When I walked into QuiltCon this year, I expected to see beautiful quilts.
What I didn’t expect was how conflicted I would feel walking through the show floor. I found myself caught between my love for color, design, and the whimsy of fabric… and the quiet weight of protest quilts asking us to pay attention to the world outside our sewing rooms.
Some quilts were playful and experimental.
Others were quiet pieces of modern art.
But many of them were something else entirely.
Many of them protesting, asking us to pay attention to the real, tangible issues happening in our world.
Stitched messages about bodily autonomy.
Quilts exploring identity and justice.
Pieces reflecting the maddening and heartbreaking state of our union.
It stopped me in my tracks.
For someone who is admittedly still a fresh baby to the quilting world, it was an immediate reminder that quilting isn’t simply about pattern and color.
It’s about the voices that are a part of the human hands who've stitched them.
And everywhere I looked, quilters were using fabric to say something. LOUDY. BOLDY.
"Boo!" created by artists like Erica Wagner, the quilt has been featured on Instagram and recognized for its powerful, direct message.
Quilts are Living History
One of the moments that stayed with me most came from hearing keynote speaker Hillary Goodwin.
She spoke about using quilting to share lived experiences and about the importance of continuing to have textile art displayed as a glimpse into history.
That idea resonated deeply with me.
Because textiles have always documented the human experience.
Long before social media posts or digital archives, quilts been a part of documenting our shared histories:
• family stories
• cultural moments
• political movements
• everyday life
Quilts are history you hold in your hands.
Walking through the show, that history didn’t feel like something from the past.
It felt very much alive and in the present. Reminding me of the quote from the late Reverend Jesse Jackson's 1984 Democratic Convention Speech,
"America is not like a blanket. Not one piece of unbroken cloth, the same color, the same texture, the same size. America is more like a quilt: many patches, many pieces, many colors, many sizes, all woven and held together by a common thread."
@sweetpotatoquilts
A Place for New Voices and New Interests
Another highlight for me was hearing lectures from Christina Lee of Sweet Potato Quilts.
Christina explained quilting in a way that instantly clicked with my creative brain.
She compared quilting to the foundations of music.
Just like music has scales and structure, quilting has foundational blocks and techniques.
Once you understand those foundations, you can improvise.
You can experiment.
You can create your own voice.
For someone entering the quilting world from other areas of fiber art, that perspective was incredibly freeing.
It helped me realize that quilting isn’t a closed tradition reserved for experts.
It’s a language anyone can learn to speak. Christina's poise and realness made me feel more comfortable, and believing I could apply my background and skills to this language too.
Bright and Inspiring Folk
One of the moments that also left an impression on me was meeting the women behind Quiltfolk Magazine, Brianna and Emily.
Their work felt deeply aligned with what I had hoped to find at QuiltCon.
Quiltfolk focuses on documenting quilting communities and the cultural stories behind them.
Meeting them reminded me that quilting is more than a hobby.
It’s a living cultural ecosystem.
Even though I didn’t find as many vendors focused on environmental or regenerative textile practices as I had hoped for an event hosted by the Modern Quilt Guild, there were still glimmers of the "modern" I was secretly hoping would show itself to me during the event.
Artists exploring social issues through quilting.
Educators are making the craft more accessible.
Publications documenting the culture behind the work.
And those small sparks of intention matter.
The Question I Wrestle with Regularly
At the same time, QuiltCon revealed something else.
A tension I struggled to put into words until I sat down to write this.
As the quilting world continues to grow and evolve, I believe more makers will begin asking deeper questions about the materials they use.
Questions about:
• manufacturing ethics
• environmental impact
• labor standards
• sustainability in textile production
Coming from a background in ethical fashion, these are questions I’ve been asking for years. It's the entire premise of why before I even dyed another thread of fabric, we looked for an American-milled source.
So while walking the vendor floor, I took the opportunity to ask several fabric brand representatives about their manufacturing standards and environmental practices.
Interestingly, many companies weren’t prepared to answer those questions in depth. In several cases, the responses felt vague or uncertain.
But one conversation stood out.
The team from Riley Blake Designs was able to discuss these topics with clarity and familiarity, including certifications and standards such as SA8000 and an understanding of Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS).
GOTS is widely considered one of the most comprehensive textile standards. It doesn’t only evaluate whether fibers are organic, but it also examines environmental processes, chemical use, labor practices, and social responsibility throughout textile production.
SA8000 certification focuses specifically on labor rights, management systems, and continuous improvement within manufacturing environments. Riley Blake also operates under additional audit frameworks such as WRAP and SMETA, which regularly review labor conditions, worker safety, and environmental standards.
That conversation mattered to me.
Not because any company has everything figured out.
The truth is that every major manufacturer in the textile industry still has work to do when it comes to environmental responsibility and social accountability.
But what stood out was a willingness to engage in the conversation, when others seemed more focused on influencer demos and merchandise sales.
