HOUSTON, Texas — The largest quilt show in the world is back in downtown Houston..
For the first time since the pandemic started, the International Quilt Festival returns to the George R. Brown Convention Center this weekend.
Some 55,000 people from 35 countries are expected at this year’s event which runs through Sunday.
They'll see more than 1,100 quilts in all shapes, sizes and styles are on display.
“A lot of people, because they’ve been forced to stay home, have had a lot more time to quilt so actually quilting has really grown and exploded," Bob Ruggiero, vice president of communications for the quilt festival said.
He said quilting is more popular than ever due to the pandemic.
“Sales of sewing machines and fabrics have gone through the roof,” Ruggiero said.
Photos: 2021 Quilt Festival
The festival features work dedicated to the pandemic from interpretations of COVID-19, to wearing masks, the vaccine and even the infamous toilet paper shortage.
These artists said they’re sharing stories with each thread that’s stitched onto a panel of quilt.
Diane Canney founded COVID-19 Hope Quilt.
She said her nonprofit combines valor and memorial quilts as a way to honor frontline workers and to remember those lost to the virus.
“So for me it’s a way of capturing this for history like a time capsule," Canney said.
She said these special quilts help people express their grief but also heal in the process.
“During the pandemic there were no funerals,” Canney said. “There wasn’t a proper way to talk about their loved ones so I thought using art was kind of a therapeutic way of allowing them to have avenue.”