Certified Judges
Up until August, 2015, The National Quilting Association was the only organization that certified quilt show judges. In August, 2015, NQA decided that the organization as a whole was no longer economically viable and elected to disband. The NQA Certified Judges program was viable and the 76 active NQA Certified Judges opted to re-organize themselves as the National Association of Certified Quilt Judges (NACQJ), with the goal of continuing and maintaining and the original NQA Certification program without the overhead of the other NQA programs. This program is intended to assure that there are certified quilt judges available who are qualified to evaluate quilts in any show, whether National, regional or guild. More information on the certification program can be found at the NACQJ web site.
I am 1 of 6 certified judges in the state of Texas, and 1 of the 76 certified judges nationwide. There is a complete list of Certified Judges, organized by state, also available on the NACQJ web site.