And as the quilting industry continues to evolve, these are exactly the kinds of discussions I believe more makers will be asking of their sources for fabric.
When an Industry Faces Difficult Moments
Shortly after QuiltCon, the quilting community saw a great deal of discussion surrounding Riley Blake’s public announcement about the cancellation of their affiliate program.
As someone new to this part of the textile industry, I wasn’t fully aware of the situation or their affiliate/influencer program when I had those initial conversations.
Once I learned more about what transpired, I also felt disappointed and felt the response could have been handled with more care and gravity, given the moment.
At the same time, having spent years working within the fashion industry, I’ve seen how companies evolve when their decisions create backlash that impacts their bottom line. Based on my understanding of the influencer ecosystem, it did. And after canceling an unfulfilled order I had created with them that weekend, I expressed my concern about the fallout from their lack of awareness at the moment for both small shops like mine and the artists and influencers who depend on them.
What I know is that those moments rarely look perfect in real time.
But when companies make mistakes that affect their business, the course correction, even if it isn’t immediately visible to the public, often begins moving toward stronger transparency and more thoughtful social responsibility.
Industries change slowly.
Often imperfectly.
But those pressure points are frequently what push companies to improve their practices over time.
QuiltCon Raleigh, NC 2026
Embarking on a New Season
For our shop at Thunderbird HandCrafted, the decision we've made since QuiltCon came from the conversations we had with fabric manufacturers during the event.
After reflecting on those discussions and the transparency we experienced when asking deeper questions about manufacturing standards, we decided to carry a small, carefully curated selection of fabrics from Riley Blake Designs and soon Dear Stella. We are focusing on specific designers whose work, we believe, will resonate with our community. We will be revealing the first collection, paired with our hand-dyed fabrics, at the upcoming Lancaster-Lebanon Quilt Show in Pennsylvania this month.
Our intention in doing this is twofold.
First, these fabrics will allow us to begin building more quilting kits and projects for customers who have been asking for more quilting-focused makes.
Second, we believe that supporting companies willing to engage in conversations around responsible manufacturing and environmental standards is one way we can encourage the quilting industry to continue evolving.
Supporting progress does not mean expecting perfection.
It means recognizing companies willing to participate in the work, while also continuing to hold the entire industry accountable as it grows.
The Best Part: The Friendships and the Matching Outfits :-)
THE TREND: Symbols in the Stitches
After spending several days immersed in QuiltCon, one thing became clear.
The quilts that were being talked about and shared in the days after weren’t always the most technically perfect.
They were the ones that MEANT SOMETHING.
Across quilting, garment sewing, and textile art, we are seeing the rise of symbolic craft.
Makers are choosing motifs that represent:
• humor
• rebellion
• identity
• nostalgia
• community
• personal belief
Clothing and quilts are becoming visual, unapologetic storytelling again. And I love that for us!
A Question for Makers
As we move into spring, and as the quilting and crafting world continues to evolve with the every day transitions in our world, there’s a question I find myself coming back to.
It's Not:
What should I make next?
But:
What do I want my handcrafted work to say about the world I’m living in?
Because somewhere inside every quilt block, garment, bag, and stitched motif…
There’s a story waiting to be told.
And the stitches we make today may one day become part of the history someone else is trying to understand. We're part of that quilt Rev Jackson talked about, the one that makes this creative life a beautiful one to be shared.
The fabric we choose tells one story.
But the values we stitch into our work tell another.
How do you plan to apply this trend to your sewing and creative journey? Are you wrestling with the dilemma between consumerism and social impact in your craft, or are you just happy to be able to enjoy and share it with others? I'd love to hear from you and have you join us in this next season of our small fabric shop journey. Join me on Patreon for a deeper discussion.
4 comments
Thanks so much for this thoughtful post. I come from quilting to slowstitch, Boro, and visible mending and through all of it i see an original art using old clothing and scraps now this billion dollar industry so consumer-oriented that it seems disconnected to the original intent. I am a big supporter of women-owned businesses, but I do believe we need to step back and take a breath and be conscious of what over buying costs our environment and the community.
A beautiful read. Staying conscious is on all of us in a world of discomfort and distractions.
You make many excellent points. As a quilter and garment sewist, I have a large closet full of fabric and don’t really need more to create the projects in my imagination. Do I buy some? Yes, though I am more discerning about the purchases I do make. Not only do I choose things to complete a particular project, I endeavor to do so as ethically as possible within my means. I’m glad that I saw your Instagram post which linked to this, there is much more we as humans can do to make our industry more humane.
Thank you for sharing these important points! The focus on consumerism and endless stash building by these companies—and quilt culture in general—is the thing that gets me. Most quilters have more fabric than they can and will sew through in their lives and yet they continue to buy, buy, buy. I appreciate your discussion and consideration of the ethics of textile production and would love to learn more.