"Catch the Quilting Bug" is the theme of this year's Quilting Festival at the Grand International, and chairman Jennifer Feller was happy to learn that the mascot for the theme, the ladybug, has just been declared the state insect for North Dakota.
"You can expect to see a lot of challenge quilts with this bug in the design," Feller said. "Any style is fine, as long as it has the traditional three layers."
The 18th annual Quilting Festival, hosted by the Minot Prairie Quilt Guild, is not simply a weekend of seminars for aficionados of quilting, nor for devotees of quilt displays although both will be present in abundance. The $3 admission fee for the public includes 13 vendors and a tea room, along with a flea market filled with fabric, notions and other items for those with a quilting or sewing bent.
Article Photos
Terry J. Aman/MDN - - Minot Prairie Quilt Guild Quilting Festival chair Jennifer Feller, right, and co-chair Sharon Torgerson, together with a featured quilt from this year’s event, welcomed participants to the 18th annual Quilting Festival, hosted by the Minot Prairie Quilt Guild at the Grand International Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Quilters
Two of the instructors, Deborah Jacobs and Kathryn Squibb, owners of Gathering Friends Quilt Shop in Bird Island, Minn., have designed a special quilt for this festival, titled "March Madness."
"We're quite excited about this, too," Feller said. "Gathering Friends has been named one of the top 10 quilt shops in the country. They're currently working on their 20th book together."
Fact Box
18th annual Quilting Festival
Hours are Friday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Grand International. For more information, log on at (http://minotquilters.com).
Sally Schneider of Albuquerque, N.M., is another nationally recognized teacher, a specialist in scrap quilts and built-in borders who has authored 10 books. In 2010 she was a nominee for Professional Quilter magazine's Professional Teacher of the Year.
Many of the classes are already filled, as is the banquet on Saturday honoring Pearl Schriock, a long-standing member of Minot Prairie Quilters. Some of her featured quilts will be on display in the vendor's mall.