Quilter's Guild of Dallas

Meetings

The general meetings for the Quilter’s Guild of Dallas are held on the first Thursday of each month at Congregation Shearith Israel in Dallas. Occasionally, meetings will be re-scheduled for different evenings due to scheduling conflicts, but these changes are well-publicized in Quilting Lines - the newsletter of the Guild.

If you are new, the flurry of activity may be a bit bewildering. Let us take you on a "virtual tour" of a meeting, so you'll know what to expect:

Member Check In and Door Prizes

Your first stop should be the membership table. It’s hard to miss, as it is placed right at the main entrance to the meeting room, and is usually surrounded by lots of people clutching their door prize ticket.

You must show your membership card to be admitted to a Guild meeting, whereupon you will be issued a ticket stub. These tickets serve two purposes: (1) you could be a lucky winner of a nifty doorprize, and (2) this is how we determine the number of people in attendance at a given meeting.

We encourage and welcome guests and visitors at our general meetings. There is a $5.00 guest fee for non-members attending any meeting hosting an out-of-town speaker.

Name Tags

All members are asked to wear a nametag during Guild meetings. When you join the guild, you receive a plastic nametag sleeve that will hold your membership card. This is one way to wear a nametag. Other members have created more elaborate nametags or elaborate membership card holders. Whatever you choose to do, those of us who have trouble remembering names will be most appreciative.

Also, if you come to the meeting and do NOT have your card with you, a fee of 50 cents will be assessed. The “I forgot my card/nametag” money collected is donated to the library to purchase new books for the library. If you lose your membership card, a replacement can be purchased for $1.00.

Guild Store

The Guild Store is open at each monthly meeting and has available for sale a variety of items with the Quilter's Guild of Dallas logo, including pins, T-shirts, aprons, and coffee mugs. Other items for sale include past donation quilt patterns and selected items with quilting themes.

Guild Library

The Guild library maintains an extensive collection of quilting and needleart books, periodicals, and videos for the benefit of Guild members. The library “operates” on meeting nights prior to the beginning of the business meeting. Books are checked out for a period of one month; checked out at one meeting, returned at the next meeting.

A complete listing of the library’s book titles is published once a year, and is available by request from the Guild librarian. New acquisitions for the library are reviewed in Quilting Lines as they are added to the collection.
The Guild Librarian is in charge of keeping track of loans and returns, purchasing and cataloging new materials, and maintaining the library materials. Members keeping books out past their due date will have their names as well as the overdue book listed in Quilting Lines. (Yes, we point fingers!)

The Guild welcomes gifts to the library made in honor of or in memory of a special friend or loved one. These special gifts may be made in the form of cash honorariums or as actual books. Library funds are also acquired from the following sources:

• When you forget to wear your membership card/name tag at the meetings, the fee collected goes to the library.
• An area used bookstore will credit the Guild for books (not limited to quilting / needlework books) brought in for “recycling.” Contact the Guild Librarian for further details.

Meeting

The president will call the meeting to order at approximately 7:15 p.m. At this time, she will ask committee chairs and anyone else with announcements for the membership to come forward and share their news/information.

After the reports, the president takes a few moments to honor one or more outstanding guild members. Each month, a "Yellow Rose" is announced. Annually, the Founder's Award and the Silver Thimble award are announced as well.

At this point, it's time for:

Bring and Brag

Next to the program itself, “Bring and Brag” is one of the most eagerly anticipated portions of the meeting. This is your chance to share something you are proud of with people who will really appreciate your effort! Perhaps you just finished that quilt you started hand-quilting ten years ago. Maybe you just finished a quilt top that you are so proud of you have to show it off before you get it quilted. You went to a flea market and found an extraordinary crazy quilt buried in a box for $15.00. You took a workshop from one of our program presenters, and want to share the results with the other Guild members. Whatever you want to share, we promise to “ooh” and “ahh” appropriately.

At the close of the "business" portion of the meeting, the president will turn the reins over to the Program committee.

Program

The program is the highlight of every meeting. We feature both nationally known and local quilting personalities as guest speakers. (Sometimes, they even fit into both categories; local quilting personalities who have become quilters of national prominence!) The Quilter’s Guild of Dallas is proud to have hosted quilt artists including Elly Sienkiewicz, Harriet Hargrave, the late Doreen Speckman, Libby Lehman, Mary Ellen Hopkins, and Joen Wolfrom. Some of our local stars have included Karen K. Stone, Anne Colvin Mosher, Gabrielle Swain, and Patricia Campbell.

Door Prizes

Following the program, we close the meeting with the drawing for door prizes. Door prizes are generously donated by local quilt shops, vendors, and Guild members. (Perhaps you have a pattern, a book, or a gadget that you bought, never used, but would like to pass on. You can bring it and donate it to the door prize pot!) If you regularly add to your “stash” at a quilt store that has donated a door prize, make sure to tell them how much you appreciate their generosity! They’ll appreciate the “pat on the back” from a loyal customer.

After the conclusion of the meeting, you may make a last trip to the program table to register for a workshop, buy a chance on a fund-raiser quilt from another guild or organization, pickup information or materials from the Community Service committee, or anything else you need to do before heading home.