I am feeling blue tonight. In case you haven’t heard, due to the pandemic, the International Quilt Association (IQA) is calling it quits. This is the non-profit organization that has put on the quilt contest in Houston every Fall, for 41 years. eQuilter has been a sponsor of this show, and contributed to the cash awards, for many years now. I know it will be hard to comprehend for many of you, but I will share part of their announcement with you:
“Many of you may wonder if this means there will be no Judged Show at International Quilt Festival, but we have received a commitment from organizers of Festival to add a quilt competition. So, although details remain to be worked out, ‘the show will go on.’ “
You can find the full announcement on the IQA page, and I’ve also posted on our eQuilter Facebook page, and my personal Facebook page.
We have communicated to Quilts Inc today that eQuilter will remain a sponsor of whatever new form the quilt exhibit and contest may take in the future. We know that all of you will continue to make quilts! So although this is a loss, we hope that as this one door closes, another will open in the not-too-distant future.
In the meantime I want to share with you one of my favorite videos made at last year’s International Quilt Festival in Houston. It is the Sapphire Celebration – a 3-D exhibit marking 45 years of the quilt festival. You can view my photos from past Houston Quilt Festivals on this page, and videos on this page.
Thank you for supporting our family-owned business, so we can continue to sponsor quilt exhibits and contests, and also to help those in need through our charity program. We were a sponsor of the Virtual Quilt Festival last week, and we are a Gold sponsor for the virtual version of QuiltCon in February. We are committed to helping the quilt industry and these quilt events survive the pandemic, and we look forward to the day when we are all together at a quilt show again!
with hope for the future…
Luana and Paul
