National Quilting Day!

While slurping down my morning coffee and going thru my morning "puter" routine, it came to my attention that Saturday is National Quilting Day. Since this "holiday" comes around every year, I'd heard of it before and only thought it was for a good excuse to ignore the daily housekeeping and cooking for more fun activities, like quilting of course. Ok, that's part of what it's all about.

But I got to wondering, who thought this great event up? How long has National Quilting Day been around? What do other quilters do on this special day? Soooooooo, I googled National Quiltng Day and was I ever in for an eye opener. The first result in my search offered this: The National Quilting Association,Inc.
http://www.nqaquilts.org/ for which I'd never heard of before and I admit to spending a lot of my life websurfing for quilty relalated websites of all kinds.

If you're like me and never visited this site, check it out, you'll find some very insteresting articles, photo galleries for inspiration, quarterly newsletter, contests, well, here's a little excerpt on what NQD is all about.

"The National Quilting Association, Inc., a nonprofit organization run by quilters for quilters,
was founded in 1970 by seven women in the Washington, D.C., area.
The organization was established to create, stimulate, maintain,
and record an interest in all matters pertaining to the making,
collecting, and preserving of quilts, and to establish and promote
educational and philanthropic endeavors through quilts.
Membership in the organization is open to all interested individuals.
The NQA was chartered in 1972. Local NQA Chapters were also begun
during these early years."

Also, just a few things for members: Grant and Scholarship Program - funds awarded annually to promote and recognize quilting and quilt makers.
Quilt Teacher Certification Program - certifies a person's ability to teach basic quiltmaking.
Quilt Judge Certification Program - certifies a person's ability to judge quilts.
Master Quilt Program - awards formal recognition to quilts which have been constructed reflecting a high degree of excellence.
Short Course on Quilt Judging - a program of instruction to train individuals to serve as fair, responsible evaluators at quilt competitions.

I spent a very enjoyable time here and I think you will too. You might even get a few ideas on how to spend your National Quilting Day this Saturday.

How will you be celebrating? I feel compelled to quilt. All day!