North Star Quilters Guild show to display more than 230 quilts by regional crafters

Oct. 25—GRAND FORKS — Jolene Mikkelson, an avid quilter for many years, could not be more enthusiastic about the North Star Quilters Guild's upcoming "Quilts on the Red Quilt Show" at the Alerus Center.

"We have another exciting quilt show, where we will be exhibiting a nationally touring quilt, called 'Transcendence,'" said Mikkelson, past president and longtime member of the Guild. "It's created with a social justice theme, and it's a very large quilt made by young people who struggle for acceptance, are incarcerated, living in troubled homes, and all kinds of social inequities."

More than 230 quilts will be displayed during the event, set for Friday and Saturday, Oct. 27 and 28, at the Alerus Center. The event hours are from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

Admission is $10 per day or $15 for a two-day pass. Children under the age of 12 are admitted at no charge. Lectures cost $12 extra.

A special feature of the biennial quilt show, hosted by the North Star Quilters Guild, will be a traveling "social justice quilt" exhibit, Mikkelson said.

The "Transcendence" exhibit features a community-based quilt composition by 35 young, new quilters in northern California who designed and created blocks addressing personal and community concerns. The themes represented include women's equity, inclusivity, climate change and criminal justice. The quilt blocks were sent to volunteers nationwide to embellish and embroider before being sewn together into quilts to be displayed in museums, galleries and quilt shows across the country.

The project, developed and led by Maria Shell of Anchorage, Alaska, and quilted by Debbie Kauffman of Minot, is on loan from the Social Justice Sewing Academy, based in Antioch, California.

"The kids were challenged to think about something that matters to them and express it in fabric," Kauffman said in a Facebook post. "I chose to be a part of the project because I wanted to let these young people know that I heard them. I listened to their concerns, their hopes and what they had to say. ... I don't think it's doing this world any good letting kids grow up learning to suppress their thoughts and feelings and think that they are irrelevant. They need to be heard."

Another special exhibit, "Barn Quilts Challenge," shows the work of Guild members who created oversized, single-block quilts in the style of the painted barn quilts that hang on fences and outbuildings in farmyards across the nation's countryside.

Visitors are invited to vote for their favorite barn quilt and one other item for the Viewers' Choice Award, two of eight special prize ribbons to be awarded in this year's show.

The quilt show will also include 25 watercolor paintings by traditional and modern artists, three special exhibits, and five presentations or trunk shows, said Nancy Klatt, quilt show chairperson.

Vendors, representing 12 quilt shops from around the region, will demonstrate quilting and sewing techniques, including curved piecing, ways to finish wool projects, and preparing quilts for longarm quilting, Klatt said.

The third special exhibit is by members of the Red River Watercolor Society who are returning this year with 50 original works of art, along with quilters, that follow the theme "I Get Around." With a different theme in each of the past three shows, the watercolorist-quilter pairings "have created much interest and are being featured for the fourth time" this year, Klatt said.

The main exhibit will feature more than 170 items made by quilters across North Dakota and Minnesota that will be displayed in the Alerus Center ballroom. Categories are: Hand and Traditionally Pieced Quilts, Modern Quilts, Home Decor and Wearables, Holiday Themed, First-time Entrant, Junior and Art Quilts

In addition, the North Star Quilters Guild has assembled 29 baskets as a fundraising project to benefit Santa Claus Girls. Baskets will be raffled on Friday and Saturday. While many of them are suitable for quilters, some contain items for other types of crafters as well as non-crafters, Mikkelson said.

The Guild is selling tickets for $1 each; place one or more tickets in the basket or baskets you'd like to win, she said. A portion of the proceeds will support the Santa Claus Girls' efforts to make sure that children in low-income households in the Grand Cities receive Christmas gifts — a project the group started and has pursued annually since 1916.

Visitors may also buy tickets for the raffle of an applique quilt, with the drawing set to take place late Saturday at the show.

The event will include opportunities to learn more about quilting, with lectures and trunk shows ranging from traditional to modern quilting and practical skill-building. At noon Friday, Allison Rainboth, a show judge from Berlin, Wisconsin, will share her love of early-20th Century historical quilting in her presentation, "Quilts from 1920 to 1950." At 6:30 p.m. Friday, she will also conduct a "Choosing Quilting Designs" trunk show, demonstrating how scale, proportion, density, theme and color impact a project.

Regional quilting educator Colleen Carlson, of Grand Forks, will focus on quilt backs, outlining characteristics of a great back, as well as fabric selection and piercing considerations in her "Back Talk" at 3 p.m. Friday.

On Saturday, award-winning longarm quilter Clem Buzick, Moorhead, will share tips and tricks to make the "quilt as desired" decision process less daunting and more fun in his talk, "Wide Open Spaces," at 11 a.m., Klatt said.

Also on Saturday at 2 p.m. Katie Hennagir, longtime quilt pattern designer and owner of Bay Window Quilt Shop in Perham, Minnesota, will present a trunk show of fabric-focused quilt designs and offer tips for using fabrics on hand and selected fabrics. Her trunk show is titled "Common Sense Quilts — Designs for Your Stash."

Individual quilt appraisal sessions are also available, Klatt said.

Among other special features of the show will be the display of a quilt, "Wensleydale Pot Luck," Janelle Kirby's interpretation of a Jen Kingwell quilt pattern, Mikkelson said. The quilt will be part of the Traditionally Pieced Quilts category.

North Star Quilters Guild, a not-for-profit volunteer organization, is dedicated to the art and craft of quilting. Its mission is to provide the opportunity for education, appreciation and advancement of the art of quilting, service to others, and fellowship. Guild membership is open to all.