Welcome to a “virtual tour” of our annual show! Each fall in Houston, International Quilt Festival draws more than 50,000 quilt artists and aficionados from all over the world. We hope that you’ll be able to share some of the excitement of Festival from your own computer with this exclusive webcast.

New this year! Festival photo coverage will be posted following the show. Thanks for joining us at Festival "virtually" from around the world!

Festival Director Karey Bresenhan

Dear Festival attendees,

Welcome to the fall edition of International Quilt Festival in our hometown of Houston!

We have really exciting news to share with you. Six years ago, I announced that we were expanding Festival to add a spring show in Chicago. And now, beginning next year, we will introduce an annual summer edition of International Quilt Festival, to be held in Long Beach, California. The inaugural event will be July 25-27, with classes beginning July 24.

If you like seeing great antique and contemporary quilt exhibits, taking classes or attending lectures, learning in quick sessions on the show floor—not to mention shopping till you drop—here each fall, we hope you'll tell family and friends on the West Coast and in surrounding states about our show so they can enjoy International Quilt Festival/Long Beach. I'm very proud that Houston, our hometown, was the launching pad for these new shows!

And speaking of launching pads (so appropriate for Space City, USA), we're launching a new contest called "The Sky's the Limit." An invitational exhibit kicks off this contest that will feature quilts that are truly “out of this world.” Please consider making a quilt on the contest theme. You could be a winner next year! Information is available in the exhibit or on our website, www.quilts.com (just click on "Contests" to download the rules).

By the way, if you see some younger faces on the show floor, perhaps looking a little overwhelmed, it's because many retailers are featuring products and programs suppliers have developed to appeal to a hip, young demographic. Some of these, like altered books, Artist Trading Cards, fabric postcards, and the like don't feature traditional quilting techniques, but instead are "bridges" that those of us who love quilting believe will lead these "newbies" into the wonderful, diverse world that quilting has become. 

I'm thrilled with these developments, because young quilters will help keep quilting alive and thriving! So if you see a "newbie" in your local store who looks like she needs some help in picking fabric or a pattern, or some advice about what to look for in a quilt, please offer it! Think of it as an investment in the future of quilting!

And finally, all of us who put on Festival want to congratulate the staff of the George R. Brown Convention Center on the center's 20th anniversary. Festival was the first consumer show ever held in the facility, and we've been here for all but one of our fall shows since then. We salute the Brown and all the people we work with who help make Festival the best show of its kind anywhere!

I hope you enjoy our show—whether you’re joining us in person or via your computer! 

Sincerely,