Frequently Asked Questions

What are Charm Squares?

Charm Squares are 6" squares of fabric that are swapped each month.  Make your stash more interesting with a variety of fabrics.  Click HERE for more information.

What is a Bee?  How do I join a Bee?

Bees are truly the "heart" of the guild. Our Bees range from 2 to 15 people in size, with an average of 8. West Houston Quilt Guild has around Bees. Bees generally meet at member's homes or a business to share fellowship and their love of quilting. Each group determines its own scope and purpose. Anyone can start a Bee, and you may belong to as many as your energy and commitment allow; all guild members are encouraged to join in the fun.

Lasting friendships form inside Bees. They often take on quilting projects as a group. This page is devoted to those projects, to show off what we have accomplished, and inspire other groups to try new things. If your Bee would like to have photos of a project or activity to show off please contact Eva Hagerdon or the web mistress and let her know you have attachments.

For information about any of the bees below or if you are interested in starting a new bee please contact the Bee Keeper - Eva Hagerdon.

What is Show and Tell? 

Most every month at our guild meetings, we have 'show and tell' where we show off projects that we have been working on. We all love to see what others have been doing. It's so inspiring to go home and get quilting!  If you have a project that you want to show, just put your name and the name of the project on the sign up list.  (That's so anyone taking pictures can associate a name with the quilt).

The sign in sheet has columns headed Administrative, Charitable, and Educational.  What is that all about?

The columns are placed there for each member to record the hours spent in various forms of volunteer activities since the last time they signed in. (Usually the last guild meeting.)

Administrative – this is the time spent in furthering the business of the Guild itself. A prime example of administrative time is attendance at a board meeting, or a committee meeting, such as the quilt show committee. Also qualifying as administrative time is helping out at the quilt show – set up, white glove, take down, etc.

Charitable – most people understand charitable time. If you create a Linus or Elder quilt, the accumulated hours spent working on it, from cutting to binding, is charitable time. Attendance at the service bee - Sew Special…..From the Heart – also qualifies as charitable time.* Attendance at the party where we present the elder quilts to the nursing home residents is also charitable time. In December, our members make Christmas stockings for BCAM**; time spent creating them also qualifies.

If you participate in any other groups whose goals contribute to the community in some way, you may also list those hours as charitable. Your church’s quilting or craft group is a good example of outside charitable hours.

Educational – whenever we give of our time and effort to share our quilting skills, we have volunteered an educational hours. A good example of educational volunteering is a scout program where needle skills are taught. Our own International Quilting Festival features an educational opportunity with their “Come quilt with me” area, where show visitors are invited to try their hand at quilting in a floor frame. Another educational volunteer venue is a prison ministry – dedicated ladies take the raw materials to a group of interested inmates, who then learn a rewarding skill.

Why can't I just pick up a newsletter at the guild meeting?

The newsletter is available online in .pdf format.  We decided to email the newsletter because the majority of those in the Guild had an email address. But more importantly, emailing spares the Guild the enormous cost of postage required to send newsletters.  For most guilds, this is, by far, the bulk of a guild expenses.  By emailing, we should be able to save this mailing expense and apply it to programs, speakers and workshops.

How can I find out about the Houston International Quilt Show?

Quilts, Inc. are the sponsors for the International Quilt Festival held in Houston each year.  While most of us attend the show each year, we aren't affiliated with the show.  You can find more info at http://www.quilts.com/

I'm not a member (or haven't paid my dues).  Can I attend your workshop or Retreat ?

Our guild which meets the 3rd Wednesday of each month, allows individuals to visit a couple of times before requesting that they pay dues and join. Our dues are $25 per year with renewal in January. To participate in retreats, you must be a member of the guild. Workshops are open to non-members only if the workshop does not fill with our members.   Members do not become 'guests' at the start of the new year, and are not eligible for partial year dues.

** Recently updated