Winning Quilts by Friends and others at Northwest Quilting Expo in Portland

I don't know if you get as excited as I do when I see that friends of mine have won awards at quilt shows, but it is a real joy for me!  While pursuing my career, I traveled and lived in a lot of different places and so now I know people all over.  I have lost contact with many of my friends over the years, mostly due to distance, and I'm sad that we don't share letters anymore.  But, I'm also really happy with all of my local friends.  Well, anyway, that is a long winded way to introduce some of my friends' winning quilts at the 17th annual Northwest Quilting Expo in Portland.

Bonnie Keller was with a group of women that went to Asilomar last spring.  It was the first time that I met her, but wasn't the first time that I'd learned of her amazing design and quilting skills.  Here is a wonderful quilt of hers.  "For Everything There is a Season, Turn, Turn, Turn".  This won 2nd place in the applique category.

Judith Phelps is in my quilt guild and we've worked together on many committees.  She has a wonderful sense of design and does both painting and thread painting.  This quilt , "From the Ashes" has a really cool three panel effect, showing how a forest regrows after a fire.  Some people think she made it in memory of the recent Columbia Gorge fire, but, of course, she completed it beforehand.  It won a judge's choice award.

Jodi Davila is a friend from my Puyallup quilt guild.  She entered a stunning portrait quilt, "Margaret", which won 3rd place in the art quilt, representational category.  I loved her playful color selections.  She has been an art quilter as long as I've known her and has made numerous original quilts.

Linda Reinert was one of the featured quilters and had a display of her circle quilts, including some new ones.  She  is a member of my local quilt guild and has won several awards at our show, including best of show.  She was so gracious to show me around her display and talk about her classes at the Pine Needle. 

Sonia Grasvik was a member of my quilt guild in Sammamish.  She does amazing things and I loved her quilt "Happy Dance". 

And here are some others that I liked:

I hope you get to some of the quilt shows where you live and that you do the happy dance for your friends and other quilters too!

Quilting Groups

You need to be involved with quilting groups if you're a quilter.  Enough said.

Well, OK, a little more insight might be helpful.

If you've been reading my blogs, you've probably figured out by now that I've been quilting for a while.  It's hard to admit this, but I have been quilting seriously since I was 17.   And I've just turned 65.  So that's almost 50 years!  My, how the times flies.

I've joined quilting groups everywhere that I have lived, and I've stepped up to the plate to take on leadership roles in every guild that I've joined.  I love the passion, inspiration, and friendship that have come my way by being a member of both the quilt guilds and the small quilting groups.  So thanks to guilds in Idaho, Ontario, New Brunswick, Georgia, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Washington, and Oregon.  I loved the friendships in all those locations and still love to hear from quilters in those places.

 Most of my friends know that I am self-motivated, but they don't realize is how much their presence fuels my passion.  So, shout out to all my friends for their inspiration and support.  I love seeing all of your work and getting tips and tricks from you.

Please, please, please... if you're sitting on the sidelines, get up and join your local quilt guild.  The guilds give you have access to local and National quilt teachers, wonderful charity opportunities, quilt shows, quilt book libraries, free fabric, free patterns, exchanges of blocks/fabrics, and learning new techniques. Better yet, get involved with a small quilt group.  It doesn't matter if the group is a sub-group of your quilt guild or if it's associated with your church, or if it's a bunch of your neighbors, co-workers, or friends. The comradery of the quilting groups is a fantastic experience and not to be missed.  Besides your pets and grandchildren, nobody else is as happy to see you.

So what are you waiting for --- get up and join quilting groups.

Joanne Adams Roth 2015