I recently taught at the New Mexico Quilters’ Association in Albuquerque. The big buzz at their meeting was the upcoming Balloon Fiesta, an annual event that takes place for nine days in early October in Albuquerque. The guild runs a booth at this event, where they sell tickets for their raffle quilt and have a variety of balloon themed quilted items for sale. It is their major fund raiser for the year. They had a balloon themed challenge and these delightful quilts were the entries. Members voted on their favorite at the meeting, hence the quilts just have numbers on them and the makers were not identified. I don’t know which one won, but I thought they were all pretty creative. The winning quilt received a prize. All the quilts were donated for sale at the upcoming Balloon Fiesta to benefit the guild. They were whimsical and fun.

Purely coincidentally, on the day of the Bainbridge Island Quilt Fest, there was a small fair with tables on Winslow Green for animal lovers. There were adorable kittens and a couple of dogs out for adoption, a pet food stand and more. One table had this beautiful quilted pet portrait. Raffle tickets were offered for $5, and the winner will be given the opportunity to provide a picture of their pet to be memorialized in a customized quilt made by artist Dawna Ellis.

I think Dawna does an incredible job at bringing these dogs to life on the quilt. The raffle is in aid the Kitsap Animal Rescue & Education organization. Dawna makes a variety of pet quilts for her clients and always donates 10% of her fee to a pet shelter or rescue organization of the client’s choice. She may be contacted at dawna.nest@gmail.com. Hanging nearby, was this delightful whimsical dog quilt, Mod Dog, made by Dana Dimmick Scarp and machine quilted by Gladys Schulz. The quilt pattern is by Colourwerx, designed by Linda & Carl Sullivan.