I got there a little late, just as the meeting was starting. I didn't see Gwen or Donna. Next time we need to hold up a GARDENWEB sign or something! The movie was wonderful. If you haven't seen Stitched you need to find it! Kate

Thanks for your response Jennifer. I had thought there was some sort of insurance associated with AQS, however I visited AQS website & I can't find anything related to insurance tied with membership benefit. Our current unsurance does NOT cover any quilts in our Show & that fact is disclosed on the entry form. It suggests that ones home owners insurance might cover personal quilts loss/damage. EDIT to add: I did just find that NQA offers some sort of insurance access tied to chapter membership. Could your guild's be thru NQA rather than AQS, Jennifer? This post was edited by BeeOHIO on Tue, Feb 11, 14 at 21:32

Thank you for welcoming me! Yes, first post, new to this sort of thing. BeeOhio, I wouldn't be surprised if the person in your guild pops up again in the future. Our guilds distribute quilts to several places, such as shelters for families, women and women with children. Also migrant families in the summer. There is one organization that has come in and told us not to put a lot of work into their quilts as they are sometimes torn or cut up by some troubled people working out problems. One was apparently set on fire (the quilt, not the person). so, for that organization, not listed above, we do very simple quilts. That may be what your member was referring to? Maybe she feels the quilts are lost or left behind in some cases and shouldn't be too intricate? As to my post, I am the person that runs the guild. I started it in 2004. I haven't talked to other members about this as I don't want to fuel the gossip mill. 2 members asked me why this person wasn't attending, and I just said she resigned. She sent an email 'no I didn't resign and I paid my dues'. If I refund her and tell her she is resigned, can she sue me? Everyone has gotten along until she came. 4 have quit stating her as the reason, and 3 more are not attending meetings if they see her car in the parking lot. She targets and picks on people she thinks are inferior and not worthy of her company. she just became a licensed teacher for a co. and announced that at the last meeting; she is looking to have classes to make money. It is not anything our group would be interested in, so she is wasting her time. She happens to be quite wealthy and is just looking for something to do in her retirement. We have had a local sewing celebrity join our guild and this member told me she is going to 'get close to her'. She is nuts. A new quilt shop owner joined a weight loss group, and my member joined also. Then she told me she had no intention of losing weight; she was just trying to get close to the new shop owner and would have something to talk to her about. As to my dealer, this gets really weird. I sent so many people to him to buy machines and takes classes, that he told me last year he had the best 2 years in the business he's ever had. He went thru a divorce recently and my problem member is looking to date him. She started hanging out with his store manager, drinking and going to retreats together. I think this member is just jealous of my relationship, which was wonderful with the store, and she is used to being in charge and wants to take over the guild. I told her if she continued to sell, I would lose the 2 locations for the guild and she said she would hold meetings at her office space and that she would take over doing the newsletter, and then she offered me several hundred dollars 'to help the guild'. I won't ever refer another person to that store, and I will never set foot in it again. They have lost a lot of business. I am however, telling everyone of their treatment towards me and I am recommending a different store. I think this woman intended to break my relationship with my original store and then take over my guild. She shows no signs of relenting. If I return the dues, she will target me even more and possibly sue. And I didn't start this; she did. I didn't turn her name in, the stores figured it out on their own. I tried to approach her and asked her to stop selling to members, and she flat out refused. I asked her why and she said 'because I don't have to'. Totally a diva. I see no signs of this stopping. I thought the stores should contact her and tell her she isn't welcome. That would take the heat off me. I didn't realize by changing meeting locations that our guild would be open to companies selling to us; the previous location wasn't. Now, local businesses are trying to get our $, and I think that my machine store felt threatened, and probably my problem member latched on to that and exaggerated it. I was told she had given the store some flyers we received at meetings and our newsletters. I can take my machine to another dealer. I'm also contacting the corporate offices. All they have achieved is the loss of referral business from the guild and I won't be organizing any road trips to their classes for our members. I just need to find a way to get this woman out of my guild/life without a lawsuit. I am totally flabbergasted. It is just a little guild, we get together to have fun and the reason I do it is to help women that need a place to go where they feel welcome and can learn something, can attend and not feel someone is criticizing them. I make zero money off this guild - I usually add much of my own to it. I meet them one on one to give lessons to get them started and I am so blessed to see them progress in their skills and their self esteem. I have taught to Girl Scout troops, public school classes, and guilds. I recently was nominated and accepted a position on a local guild that is considered...special in our area. My member found out I was elected and and told me it should have been her. Again, flabbergasted. Sadly, we had an opening and I could have nominated her if she behaved herself and didn't cause so many problems. I am so thankful I didn't. This is about the time all this started with her, so I really do think she is just a social climber and it is all based on jealousy. Humility is not a word anyone would ever associate with her. My husband does not want to hire a lawyer for me over this, but it may be heading that way.

Fran, that's wonderful! I'll have to get the one I made back from my niece (she took it to college with her) for our show next January. Donna