Beth asked--If the quilts are for something such as a raffle quilt. They are not. Many of my quilts leave the house. Marriages, babies and such are starting to slow down and more of the quilts have no home--I like the way Bonnie Hunter puts it in "Quiltville"--if we were painters no one would ask why we are painting another landscape...or painting again. It is part of the artist. These quilts are because I have more fabric and I believe that there are many fabulous quilts stuck in my stash waiting to get out! I am excited to get them out. Now if I could just get some more of them quilted.

I thought that I would follow that up with something about our guild. Our guild is quite large--almost 350 members. We have a show every other year & a "Sewing Expo" on the off years. We have continuous Charity projects. Several of us cut out fabric ( I love to cut)--the committee put the together "pizza boxes" with everything needed for a quilt. Members that love to sew--sew them up. Sometimes the members quilt them, others turn in the completed top and several members get together every month and tie the other ones. We have fabric swaps every other month, and blocks to raffle every other month or so. We are blessed with national speakers-- Carol Doak is coming soon! We have 2 retreats a year and buses that will take you to regional shows. We have the "Show and Tell" at the end of every meeting. Members teach classes along with the speakers that come into town for the meetings. Many of the members have smaller "Sit N Sew" groups. There are groups that meet at the churches, libraries--more than 1 and at historic homes that open to the public. They have even set up mini retreats. These let you bring your stuff and leave it there for the weekend. You just can't sleep there. But no distractions and lots of quilting friends who can help you get over the hard parts of the badly written pattern.

I will say that a guild is what you put into it. If you participate you will make friends and stay busy. If you let others do all the work and just show up for the meetings once a month you might not talk to anyone for the whole meeting. Most guilds have so many long time members that sometimes the thrill of seeing the friend keeps them from venturing out to talk to others they don't know. Also I think some are quieter than the average person, at least until you get them talking about quilting.

So enough talk.

It is bed time for me. I am looking forward to working on a my projects tomorrow and lunch with a good friend.

Just Another Quilter