European Quilt Association

Who are we ?

EQA was founded in 1989 with the aim of promoting and encouraging patchwork and quilting at a European level, and sharing knowledge across borders, cultures and language barriers.

The EQA comprises non-profit associations from 19 countries, each with its own constitution.  All individual members of a EQA member guild are automatically members of EQA.

The international representatives from each country meet annually for the Annual General Meeting (AGM).

During this meeting, agreements are made to advance the interests of quilting and our associations in Europe, the annual Challenge is organized, and potential collaborations are discussed.

Member guilds

What are we doing?

In the past 35 years, the EQA has worked continuously to become a driving force behind cooperation at European level through a wide range of initiatives, projects, exhibitions and meetings. Through its extensive network of external stakeholders, the association has also been instrumental in gaining higher recognition for quiltmaking, thereby raising the profile of its member guilds.

The European Quilt Association issues challenges for the members of all national guilds, members of EQA, that then travel throughout the continent. These challenges are regular events and have a reputation for being democratic, engaging, fun and always something special.

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What are we doing?

Challenges

Through annual challenges on a certain topic without jurying, EQA encourages broad participation and creative dialogue. This non-juried exhibition is premiered at the Carrefour Européen de Patchwork, in Alsace and travels on to major shows and exhibitions in Europe, showcasing the expertise and diversity of patchwork and quilting in our different member countries.

Although the prescribed size of the quilts, for the non-juried challenge is relatively small- 35 x 35cm - the wide range of creative responses to our topics have been remarkable, and much enjoyed by many European quilters.

A call for entries to our juried Challenge, premiered at the Abilmente Vicenza show in February, goes out to all members of the EQA, via their national guilds. The format and the theme for 2027 will be “Desire”. These challenges provide European quilt artists with an international platform…

Together, these exhibitions travel throughout Europe, reaching a wide audience at major shows and specialized events. They provide European quilt artists with an international platform, fostering connection, recognition, and cross-cultural dialogue within the quilting community.

Both challenges offer, through the different techniques, traditions and cultural approaches of the entries, a special insight and a deep connection with (ancient?) national traditions, as they continue to be expressed in the individual European countries. And overall, we can see and enjoy a real expression of European unity, which is the key factor!

Participate
Sponsors

How to become a member as a guild?

The European Quilt Association is open to all the national guilds of the countries in Europe.

Membership shall be open to one national guild per country, which is a not-for-profit non-commercial organisation in agreement with the aims of the EQA, and willing to comply with the conditions as set out in these Statutes. Each national guild will be represented by the international representative (IR), physical person.

A national guild that wishes to join the EQA shall send a letter of application together with the Guild’s Statutes and English translation to the EQA Board for consideration.

Become a member

Can I become a member as an individual?

As an individual, you can become an EQA member by joining one of the member guilds of EQA. Once you are a member of a member guild of EQA, you are automatically member of EQA.