New Acquaintances

Getting acquainted at a new members' tea is an impossible task. But a new members' tea is a friendly gesture that I appreciate. I speak of the Bayberry Quilters Guild which I have joined. They have 230+ members so finding someone compatible is not really possible without joining a committee or subgroup. It was even more difficult to get acquainted in the Empire Quilters Guild in NYC with their 400+ members. Today, I sat at a table with three very pleasant women, two fairly long term members and one a member just since last March. Apparently none of us were on the same level of competence nor interested in the same challenges. No matter, we chatted about various places we have lived.

The truth is, I don't really join a quilt guild to make new friends -- but if I should find a few with like quilting tastes, that would be a pleasure. I like to hear the guest speakers, I like the annual shows, I like the share/free table. That's enough to hold my interest. I prefer to quilt on my own and am not a taker of classes. I learn new techniques from books and the making of a quilt is its own reward -- although I enjoy a pat on the back if I display something at Show & Tell -- and I will. This guild has . advantages a NYC guild cannot have, largely due to real estate. Finding meeting places large enough for over 100 people, preferably with tables big enough to work on with sewing projects, is difficult and very expensive in NYC. Here it is much easier. We met today in a former school house with a large meeting room and available kitchen, their meetings are in a church meeting room and at a tech school. Whatever the rental, it's a pittance compared to NYC.

This group brings well known speakers and had TV personalities Ricki Tims and Libby Lehmann here Labor Day weekend with over 375 people signed up for the seminars -- people came by the dozens or scores from as far away as Canada and even Scotland. They all braved the dire hurricane warnings [which proved over stated] and apparently had a wonderful weekend. I have never seen the pair on TV but disliked one of Tim's books; that was not the kind of program that appeals to me but I'm very impressed that this guild was able to present such a program. Again part of it has to do with real estate -- and the abundance of reasonably priced accommodations in the area.

The picture above was this year's raffle quilt for their show which was held in August an which I wrote about attending.