Membership

Membership Benefits

The Guild membership yearly fee is $70. Benefits include:

Membership Brochure - describes the many benefits of being a member of Empire Quilters. 

To join or renew please send a check for $70. (along with a self addressed stamped envelope if you wish to receive your membership card via mail : 

NOTE: Only members without email are eligible to pay the $20 fee for mailing of the newsletter. 

Empire Quilters
PO Box 1293
Old Chelsea Station
New York, NY 10113
 
 

To pay online via credit card or service click the Buy Now button below please note the cost is $73.

($2 covers paypal fees and $1 for mailing your card to you) 

Any questions contact the guild at contact us

Be sure to introduce yourself to us as a new member at the next guild meeting. You're sure to be warmly greeted!

The membership application was a PDF file, which required Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you need Adobe Acrobat, you can download it free from Adobe by clicking their icon:

Guild Events and Activities

We welcome all new members to the monthly meetings of the Empire Quilters Guild. Guild meetings usually take place on the second Saturday of each month from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm, September to June.  At our online zoom meetings we have an excellent selection of speakers! The links (to zoom) including details of speakers and times will be emailed to members. 

After a short business meeting, members and guests enjoy a program with a renowned quilter, craft expert or teacher, Quilter of the Month and Show and Tell. At many meetings we have a vendor with items to suit many interests and needs.

Many members arrive early (11am) to meet friends or learn new techniques in one of our Focus Groups. Changes in the schedule or location are announced in the Newsletter, on the Home page of the website and on our Facebook group.

Many of our in person meeting have wonderful  vendors, and members and guests enjoy participating in:

 
 

Service

Our guild has a firm standing as a charitable organization and in addition to month-to-month charity quilts donated by members, we devote one meeting each spring to making quilts for charity.  Further, throughout the fall we work on making holiday stockings and hand-made stuffed animals that are given as gifts to children in shelters and other oraganizations in the New York City area.

For lots of ideas about quilts and other items you can make to donate, please check out Basic Service Project guidelines on the Service page.

Classified Ads

Have a sewing machine, a quilting frame or a pound of fabric you'd like to sell? Members are invited to place a free, needle-art-related classified ad in the Newsletter. Ads can be no longer than 30 words and the EQ member name and phone number must appear in the ad. The Newsletter publishes a maximum of three consecutive listings. To place an advertisement, contact the Editor at the email in the Newsletter section below. 

Newsletter

The monthly Newsletter is emailed to members prior to each meeting. It contains information about upcoming meetings and projects, information about shows (including ours!), competitions, volunteering opportunities, as well as updates on focus groups, programs, trips and lots more. Empire Quilters encourages members to write articles about quilt related subjects — even to toot their own horn if they've taken part in a show — and to send them to the Editor: newsletter@empirequilters.net

The newsletter is available on the website for members to download. You will find that downloadable version on the Members Only page and it is emailed as a pdf to all members. 

Volunteering

A guild, is only as good as its volunteers. Throughout the year, there are many volunteering opportunities. Some tasks (like selling prize tickets or helping with the meeting activities) can be performed during the meeting while others (like the newsletter and programs) require several hours during the month. Committee heads are listed on the last page of the Newsletter. Give them a call if you can lend a hand. (Calls for volunteers also appear in the Newsletter.)

Our Monthly Meetings

There are many events that occur during the meeting that are important to know about. Here is your personally guided tour to an Empire Quilters guild meeting.

1. If you are a registered member, you will find your name and address on the sign-in sheet at the Membership/Check-in table. Each member needs to sign in before finding a seat. Since your listing is the same as your mailing label, it's a good idea to check for any errors. Please make sure that we have your apartment number, correct zip code and current email address. At check-in time, if you have Show & Tell items, complete the Show & Tell form. The Membership/Check-in table is the place to ask questions — don't be shy! 

2. Find a seat and catch your breath! If focus groups are scheduled, members can divide and attend the focus group they are interested in. A list of the month's focus groups appears in the Newsletter, and on the Focus Groups page of the website. Here's your chance to learn a new skill, perfect an old one, or, better yet, share you skills with other members. However, you are free to use this time to quilt with friends, take your donations to the Monthly Fundraiser, put your scraps, old patterns, etc. on the Share Table, shop with the Vendor-of-the-Month, visit the Library and drop off magazine donations. Perhaps you made a Block of the Month (BOM) from the pattern posted on the BOM blog. If so, turn it in at the space reserved for BOM's and fill out your name on a slip of paper for each block that you made. Monthly fundraising (raffle) tickets also go on sale until the drawing. $1 buys you a chance to win some great stuff and helps keep the guild's kitty filled to pay for our many service projects. Visit friends, make new ones, look around until the meeting begins.

3. At 1:00 pm the President calls the meeting to order. The agenda includes announcements, reports from officers and any of the administrative details involved in maintaining a not-for-profit guild. Members and guests are then given the opportunity to make announcements or share information. The business meeting is relatively short unless there is a hot topic to discuss or debate.

4. After the business meeting, a guest speaker will demonstrate unique techniques, experiences and/or products. Every effort is made to feature well-known quilters or fiber artists as well as noted Empire professionals.

5. After the speaker it's time for what might well be the most popular part of the meeting — Show & Tell! Here members present their completed works (usually quilts or quilted clothing), heirlooms, unique purchases or other items of interest. This time is often used to show a work-in-progress and seek advice or suggestions from the audience. Volunteers photograph each item presented for the guild website. See the Show & Tell photo gallery page to see past Show & Tells.

6. Next the Block-of-the-Month display is noted and the winner-take-all drawing is held from among the participants. See the Block of the Month Page for samples of past blocks of the month.

7. Now comes the last-minute scramble to purchase Fundraising (raffle) Prize tickets before the drawing. Winning tickets are drawn until all items are distributed.

8. The Share Table offers another opportunity for gentle fundraising for the guild. Members and local business donate various items, some of which show up here.  It opens after all other meeting features have ended. You can purchase scraps (and sometimes larger pieces), novelty items and patterns for as little as 25¢. Generally, the announcement of the end of the main meeting signals a free-for-all at the . Empire Quilters encourages donations. Often quilts shown at Show and Tell are made entirely from Scrap Table finds!

As you can see, meetings are busy and fun. Please join us!