Quilt Guilds

Quilt guilds are a wonderful thing!  If you are a quilter and move to a new city where you know no one, the absolute best way of meeting people with common interests is through a quilt guild.  I haven't met a quilter that I didn't like.  I moved to Texas in 1997 and didn't know a soul.  I sought out the Plano Quilt Guild and, after my very first meeting, became the program chairman.  What fun that was!  Not only did I get to know the members of the guild quickly but I entertained several nationally known quilt teachers and set up programs and classes with them for the guild.

Plano also hosts a major hot air balloon festival the last weekend in September each year.  The guild was looking for something special to commemorate the event and to see if we could raise some money at our festival booth.  I passed out paper piecing instructions for a hot air balloon block and our members came through with flying colors.  Here are some of the balloons they contributed.  What a great variety.

 



Of course, by themselves there weren't enough for a respectable wall hanging, so I got busy and put together this quilt.   The paper pieced balloons made a terrific border. 

 

 

You can see in the picture how I used to organize my stash. Outgrew that method but I'll talk about that later in a blog about my "studio" (which I still call my sewing room).  I guess I'm old fashioned.