At the end of last year, the committee proposed changing the name of our Contemporary Quilt Special Interest Group (SIG) to Contemporary Textiles. The thinking behind this is that we need to ensure we reflect all current members’ interests and are best placed to attract new members and maintain the group going forward. Members have now voted, and over 90% are in favour of the change.

But a name change is not, in itself, going to deliver benefits. It is part of a wider strategy to add to or adapt our programme of activities to reflect what members want from both the Quilters’ Guild and their chosen Special Interest Group.

We are not, however, aiming to be all things textile and the general quilting identifier “stitched layers” will remain in our brief. When we invited members to consider the name change proposal, one concern was that we would be “losing connection with our quilting history”. The Committee understands this and absolutely intends that “quilting” will remain at the heart of what we do. The oldest quilt in the Guild’s collection is dated between 1600-1640, and it, along with the many other works that the Guild is custodian of, forms a tradition of which we are all proud and continues to inspire us as makers. But we want to recognise that “contemporary quilting” has developed to include many new techniques and styles, such as digital design and print, embellishment, embroidery, and so on.

Another concern was that we would lose connection with the Guild. But QGBI are very supportive of the change and the need to broaden its appeal to retain and attract new members.

Some other points raised were:

· “Works of diverse textile content will be submitted as "CQ" work, e.g. weaving, lace making, basketry”. The committee is not looking at this level of change – the basic concept of stitched layers will remain at the core of our work, but we believe it will better represent our members who often submit to Festival of Quilts work in the Art Quilts, Quilt Creations and Pictorial Quilts categories as well as Contemporary Quilts. As a SIG, we are not defined just by that CQ competition category.

· “We will lose the meaning of working with layers and stitch”. This is not something we are moving away from. It is to be celebrated and developed as it has been for generations, and will remain core to our work

· “Concerns about the cost implications of a name change - logos, email addresses, etc” There is no excessive cost involved as these are mostly digital changes. We will implement changes gradually and time to coincide with other updates.

A final point several members made was, “Does a name change really benefit us?” The Committee would agree that it does not matter if we simply change the name. But this is a part of the wider strategy we believe is an important enabler and/or catalyst for reinvigorating our SIG and continuing to be a vibrant and committed part of the Quilters’ Guild

Alison Livesley

February 2026