National Quilting Association celebrates National Quilting Day

March 20, 2010 is National Quilting Day

Website review of The National Quilting Association, Inc.

Attractive, practical, informative and comprehensive – these must be goals of the National Quilting Association for its website. And these first impressions really are the essence of this exceptionally well designed website for information on a wide variety of aspects of quilting. The navigation buttons on the home and internal pages will help quilters, quilt show organizers, and other visitors find what they are searching for.

Probably the topic most active quilters want to check first are the contest results. Although the list of winners and photos for the 2009 show contest are arranged with both a slide show and enlarged views, I would like to see highlights of winning quilts dating back a few years. Here are two quilts that appealed to me from the 2009 show:

A Few Bright Spots Around New York

Bohemian Fireworks

Shown above are (left) The Mary Kirchbaum Award for Best Hand Quilting by Jane Anderson, Vinita OK, A Few Bright Spots Around New York and (right) Bohemian Fireworks by Sandra Peterson, Muncie IN, the winning entry for Exceptional Skill and Accuracy in Piecework.

On the Quilt Show page, quilters can find out more information about the NQA 2010 show and contest scheduled for June 17-19 in Columbus OH. Several PDF forms can be downloaded: show brochure, registration, classes, various quilt entry forms, and volunteer and bus tour information.

When planning to attend a quilt show, most quilters want to know if their preferred vendors will have a display and store, and the NQA very wisely lists 24 sponsoring vendors as well as 93 additional vendors.

These vendor lists are examples of the depth and care taken to provide quilters and other visitors with just about everything they might be searching for.

Quilting Quarterly Journal

The Association’s quarterly Journal, shown at left is one of the member benefits. Shown on the cover for the Winter 2010 is Sonoran Stars by NQA member Sherri Driver of Golden CO.

When I visited this site, I found inactive links to Member and Chapter spotlights. Perhaps these pages are still in development, and I would have liked to have known that. A message on the page would be enough to inspire me to return at a later date.

As well, the Online Store button merely takes the viewer to purchasing 1 and 2 year memberships. Possibly NQA has planned merchandise for the future. They don’t say they are.

Other features I liked: Free on-line newsletters, lists of certified judges and teachers, and free patterns celebrating present and past show themes.

The Statement of Purpose for the Master Quilt Program seems to sum up the goals of this high quality website. Pay a visit, enjoy the site, and recognize the qualities that make this an effective interactive site.