, and even quilt exhibitions! Oh, and snacks. Did I mention the snacks? Quilters make/bring the best snacks.

So, take a look in your neck of the woods for your local quilt guild! And sit with people you don’t know, and introduce yourself.