What it takes

So, this is the story of how I attended my first quilt guild meeting. 

If you’ve followed me for a while, then you know there’s always a story.  And, often, I don’t come out looking so good.  But, it all seems to wash out in the end. 

A couple of weeks ago, I tried again to get into the guild’s newsletter and again I was foiled in my attempts to enter the id and password.  This happens periodically.  I’ll be able to get in one month and not be able to get in the next month.  It was very frustrating.  I had written three emails to three different guild officers asking whether I was using the right id and password and if they changed, how I was notified so I can start keeping up with it. 

No one had written back to any of those.

My fourth email was a bit more direct and included the phrase “and no one has even bothered to write back” and included a description of my disappointment that all the contact I had ever received from the guild was my membership card; in an envelope by itself with not even a set of notes for what I should expect as a guild member.  I wasn’t mean or rude, but I was painfully direct.  And, I ended my letter by saying that if this wasn’t getting to anyone, I’d try snail mailing a letter to the guild President.

I got seven responses from seven different guild officers, each one appalled that I hadn’t received any contact.  And, as they started to investigate, they found that I didn’t have my email preference set, which should have happened when I joined the guild (I should have been receiving paper or email letters pretty frequently and I wasn’t getting either one) and my email address was misspelled.  And, the id I’d been given to access guild news was case sensitive and I’d been given the wrong case, so when I got in, it was because I typo’ed a capital letter.  All very simple things to correct.

The outpouring of concern and willingness to get this straightened out was a bit overwhelming, but welcome.
 
One of the emails was from the guild president.  Another officer and I kind of hit it off in our emails and she became my main contact.  Both of them encouraged me to attend a meeting.

And, that’s why I decided to go on Monday night. 

The meeting was great.  I walked in and handed in my next year’s registration and talked to the officer I had hit it off with and walked around the room, looking at the volunteer opportunities and the “free table” and the book table. 

A lady touched me on the back and said “I know you.  I read your blog every day.”  I asked if she recognized me from my picture and she said no, it was from my red backpack.  That felt really good.  Really, really good.  There was at least one person in that room that knew me. 

A while later, the President came over and shook my hand.  She knew who I was and I quietly apologized for creating a stir in the guild officers the week before and we had a whispered conversation where she assured me that she was glad I’d been persistent and glad I’d attended the meeting.

The presenter was Patt Blair.  If you get a chance to hear her speak, you should.  She was wicked funny and her quilts are both beautiful and whimsical.  I took a couple of phone pics, but can’t get them to upload here, so you’ll have to go to her website to see her work.  She was originally a watercolorist and brings paints and dyes to her work and then quilts the dickens out of them.  Her examples were lovely to behold and her slide show had some additional lovely quilts that were too big to transport.  It was definitely worth attending.

Before Patt spoke, they did show and tell.  I bet there were 50 people in show and tell.  It was very nice to see what other guild members were working on and finishing up. 

That night was a business meeting, which I was pretty lost during, even though I’d probably looked at the budget more than most people had, just out of curiosity, and they weren’t sure if they had a quorum.  Quorum was 10% of the members.  And, they weren’t sure there were that many there.  I expected guild meetings to be huge and attended by most of the members.  So, I’m learning that not everybody can attend every meeting and that means I don’t have to go to every meeting either.  That was actually a relieving thought…I’m not taking on an unbreakable commitment.  I can attend or not as I choose.

But, next month’s speaker is Liz Porter of Fons and Porter and so you can bet I’m going to be making it to that one.

So, that’s the story of how I got involved in the quilt guild.  I guess I just needed my own kind of little ice breaker to get me there.

Oh, and I’ve been invited to visit a bee this Saturday. 

My horoscope keeps saying I need to make different choices.  I thought it was saying I needed to make different choices about my job.  But, the word it used was my career.  Maybe being involved is how I take my quilting career to the next level.

Be well.  Have a great Wednesday.  It’s Sydney’s last day of school.  Much weeping and drama will be enjoyed.  And, I am glad I won’t be here when my little dark cloud of depression gets home this afternoon. 

Lane