Vivian Love, a talented machine quilter and instructor and a blogger, helped at my booth at the Machine Quilters Showcase event held a few weeks ago in Kansas.

I sent Vivian on a mission to be a roving reporter and tell you more about MQS.  Vivian knows most of the movers and shakers in the machine quilting industry and here she guest writes to tell you more about this event dedicated to stand-up machine quilters.

Here is Vivian:

“This year was the 11th Annual Machine Quilters Showcase and it was held in Overland Park, Kansas.  MQS was first established by Marcia and Tom Stevens in 1997.  It was really the first of it’s kind in the world: a trade show dedicated to stand-up machine quilters.

The first Showcase was held in Duluth, Minnesota with just 123 quilts displayed and only 34 classes offered.  It was there that Marcia Stevens  initiated and encouraged the groundwork for a machine quilting organization.  The 1998 Showcase was held in Springfield, Missouri and the first meeting of the International Machine Quilters Association (IMQA) took place.  MQS has been held in Springfield, Illinois and is now held in Overland Park, Kansas.  The IMQA has been in charge of the show and ownership of MQS since 2002.   

Why is the Machine Quilters Showcase different from other quilt shows?  According to Marcia Stevens, “it has given machine quilters a venue to share ideas, learn from experts, display their work, compete for prize money, shop from vendors who supply their industry and generally have a great time doing what they love.”  

This year over 150 classes were offered at the Overland Park Convention Center.  There was a vendor mall, demonstrations, an awards celebration, and quilt show featuring approximately 400 quilts.  Instructors traveled from all parts of the country to present subjects that included machine maintenance, new techniques and designs, running a machine quilting business, digitized quilting and even fabric dying and painting.
Highlights From the Show
I attended the show as a vendor helping my friend Gina Halladay, of Cranberry Quiltworks, The four-day shopping event including a 4-hour “shopping frenzy” on Wed. evening we worked hard and tried to keep up with the demand for thread and patterns at our booth.  It really was a “frenzy” and we were exhausted afterwards.  At the booth we also carried quilt and apron patterns for Threaded Pear Studio.  Pictured here is Gina Halladay and Derryl Hill, technician for Cranberry Quiltworks. 

The quilts displayed at the show were very impressive.  Best of Show was awarded to Sharon Schamber, of Arizona, for her “Flower of Life” quilt.  (The quilt is shown above with a close up of the back!) The quilt was breathtaking; my photos don’t even do it justice--the photo above is a photo from the IMQA website.  Sharon spent two and a half years and over 1,000 hours quilting this masterpiece. Such a talented lady! (She also won Best of Show at the AQS Quilt Show in Paducah this year!  Read more about Sharon's quilt from this interview by Patsy Terrell.)

Viewers Choice was awarded to Claudia Pfeil, of Germany, for her “Turnabout” quilt. (at right)

Here are pictures of other winning quilts.  Marilyn Badger’s “Awesome Blossoms, 3rd Place, Innovative Custom. (shown at left below)

Irena Bluhm’s “Feathers and Pom-Poms”, 2nd Place, Wall-Size Quilts. (at right below)

Lynn McCartney’s “On A Clear Day”, 1st Place in Whole Cloth Traditional.

I was both awed and inspired by attending MQS.  I would recommend this show to anyone who is interested in what is going on in the world of machine quilting.  Please check the International Machine Quilters Association website for a complete list of winners.  

Photos and article thanks to Vivian Love.

(Photo of Sharon's winning quilt is from the IMQA website)

Note from Gina: Vivian was busy interviewing these machine quilters and others.  She is in charge of the class schedule at my shop and has recently scheduled classes with Karen McTavish, Marcia Stevens, and Pam Clarke and will be booking classes with Anne Bright, Deb Geissler, Sharon Schamber, Kim Brunner and more.

I am excited about seeing these award winning machine quilters in action in an intimate classroom setting.  If you are interested in being on an email list to get info about these classes please send me an email at cranberryquiltworks@gmail.com  My new website www.cranberryquiltworks.com should be launching in the next few weeks and all the class info will be on it as well.

Thanks for reading.

Gina