"[2] Shaw further writes, "Realizing that they could not wait for attention to come to them, artist-quiltmakers began to take matters into their own hands.
The first Board of Directors consisted of Yvonne Porcella, Holly Junker, Beth Gutcheon, Marti Michell, and Roderick Kiracofe.
SAQA sought to establish the place of artist-made quilts among contemporary fine art, to serve as a forum for the professional development of quilt artists, and to act as an informative resource for curators, dealers, art consultants, teachers, students, and collectors.
An initial group of about fifty quilt artists contributed seed money and volunteered time to implement the founding of the organization, which continues to be a strong voice today".
[1] As of 2012, in response to a membership survey, SAQA has broadened the working definition of an art quilt to, "A creative visual work that is layered and stitched or that references this form of stitched layered structure".