Quilt Guild

Guild Meeting

Yesterday was quilt guild day (Blue Valley Quilter's Guild) and it was my 3rd meeting as a member of the programs committee, a.k.a. Vice President.  There are three of us who are the "vice presidents" because it is a big job to be responsible for conducting the programs part of each meeting.  We arrange for speakers, work out all the logistics for the speaker's presentation, help the speaker in any way possible, set up the room for the meeting, check equipment, promote and advertise workshops and programs, and clean up afterwards.  We do whatever is needed to make our programs successful.

It's a big job. I also find it rather stressful; yet, the sense of accomplishment at the end of a successful meeting is gratifying. I think this year's committee is doing a pretty good job. 

Yesterday's meeting was the annual garage sale, auction, and potluck lunch. We had to get there early to set the place up,  conduct the business of the garage sale, collect items for the auction, answer questions, and then run the auction. The garage sale is where people clean out their sewing rooms and donate sewing items for sale to other members. 

The auction involves "big" items that people donate. It amazes me what people give away. We had a huge quilt frame for hand quilting, several entire quilt project kits that retail for $40, $50, even up to $80 or $90, sets of completed quilt blocks, unfinished quilt tops. All of this auctions off for mere fractions of their original worth, not even counting the work put into some of these items. You can get some real bargains. 

We ended up with 48 things to auction. I don't know how much money we made over all, but I estimate it was over $1200 and that will help us afford our speakers. Sometimes we get national-level speakers who fly in from around the country. The costs add up in a hurry.  

My Garage Sale Finds

I purchased some of my favorite kinds of things. I got a "grab bag" box of fabrics, a box of assorted threads, and a partially completed kit for a fabric purse in some lovely fall colors. I also bought a number of old magazines (for 25 cents each, woo) to leaf through, then recycle. 

The thread box contained at least 60 spools of various levels of thread, some high quality, some cheap. I got several wooden spools, even. A few spools of Mettler and Sulky thread, even.

The box of fabrics was a real treasure. I found many scraps and large pieces of cotton, mostly. I found three completed points for a "Lone Star" quilt top and much of the fabric to complete it. Wow. I discovered some lace and dozens of skeins of embroidery threads.  Oh, I don't know what I'll do with it, but it sure was fun. 

My Thoughts on Being Programs VP

It's stressful. I worry about the meetings. I worry about the expenses. I worry about missing something and making mistakes. I don't like all the work.  The meetings so far have been very long for me. And clean up after a meeting is a pain; for example, I got "stuck"  with two full size quilt frames left over from the sale. What will we do with them? Right now these behemoths are in my car. They'll probably end up in my garage for a few years.

However, I don't do all the work - my co-VPs do an equal amount of work, if not more. Thus far we've been quite successful; people are signing up for the workshops, and I have not heard many complaints. This job gives me a chance to exercise my organizational skills. Additionally, there are some perq's  - you get to meet the speakers on a more intimate level, you get a few freebies from time to time, you get to set the direction of the lectures for the guild for the next year or so.

I'm ambivalent whether I'll continue this position for more than one year. We'll see how the rest of the year goes....anyway, they may not ask me to continue, after all.