Do You Guild?

Do you belong to a quilt guild? Up until a few years ago, I had heard of them, but didn’t really know what they were. I had a friend who invited me to Hearts & Hands, the guild that meets in my town, and I finally checked it out in 2021. I didn’t join right away, but I had enjoyed the meeting I went to. It was a nice group of ladies (although, men are welcome if they wanted to join) and they brought sewing projects to work on. The business meeting took place at noon (although people had been arriving since 9am). Afterwards, there was more sewing time, but some people left soon after the meeting closed. Some meetings even feature classes – sometimes from outside teachers, sometimes from guild members. There are block of the month swaps you can participate in, and we also do an exchange of sewing materials we no longer need, but someone else might be able to make use of.

Some guilds separate their meetings from sewing time. Ours has an additional sewing-only day most months. We do volunteer projects – Quilts of Valor is a main one. We also do quilts for kids going to Victory Junction. There are lots of opportunities for guilds to complete projects for others. It makes sense that a guild should pick one or two things to focus on.

Many guilds hold quilt shows. Ours does one every other year, and this year (in the fall) will be a show year. We also do a yearly beginning quilt class, and that helps introduce people not only to quilting, but to potential guild membership as well.

If you have never been part of a guild, I would highly recommend looking into it. You may need to try out one or two until you find the right fit (of people, meeting times, focus of the group, etc.) Once you find a guild that fits, it will be worth it!