If you thought there were a LOT more people at QuiltCon this year, you were right!

A record-smashing 25,370 people attended the show in Raleigh, North Carolina this February, according to Karen Cooper. She’s the executive director of The Modern Quilt Guild (MQG), the organization that oversees QuiltCon. I asked her to share some statistics on the show to get a sense of attendance and other trends.

Let’s take a look at the numbers.

QuiltCon Attendance by Year

• 2024 in Raleigh: 25,370

• 2023 in Atlanta: 17,400

• 2022 in Phoenix: 6,600

• 2021 (virtual): 7,120

• 2020 in Austin: 8,930

• 2019 in Nashville: 9,540

• 2018 in Pasadena: 7,100

• 2017 in Savannah: 7,950

• 2016 in Pasadena: 5,100

• 2015 in Austin: 7,000

• There was no QuiltCon in 2014

• 2013 in Austin: 1,350

This year’s QuiltCon attendance was almost triple that of the 2020 show in Austin. What’s behind the big increase? Karen thinks at least three factors play a role: location, an influx of new quilters, and pent up demand for travel/experiences.

Typically, QuiltCon host cities alternate between the eastern and western U.S. each year. However, due to the pandemic the last two QuiltCons were held in the southeast, which has a higher population density. It’s also comparably easy to travel to/around the region.

As for new quilters, the sewing industry as a whole experienced explosive growth in 2020, thanks to people who either learned to sew or were reintroduced to it due to the need for fabric masks at the beginning of the pandemic. And after spending several years at home trying to avoid a deadly virus, many people are ravenous to travel and enjoy gatherings with friends.

Quilt Submissions By Year

QuiltCon also saw a record number of quilt submissions in 2024: more than 2,300! Of those, 470 were selected by the jury to hang in Raleigh.

Here’s how that compares to previous years.

• 2024 in Raleigh: 2,340 submissions, 470 selected by jury

• 2023 in Atlanta: 2,090 submissions, 481 selected by jury

• 2022 in Phoenix: 1,920 submissions, 487 selected by jury

• 2021 (virtual): 1,050 submissions, 459 selected by jury

• 2020 in Austin: 1,560 submissions, 427 selected by jury

• 2019 in Nashville: 1,750 submissions, 400 selected by jury

• 2018 in Pasadena: 1,430 submissions, 360 selected by jury

• 2017 in Savannah: 1,500 submissions, 350 selected by jury

• 2016 in Pasadena: 1,800 submissions, 350 selected by jury

• 2015 in Austin: 1,350 submissions, 360 selected by jury

• There was no QuiltCon in 2014

• 2013 in Austin: 800 submissions, 228 selected by jury

Note: Submission numbers are rounded.

If you want to see a breakdown of the number of quilts in each category, Steph Skardal has great charts on her blog.

QuiltCon is a highly competitive show and I don’t expect that will change anytime soon. It’s the place to see and be seen, with many key industry players in attendance each year. Plus, I think many quilters submit work for another reason: quilt sales.

Quilt Sales

The number of quilt sales at QuiltCon seems to be increasing each year, particularly since the International Quilt Museum announced its new modern quilt collection. Starting in 2022, the museum committed to buy 3-5 quilts from QuiltCon each year for five years, including one quilt from the youth category.

Karen told me 19 community outreach quilts were sold at QuiltCon 2024 Raleigh, and 18 were sold at QuiltCon 2023 in Atlanta. The MQG doesn’t share the number of juried show quilts purchases, but keen observers say around 30 of those sold this year through the MQG’s official purchasing website. I don’t have figures from previous years, but I have attended every QuiltCon since 2017, and 2024 felt like a big increase.

Last year at QuiltCon Atlanta, Teresa Duryea Wong presented an excellent lecture on what she calls a “titanic shift” in modern quilt acquisitions. She says big-name collectors, museums, and even quiltmakers themselves (including me!) are buying modern quilts right now, which I think is fantastic news for everyone involved.

So What’s Ahead?

As we look ahead to 2025, Karen says it’s hard to predict whether attendance numbers will continue to increase as QuiltCon heads back to Phoenix. Data from the first Phoenix show in 2022 was heavily skewed by the pandemic—the Omicron variant had just started to spread, the show had a mask mandate in effect, and vaccines were required for all workshop attendees.

What about 2026 and beyond? The MQG hasn’t publicly announced other future QuiltCon locations yet, but the lead time for booking conventions is long, so I assume plans are already in the works for the next several years. Given this year’s dramatic jump in attendance, we’re probably in for some growing pains. But I have high hopes and am excited to see how the show evolves as it enters its adolescent years.