Manchester, New Hampshire was the leader in textile manufacturing as well as the home of the largest textile mill in the world and these elements of the city’s history are not lost on MQX. As the country’s largest machine quilting conference and quilt show it is fitting that MQX is located in this historically significant city. The Center of New Hampshire Convention Center is located in the midst of downtown Manchester with museums, shopping, restaurants and entertainment within walking distance. With the Manchester Airport a mere 7 miles away and free transportation to and from all surrounding hotels, Manchester is convenient and accessible for MQX students, vendors and attendees.

“It was on the banks of the Merrimack River, near the powerful Amoskeag Falls, that America’s industrial and technological revolution reached full power through the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, once the world's largest textile manufacturing complex; changing forever the social fabric of this nation and the world. By the turn of the 19th century, the label Made in Manchester, NH, USA, appeared around the globe on objects ranging from textiles and shoes to cigars, rifles, sewing machines, and railroad locomotives.

The first cotton spinning mill was built on the west bank of the Merrimack River by Benjamin Prichard, circa 1804. In 1831, a group of investors known as the Boston Associates acquired the small, three-mill complex and reorganized it into the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company. The AMC completed its first mill, Stark Mill No. 1, on the east bank of the river in 1839, beginning a century of productivity unmatched in its time.” Excerpted from the history of Manchester, New Hampshire written by the Manchester Historical Society