Ideas  for celebrating National Quilting Day

  • + -

    Hang your quilts outdoors on National Quilting Day

    Join thousands of other quilters who will be sharing quilts outside their home on National Quilting Day to educate and inspire their neighbors. Consider putting a sign near the quilt with information like title, maker, year made, history or how people can connect to your favorite quilting resources. Post your photos and tag them #nationalquiltingday2022 to share.

  • + -

    Make it a service day

    Work on a quilt for the Happy Birth Day, Baby! project or for your favorite cause – national projects such as ABC Quilts and Project Linus, or local projects. If you don’t have a local service project, National Quilting Day is the perfect time to start one! Check with police and fire departments, children’s services, nursing or rehabilitation facilities or local hospitals to see if they have a need for quilts.

  • + -

    Share your quilting skills

    Offer to teach a simple quilt project to a school, 4-H, scout, or other youth group, or spend the day passing along your love of quilting to your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or neighbors.

  • + -

    Save Quilt Stories

    Organize a quilt history day or a quilt documentation project. Invite members of the community to share their quilts and documents the quilts for your state documentation project. If you don’t have a state project, work with other quilters in the state to start one! A good place to start is with your local or state historical society, or search the internet for quilt documentation projects.

 

Mark your calendar for the third Saturday in March!

The Quilt Alliance and the National Quilt Museum are proud to be the coordinators of this special day! Check this page often for fun and meaningful ideas for celebrating National Quilting Day, graphics and posters you can use to publicize your own NQD events and a home base for this important day to honor and promote quilting! See below for the history of National Quilting Day.

Label and Share: Two great activities for National Quilting Day 2022

Label a quilt!

Keep your quilt’s story from fading away by adding a simple label. If you need some tips, follow this simple guide to documenting your quilt.

Share a quilt!

Inspire and comfort your neighbors this weekend by displaying a quilt outside your home or in a window. Take a look back at 2020 National Quilting Day displays here for inspiration. Post photos of your display on social media with the tag #nationalquiltingday so the Quilt Alliance can share them on Instagram and Facebook.

Display a sign beside your quilt like this one from 2021 to give viewers more information. You can download the QR code below (that directs viewers to this webpage) or make your own QR code to direct viewers to your website, blog or social media account.

National Quilting Day graphics

Download this free graphic to post on your blog, social media page, website, etc.

 

National Quilting Day 2022 Posters

Download free NQD 2022 posters to fill in details for your quilt shop, guild or group celebrations.

Choose standard poster or one with a customizable panel.

Click below to download a pdf or png file.

Standard posters:
Letter pdf (8.5″ x 11″)
Legal pdf (8.5″ x 14″)
Tabloid pdf (11″ x 17″)
PNG (1000 x 774 pixels)

Posters with customizable panel for adding in your own details.

Letter pdf (8.5″ x 11″)
Legal pdf (8.5″ x 14″)
Tabloid pdf (11″ x 17″)
PNG (1000x 774 pixels)

Document your quilts

This National Quilting Day, we encourage you to document your quilts. Add those labels you’ve been putting off! Visit our Three Key Steps to Documenting a Quilt guide to get started. Interview a family member or friend as part of our Go Tell It! project. Or have a documentation day at your group or guild. Watch Go Tell It! recordings made on National Quilting Day at the International Quit Museum from 2014-2017.

Make a quilt for the new kid in town!

This year, we are so excited to rekindle a project founded by the National Quilting Association – Happy Birth Day, Baby! Individuals and groups are welcome to participate – it’s easy! Make a quilt for the first baby born on National Quilting Day in your local hospital. Find our free downloadable pattern and instructions and full details here.

Download a free quilt pattern to celebrate National Quilting Day!

Click on a partner’s name below to view their free downloadable patterns and projects:
Moda Fabrics
Aurifil
eQuilter.com
Handi Quilter
AccuQuilt
StudioE Fabrics
Henry Glass & Co.
Windham Fabrics
Make It Simpler 
Indygo Junction by Amy Barickman

National Quilting Day 2019 Kickoff Event

The kickoff of National Quilting Day 2019 was held at The National Quilt Museum on Saturday, March 16th, 2019.  The public were invited to attend this special event at the museum in downtown Paducah, Kentucky on National Quilting Day. The event is free and visitors were invited to stay and enjoy the museum galleries afterward.

The History of National Quilting Day

In 1989, the Kentucky Heritage Quilt Society organized a “Quilters’ Day Out” on the third Saturday of March to celebrate the rich tradition of quiltmaking in Kentucky. In 1991, National Quilting Association officers were so enthused with the concept and success of “Quilters’ Day Out” that they voted to take it to a national level.

The first National Quilting Day was observed in 1992 and since then it has grown into a global celebration for all quiltmakers and quilt lovers. Helen Storbeck, one of the founders of National Quilting Day, wrote in The Quilting Quarterly, “Groups of quilters were encouraged to hold special events, publishers and shop owners were invited to sponsor promotions especially for quilters and it quickly became a grassroots endeavor with quilters in every part of the country participating. In the first year of National Quilting Day, quilters in other countries asked to participate. They were welcomed with open arms. As our feelings of a community network has evolved to include a world community, it is only appropriate that quilters and quilt lovers everywhere united to give recognition to the special art form.”