Image source: LIFE magazine (February 1950)
I know many people belong to quilt guilds and quilt groups. But I don’t. Not yet. Every day (week… month…) I have every intention of joining. But between work and the not-quite-school-age kids, every “day, week, month” becomes every year. One day soon, I’m sure, I’ll join my local guild (the active and fabulous East Bay Heritage Quilters) and find a quilt group that will have me.
For now I’ve resigned myself to lone quilting.
This weekend I got to be a guest and my neighbor’s quilt group meeting! I rang the doorbell with excitement. I don’t have a portable quilt project working right now, so I was carrying a fleece dog pad I wanted to stitch up around the edges (here’s the recipient). I couldn’t stay long—just through the rest of my kids’ nap time.
Neighbor Julie and her three quilting partners welcomed me with open arms and closed rotary cutters. My timing was perfect… I had enough time to whip stitch the pad before snack time! (According to the ladies, snack time is a popular element to their quilt group gathering and crankiness before snacks is understood, although no one seemed cranky this time.)
I also had time to dip into the projects and conversation: Silk combined with batiks, stripes and dots (should the stripes all go the same direction or different?), pieced backs versus solid pieces, an upcoming trip to Long Beach, and myriad thread choices.
Ahhhh. Heaven. While I’m surrounded by quilts and quilting 40 hours a week at work and we discuss quilting processes and the projects in upcoming books, it’s not the same as really talking about quilting — as in the tangible and beautiful quilt next to me or ideas for the next quilt I could actually work on. It’s the simple difference between talking in theory and getting your hands dirty, if only in conversation.
I think that will be my favorite part of joining a quilt group. What’s yours?
(P.S. – Thanks, Julie! I had fun and the buttermilk blueberry cake hit the spot!)
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7 Comments
I love being a member of the Contra Costa Guild of Quilters…I get together almost every Tuesday night with a group of wonderful women from the guild who call themselves the “Twisted Thimbles.” I love the laughter, the feedback and help (I am very new to fabric and thread).
You’re welcome any time, Gailen!
Julie
@ctpublishing Great article! I never wanted 2 join a quilt group until lately. I think it’d be great fun to get together w/ other quilters!
I’m in the same boat…I have 3 not-yet-school-aged kids who make it difficult to join a quilt group. Not that I mind right now; I love being with my kids. But, I also love to quilt, and spending time with other quilters would be wonderful in two ways. First, I would learn so much more about quilting. And second, I’d get to spend time with ADULTS! As I’m sure you know, when you spend so much time with toddlers and a preschooler, your vocabulary tends to decrease and you get stuck in “mom mode”.
Great article! I enjoyed it a lot!
@ctpublishing getting out of the house :-), swapping ideas, occasional shopping trips, chatting together!!!
I’m a member of Skye Quilters on the Isle of Skye, which meets on Monday afternoons. As I work from home, it’s a great reason to get out, blow off some cobwebs, see what creative things other people are doing, and natter!
I love my quilt groups — we have seen each other through good times and bad. I laugh more with my Kindred Spirits than anyone else. For me, the community of quilting is the best part of quilting — and, as we know, that’s saying something since quilting has so many good parts!