Even though I'm sure many would like to, I know that most quilters don't go to QuiltCon. It's a big event, but big still means just a fraction of the quilting community is there. It's one of those things that kind of highlights how different the reality of our day-to-day is versus the alternate universe of social media - where it seems like ALL the quilters went to QuiltCon. I did go, and I enjoyed my time in Raleigh (and it charged me up with more quilting ideas for sure!), but it definitely made me think about where we're headed.

In many industries, conventions had maybe become stagnant over the last decade. The pandemic changed all that - first it shut down the world of conventions all together, and then shifted them to virtual events, and eventually created this appetite to get back out in the world and connect. We're now people who connect virtually as much as, or more than, in person. It's become more important to have places of trust, wonder, and joy online. We've become more balanced, better at acknowledging that our friends and companions often live far away from us, for one reason or another, and developing and maintaining close ties is both easier and more important than ever.

On the other side of the equation is in-person meetups. Our virtual relationships make the in-person convention all the better - you know, "absence makes the heart grow fonder" and all that. QuiltCon keeps getting bigger, breaking its own attendance records two years in a row! I think it tells us that we're doing a great job of balancing our virtual and physical worlds. I spent many wondrous hours browsing the show floor with people I'd never met before, but with whom I shared a deep connection due to our long time together in various online quilt communities. You could even see, there on the show floor, the harmony between the local and the virtual communities - Raleigh-based quilt shops with booths full of physical products side-by-side with national organizations whose booths were designed for people to sit and chat together. Even the (unofficial) hit product of the show - stickers, stickers everywhere! - is tailor-made for a world where we're not next to each other all the time, so easy to stick on or in an envelope or box to share beautiful, joyful things with one another.

This is where I think we're going, and it makes me happy to know we're going in such a great direction. We're making a world where even if you're alone at home quilting, even if your best quilting companions don't live in the same state, we're able to share our happiness together, and grow these connections together. Classes and quilt-alongs don't just have to happen at a local shop anymore, restricted to a small space - we're forging new ways to re-imagine the simple joys of creation virtually. And when we get that chance to see each other at an event like QuiltCon, it's made all the sweeter by all the time we've spent together already!