Artistic Artifacts, a fabric and art supply store in Alexandria, VA, has been awarded one of four inaugural Creative Hub Awards at the 2025 International Local Quilt Shop Contest. The award recognizes the shop’s positive local community impact, educational opportunities, and inspiring atmosphere based on customer comments highlighting their personal connections that support creativity.
“All along the way people — customers, friends, people I didn’t know — jumped in to help me. And they gave their heart to my success,” says Artistic Artifacts owner Judy Gula of her journey in creating her women-owned small business, founded in 2007. “Now the success is beyond me: it’s phenomenal that Artistic Artifacts reaches so many people. We want to be authentic, friendly, encouraging… My team members excel and give so much to be part of this culture we have developed. And it’s just an amazing honor and privilege to have won these awards.”
“It’s hard to get more creative than Artistic Artifacts in Alexandria, Virginia,” shared Annie Uhrein of ByAnnie, founders of the Local Quilt Shop Contest and a sponsor of the All Mid-Atlantic Shop Hop. “So it’s easy to see why this amazing shop is a double winner in the 2025 Local Quilt Shop Contest. They became the Regional Winner for Virginia for the second year — and one of the first recipients of the brand-new Creative Hub Award! Since their regional win last year, Artistic Artifacts has been busy providing even more incredible services for their community.”
The contest, held annually from late January to February, saw a 13% increase in votes this year—over 60,500 votes across more than 2,300 stores in 14 countries. Customers vote and share comments to celebrate their favorite quilt shops.
With the motto “Creative Finds for Creative Minds,” Artistic Artifacts is an inspiring resource for fabric, fiber, and mixed media art products, available online and in-store. Artistic Arifacts look forward to participating once again in this year’s AMASH — the inaugural event was so much fun for staff and a pleasure to meet so many new customers! The shop features modern cottons from designers like Kaffe Fassett, Marcia Derse, Tilda, and Charley Harper, as well as fabrics from Africa, Australia, India, and Indonesia.
The store is an authorized BERNINA dealer, carrying WonderFil, Sashiko, and handpainted Painter’s Threads from Germany. They offer in-person and virtual classes, and Judy Gula leads international creative retreats, including upcoming events in Italy later in 2025 and India in 2026.
As a fiber and mixed media artist, Judy’s to inspire others to create and find joy in the process. She has built a creative community through weekly Facebook Live sessions, monthly gatherings like Judy’s Altered Minds, textile tours, retreats, and sponsorship of fiber art events.
Beyond the store, Artistic Artifacts maintains a strong online presence. Their YouTube channel features demonstrations, store tours, and class previews, serving as a helpful resource for fiber and mixed media techniques. Other content includes store tours and peeks at our in-store classes and events.
Winning the Creative Hub award is an acknowledgement that Judy Gula, along with all of our team, has achieved her vision and mission. Our wish is that being recognized in this way will encourage others everywhere to become part of our Creative Minds community. Join us for our annual Creative Minds Summit every April, ongoing quilt classes — we’re welcoming Gail Yellen in May and Jane Sassaman in June —and other workshops (including BERNINA Mastery), and creative retreats. Sign up for our newsletter to be sure you get all their news!