My local quilt guild, Kitsap Quilters’ Guild, held their annual show last weekend. It was successful and everything ran smoothly. I’m blown away when I consider what it takes to put on an event like this with all the volunteers and the hours they contribute. Our Quilt Show Chair, Gail Mann, did an outstanding job with excellent planning and communication with all the various quilt show committee people. This was our 31st show and our experienced members know what to do. Our quilt hanging techniques have improved dramatically in the 25 years that I have been with the guild and the drop-off check in, and take-down procedures are slick. The pictures below illustrate some of the many components of our show.

First of all there’s the quilts! We had 199 in the show, plus a special exhibit from our talented featured artist, Ann Trujillo. I will post more pictures in subsequent blogs.

The first quilt right by the entrance which captivated the attention of show-goers was our opportunity quilt, Glacial Stars, designed by yours truly, pieced by me with major help from other trusty guild members, and beautifully machine quilted by Gladys Schulz, (more on this one in another blog). I’m proud to say that over 7,000 chances have been sold. Also near the entrance door, there was a welcoming membership information table.

Here’s the lucky recipient of two of the silent auction baskets. There were over 60 baskets containing items donated by guild members and local businesses. This is quite a fundraiser for the guild and putting together the baskets was a tremendous amount of work. We also had a guild boutique, where members could sell unwanted fabric, books, half-done projects etc with 10% going to the guild. The other picture shows some of the many quilts made for our Kitsap Snuggles program and two quilters busy at work piecing quilts. The quilts are wrapped around dolls and stuffed animals and distributed throughout Kitsap County to children in crisis and children with cancer.

Of course, the quilt show would not be complete without our vendors giving everyone the opportunity to go shopping!

I hope that you will be able to support quilt shows in your area and that you will express you appreciation to the volunteers who you meet and who make it all happen.