guild or group of friends

Our guild has officers and bylaws and a regular meeting time. We pay rent for a space. There is a program every month, usually vendors, business meeting/committee reports, show and tell etc. It is fairly formal.

When my friends and I meet to quilt we each take our own equipment and work on our own projects. We visit back and forth. Help each other out. Talk a lot. Go out for lunch. Come and go as we like.

Guild is a meeting to go to. Quilting day is a fun outing. It is w/friends who like to shop and eat and talk. Guild members have their own little cliques and in ours at least aren't open to new things.