About AQS: How Did AQS Get Started?
AQS History
In 1983 Meredith and Bill Schroeder, already avid collectors and publishers of books for collectors, headed south to Bell Buckle, Tennessee, barely a dot on the map, for a national quilt show. Though over 400 quilts were hung for the show, they didn't expect the thousands of people who poured into the exhibit. It was a groundswell of enthusiasm unlike anything Bill and Meredith had seen in all their years of collecting. The moment was not lost on the Schroeders.
Within a year, Meredith announced the formation of the American Quilter's Society. Her goal was to develop a group that "gave national recognition to the quilters and their work" and "to set the standard in the industry." In the first year, 1500 quilters became charter members.
In April of 1985, the American Quilter's Society held their first quilt show and contest in Paducah, Kentucky. Eight hundred people were expected. Five thousand people showed up. The Schroeders opened their own wallets underwriting the first-ever cash prizes, offering $10,000 for the Best of Show award. This was the beginning.
Today 37,000 attendees converge on the four-day show. The AQS Quilt Show & Contest is considered the premier international quilting event. Each year's show brings more than $20 million in economic impact to the area. Quilters and quilts are everywhere--even the gas stations hang quilts. Expanding on that success, the society now holds the AQS Quilt Exposition annually in Nashville, Tennessee, drawing over 25,000 attendees. Between the two quilt shows, AQS has awarded $1.5 million in cash prizes to quilters.
In 2005 AQS has taken another bold step with the introduction of the American Quilter television series. This creative, lifestyle show can be seen on Lifetime Real Women.
Beyond this, the highly successful American Quilter's Society:
- publishes & distributes quilt books
- publishes a quilting magazine
- creates a bi-monthly newsletter
- provides books to libraries through its Matching Book Program
- sets the standards of excellence through its shows, contests, and the Appraiser Certification Program.
In addition, the Schroeders created and endowed the Museum of the American Quilter's Society to honor the accomplishments of today's fine quilters.