Garden State Quilters' Guild

GSQ was started by a group of quilt teachers, many of whom belonged to a teacher's organization that met at a quilt shop in Rockaway.  During one of our discussions, we realized that many of us had the same problem: groups of quilters who passed through our classes enjoyed the camaraderie as much as the learning experience, but had no opportunity, other than classes, to meet with fellow quilters.  We recognized a need and decided to fill it.  I believe there were six or seven of us at the original organizational meeting, and there should be a photo of this historic event in the guild scrapbook.

Gail Hausler was actually our first president and a gracious one she was.  I took over the next year and was president for two years, I think.  The person who can probably fill you in on a lot of these details is Betty Wilder, because she was actively involved almost from the beginning.

I believe it was also Betty who designed our logo block.  We ran a very informal contest and that block was chosen by popular acclaim, or maybe the board chose it.  I suspect it was chosen because it was also the easiest!! Back in those days, we were very informal.  Every one was so happy to have a group of enthusiastic quilters to interact with that no one complained about anything!  How times change!!

In the beginning our modest intent was to provide an opportunity for quilters to meet each other, share their love of stitching and share their knowledge and expertise.  We operated very informally and it was several years before we got around to doing things like writing by-laws.  Our first meeting was in the Chatham Library, but the response was so great that we quickly moved to a larger facility.

I remember that when we had our first "famous" out-of-town speaker, we were scared witless by our audacity.  We were very enthusiastic, but not very experienced in such things.  Little did I know when I hosted my first quilt teacher that I would one day be traveling and doing the same thing.  But being involved with the operation of the guild and hosting many of the speakers was the best education I could have had.

I always used to tease GSQ members because as I became better known in the quilt world, they always referred to me as "our very own, Judy Dales".  You cannot know how special that is to me.  My guild here inTexas has tried to claim me, but I will always belong first, and foremost, to GSQ.  It was GSQ that gave me the opportunity to learn how to speak in front of a large group, taught me how to lead a diverse group of women, encouraged my budding talent and enthusiasm, gave me the confidence to think I could be a professional quilter, and provided many dear friends.  That's quite a gift.