Quilt Show is this weekend

The 21st Annual Quilt Show and Sale will take place this week beginning with classes Sept. 9-10 and the show and sale Saturday and Sunday Sept. 11-12 in Hill City. 

The Hill City Arts Council sponsors this event every year, along with the Heart of the Hills Quilters Guild and the Hill City Quilt Show Committee.  This year they have new activities, classes and speakers planned. 

Sherry Liddell, president of the Hill City Arts Council, says there will be approximately 350 quilts on display this year at the Hill City High School Gym and displayed throughout town. Many colorful and skillfully crafted quilts will be hanging and draped in the high school gym and on display on Main Street Hill City. There will be a vendor mall in the gym on Saturday and Sunday, and admission is $5 at the door for adults and 18 and under enter free.

This year features classes by local quilters JoAnn Hoffman and Vicki Barlean, along with Sue Gies, whose pattern “Cabin in the Hills” will be the main focus of this year’s scavenger hunt.

These classes are currently sold out, and people are encourged to call in advance to see if there has been a cancellation if you are interested in a class. The show will also feature special guest quilter Mary Kay Cole, owner of Cole’s Custom Quilting and quilter since the early 1980s. 

The scavenger hunt is free and open to the public. A  list of  local merchant participants is available on the Hill City Arts Council website and will be available Sept. 11-12.

Those who follow along with the hunt will travel to local businesses in town to collect the “Cabin in the Hills” pattern pieces and then return to the gym where Sue Gies will help participants learn how to assemble the pieces and quilt them. Many local businesses will have flash sales Saturday and Sunday, and the arts council website will have information on those sales.

Another activity fpr this year’s quilt show will be the Trunk Show and Bed Turning that will take place at the Little White Church. 

The Trunk Show and Bed Turning is an event reminiscent of days of yore when ladies would gather to help each other with spring and fall cleaning. As mattresses and bedding were changed for the seasons, flipped, washed and bedding reassembled, the ladies would show off their handiwork with quilts, afghans and other hand sewn pieces. Each lady would bring a piece to lay on the bed and as each piece was displayed, the one who brought it would tell the  story of the quilt, whether it was done by the one who brought it or if it was passed down through the family.

Featured quilt artists Janice Moore and Marcia Busskohl will display quilts and be storytellers to launch this event at the Little White Church and will draw on those traditions with bed displays of quilts. There will also be a dinner coinciding with this event for $20 per person. This portion of the show is sold out, so call in advance to see if there has been a cancellation if you would like to attend.

The schedule of events for this is:

Saturday, Sept. 11, 9 a.m. - doors open, vendor mall open and People’s Choice voting begins. Youth Art Activities will be provided by Kim Oslund.    

The Dinner, Trunk Show and Bed Turning at the  Little White Church on Main Street begins at 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 12 at 9 a.m. doors open, vendor mall opens and the People's Choice Award winner will be announced. 

At 3:30 p.m. the Hill City Quilt Guild raffle winner and the Early Bird Quilt Entry Award winner will be announced. The event concludes at 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 12.