A decade ago, when I attended my first QuiltCon, pictorial quilts were few and far between. The pictorial quilts that made it to the show were so novel that they often drew a lot of attention. Over the years, quilts featuring recognizable imagery have become more common, and now you can expect to see pictorial quilts scattered throughout the contest quilts.
Quilts featuring people are not usually my favorite. (Just by stating this, I have probably guaranteed that I will be making one before long!) However, the more I have looked at the quilts from QuiltCon 2026, the more I have realized what a strong and distinct trend this subject matter was at this year’s show. Moreover, most of the quilts in the contest depicting people are good. It is hard to make a quilted version of a human that actually works aesthetically, so today, I am taking this opportunity to share just a few of the best people-inspired quilts in my final post on QuiltCon trends for 2026.
How I Select Quilts to Feature
Human depictions within the quilts at QuiltCon this year ran the gamut stylistically and thematically. To show the full range of designs for this relatively narrow topic, I broke my usual rule and included quilts that won awards. A quarter of the quilts shared below are award winners, but the styles depicted in each were unique within the show, and I didn’t believe this topic was complete without their inclusion. To capture the overall depictions of humanity, the quilts included in this post have:
- Varying degrees of abstraction
- Styles that are unique to each quilt
- Themes ranging from worldwide concern to deeply personal struggles
- Use of scale to create different depictions of humanity, from close-up details (see We Are Looking Back at You) to symbolic representations of a crowd (see The Women’s March on Washington January 21, 2017)
The Quilts
Frances
By Jeanne Eileen Garcia
The Flower Lord
By Carrie Witherell
Nyota
By Brooke Veale
Faces
By Ava Gaffney, age 8, and Raewyn Gaffney, age 11
We Are Looking Back at You
By Patricia Amburgy
The Quilter
By Katherine Jones
This CRIMINAL
By Eliu Hernandez
What Women Carry
By Carrie Stout
Vanity
By Scott Culley
The Women’s March on Washington Janurary 21, 2017
By Patricia Amburgy
Hope For Ukraine
By Devida Bushrod
Note: The following quilt, which is the final quilt in this post, includes imagery and text relating to an eating disorder and strong language. If you are sensitive to either of these topics, please scroll past this quilt or back towards the top of the page.
Stretch
By Sarah Morris
Do You Want To See More Quilts?
Next week, I’ll share more quilts from QuiltCon, but until then:
- The winning QuiltCon quilts are available for everyone to see online.
- A couple of weeks ago, I shared quilts featuring a color scheme of Black & White with Bold Colors
- Then, I shared quilts using yellow as a key color in the design
- Last week I wrote about block-based quilts at the show
- If you are a member of the Modern Quilt Guild, images of the entire show are available online until the end of March. Check the weekly MQG email for details.
- Search for QuiltCon on your favorite social media platform.
No Comments