Quilters show is today, Saturday at fairgrounds

The theme for the North Idaho Quilters’ 2017 Quilt Show is “Quilt Odyssey.” The show, hosted by the North Idaho Quilters guild, takes place today and Saturday in the Jacklin Building at the Kootenai Country Fairgrounds in Coeur d’Alene.

More than 275 quilts, featuring a variety of categories, sizes, styles and techniques from traditional to art, will be on display at the show. Clothing and small items are also expected. Attendees will vote for their favorites in each category. Voting closes at 6 p.m. today and ribbons will be displayed on Saturday. Every Youth Quilt (18 and under) is considered a winner and will receive a ribbon.

The 2017 Door Challenge quilts will also be shown. Quilts entered in this challenge must include any kind of a door design, be an original design, sewn and quilted by the entrant and made after Sept. 26, 2016. No names will be attached to the challenge quilts until after the winners are announced.

“Floral Fantasy” is the 2017 Raffle Quilt, which was designed and made by Sandy Turner-Woods. Tickets are $1 each and the drawing will be on Saturday. Also available for raffle during the show are several baskets filled with fat quarters of fabric.

Vendor booths in the Merchant Mall will offer items needed to finish a quilt or to start that next one, along with tools and equipment. The Country Store will have lots of gently used supplies and boutique items made by guild members.

The Featured Artist is award-winning quilter and designer Marianne Harwood, and a beautiful display of her quilts will be found by the show entrance. Harwood has four new designs for this quilt show. She said her quilt patterns are hand-drawn, machine-pieced, machine-quilted on her domestic sewing machine or hand-quilted. Her designs use various styles of fabrics and colors for each quilt. She claims to get easily bored and doesn’t want any of her quilts to look familiar. If there is a theme in her quilts, she says it is God’s great creation: flowers, animals, landscapes.

The Community Service display features the works of guild members who are generous with their quilting talents. In addition to making quilts for themselves, they make quilts for others, such as the Quilts of Valor on display. These quilts are donated as part of a national effort to award all service men and women touched by war a quilt as a token of appreciation and gratitude for their service and valor.

Hours for the 2017 Quilt Show are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. Admission is $7 and good for both days of the show. The Kootenai County Fairgrounds is located at 4056 N. Government Way, Coeur d’Alene. Enter off Kathleen Street for free parking.

To learn more, northidahoquilters.com, follow North Idaho Quilters on Facebook, email quiltersnews@gmail.com or visit the membership booth at the show.