QuiltCon by the Numbers
These are detail shots of some of my favorite quilts at QuiltCon 2020. Please see the list of artist names at the bottom of this post.
[NOTE: To see updated numbers from March 2024, check out my other blog post.]
It’s the QuiltCon 2020 recap you didn’t know you needed: heavy on numbers, light on pics. Oops.
What started out as a simple quest to document the number of quilts hung in each category this year led to a deep dive into submission, selection, and attendance numbers.
The Modern Quilt Guild (MQG) publishes some of this information publicly, but to my knowledge it isn’t compiled anywhere in easy-to-read chunks for the average guild member.
As someone who enters a variety of quilt shows hosted by other organizations, I wanted to see the big picture and get a feel for how QuiltCon has evolved over the years.
But first, some context.
The MQG is in its 10th year as an organization, and according to its website there are more than 14,000 members around the world.
QuiltCon 2020 was the seventh annual conference organized by the MQG, and it was the third time the event was held in Austin, Texas. I’ve been lucky to attend the last four shows, and they’ve quickly become my favorite quilting events of the year. QuiltCon is a great place to meet the friends-in-your-phone IRL and see stunning modern quilts.
As for the numbers, well, I’m providing them primarily for historical context. I don’t have an agenda or a point I’m trying to prove—I looked them up out of sheer curiosity and thought you might like to see them, too.
Ready to dive in?
The MQG says there were nearly 600 quilts on exhibit this year. That number includes quilts from special exhibits: Victoria Findlay Wolfe’s retrospective; the Esprit Collection of Amish quilts from Lancaster County; MQG Block Study quilts; and QuiltCon charity quilts.
But what about the juried portion of the show? That’s what got me started down this rabbit hole.
Juried Quilts by Category
According to my count, there were 427 competition quilts on display.
I walked the show floor during the last 30 minutes of the last day and counted each quilt; then I compared that to the number of quilts listed in the QuiltCon app. Both counts resulted in the same total, but I ask you to grant me a small margin of error—it was Sunday afternoon, after all.
Here’s the category breakdown in descending order:
Small Quilts: 61
Minimalist Design: 51
Piecing: 50
Improvisation: 44
Modern Traditionalism: 43
American Patchwork & Quilting Stripe Challenge: 42
Use of Negative Space: 35
Appliqué: 27
Me + You Fabric Challenge: 22
Group or Bee: 17
Handwork: 15
Youth (Group): 10
Youth (Individual): 10
Steph Skardal came up with slightly different numbers on her blog but the gist is the same; she also provides more context with a complete breakdown of QuiltCon 2019 categories. If you know anyone else who has a count from previous years, let me know in the comments—I’m happy to link up.
Quilt Submission and Selection
Every year, the MQG puts together a jury of 4-5 people to select the quilts that will hang in the show. (You can learn more about that process here.)
In the past, the form letter sent to quilters whose work was not selected for the show always included the total number of submissions for that year. I’m not sure why, but that same information was never included in the acceptance letters I received over the years.
It was absent from both form letters for QuiltCon 2020, so I don’t know how the accepted number of 427 quilts compares to the total submissions. [Update: MQG Executive Director Karen Cooper says there were 1,557 entries submitted by nearly 770 quilters.] Here are the breakdowns for previous years, as provided by the MQG:
1,560 submissions for QuiltCon 2020 in Austin (427 selected)
1,750 submissions for QuiltCon 2019 in Nashville (400 selected)
1,430 submissions for QuiltCon 2018 in Pasadena (360 selected)
1,500 submissions for QuiltCon 2017 in Savannah (350 selected)
1,800 submissions for QuiltCon 2016 in Pasadena (350 selected)
1,350 submissions for QuiltCon 2015 in Austin (unknown how many were selected)
Show Attendance
Finally, here’s a look at QuiltCon attendance over the years. Note that there was no QuiltCon held in 2014.
2020 in Austin: 8,930
2019 in Nashville: 9,540
2017 in Savannah: 9,000
2016 in Pasadena: 9,000
2015 in Austin: 7,000
2013 in Austin: 1,350
I had to go digging through the MQG’s annual reports for this information, and as of March 3, 2020, only the reports for 2013-2017 are published on the guild’s website.
However, I found a blog post written last year by Linda of Flourishing Palms that indicates more than 10,000 people attended the first three days of QuiltCon 2019 in Nashville. She also cites total attendance for QuiltCon 2018 in Pasadena at 7,700. [Update: Karen Cooper sent me attendance numbers for 2019 and 2020 and those are now listed above.]
Keep in mind, these numbers likely represent lots of non-MQG members. In fact, a former MQG staffer recently told me that whenever the guild chooses a QuiltCon location, it strongly considers the overall population located within a two-hour drive of a convention center, as that can have a huge impact on show attendance.
That’s all for now!
If you made it all the way here, thank you. I hope the numbers were enlightening, and that documenting a few details now will lead to more insight in the future.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on QuiltCon! What changes have you noticed over the years? Leave a comment and let me know.
Finally, here’s a list of all the artists whose quilts I featured in the collage image above (L to R, top to bottom):
“Bob” by Patti Coppock
“Seasons” by Terry Peart
“ME” by Kristen von Minden
“Mini Maze” by Sarah Ruiz
“Leaving Marks” by Clara Stoikow, Anjelika Bedreva, Marina Karasova, Olga Krylova, Valerija Mezhybovska, Nelli Mottschenko, Tanya Munro, Elena Ravelova, Yuliya Reshetnikova, Helena Schneider, and Nadezhda Stanislavskaya
“Intersections” by Rachaeldaisy Dodd
“Frolic” by Erin Suliak
“100 Days Down the Rabbit Hole” by Jacqueline Skarritt
“Patience & Instinct” by Heidi Cronce
