The Great Wisconsin Quilt Show 2024

Last week was one of my favorite events of the year – the Great Wisconsin Quilt Show in Madison. It is put on as a joint effort of Nancy Zieman Productions and PBS ~ and I think this year’s was the best show yet! It is truly a national level show with quilts and vendors from all over the USA.

My first stop at the show was an exhibit of Nancy Zieman’s landscape quilts. They were breathtaking, and beautifully displayed.

One of the free stage presentations this year was a bed turning of some of the new acquisitions at the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Arts. Due to my class schedule, I couldn’t stay for the talk, but the ladies allowed me to take a peak during set up. We are so blessed to have this museum here in southeastern Wisconsin.

Then there were the “Black and White Plus One” challenge quilts. There were so many great ones that I think you need to see them all. They haven’t been posted to the show’s site yet, but I’ll share a link when they are. It was hard to choose, but “Dancing in the Moonlight” was my favorite:

I thought I might skip sharing some of my favorite quilts from the competition this year, since I’ve recently shared a lot of wonderful quilts on this blog from the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham. But… the quilts were so fantastic I can’t resist posting some of my favorites here again ~ and I hope you enjoy them.

This year I was really drawn to quilts which have a personal story or evoked special memories. “My Inspiration” by Betsy Stoughton was one of these. The photo transfers of women who have inspired her, and her skill at broderie perse, were both so well done.

“Gypsy’s Daughter” by Mona Lagan displays vintage doilies and hankies in a unique way. It’s a bright and colorful quilt.

The orange peel pattern in Lorna Maxwell’s “It Makes Me Smile” are made from vintage shirtings, feedsacks, and rick-rack. It’s lovely from a distance, but just look at the up close details ~ rick-rack around every oval!

Nancy Wolf made “A Special Puzzle for Mom” to commemorate her mom’s love of puzzles.

So how did she make the bumps on the puzzle pieces? With very tiny corner triangles (those bumps are 1″ squares)!

“70 Hearts for Damaris” was made by Mario Alonso for his sister’s 70th birthday. In his description he stated that “the back is a big 70, made with hearts for each number so she can’t lie about her age. 😂

“Friendship” by Gretchen Watkin spoke to me because the appliquéd portion of this double wedding ring pattern was unexpected. Then I read the story and liked it even more.

So many quilts were done with such amazing workmanship that they stopped me in my tracts. One of these was “Basilica di San Marco II” by Donna Goodlaxson. What phenomenal piecing on a bed sized quilt!

When it comes to amazing appliqué, “Baltimore Autumn” by Marilla Schmitt has it all. The blocks are simply delightful.

And I just had to include “Sue’s Garden Party” by Wilhemina Vandevoorde. The details are exquisite.

And then there are the quilts that are just so clever. “The Rabbit that Ate My Garden” by Kathy DeVries is a small quilt, and so well done. The rabbit is filled with beautiful things from the garden, and surrounded by carrots.

Inspiration can come from anywhere when making a creative quilt, as in Misty Cole’s piece “Dirty Laundry”. She was inspired by the pattern on her laundry basket and reproduced it in reverse appliqué. The shirt sleeve hanging through the handle made me laugh out loud.

My father is an historical genius when it comes to the Civil War, and I know he would have enjoyed seeing Neil Anderson’s quilt “Second Day at the Battle of Gettysburg”. Neil was actually at the show (all the way from Texas), and was so very enthusiastic in sharing his passion for this piece.

Then there was “Just a Little Bull” by Ann Marie Miro. Her depiction of the elephant is striking, and the artistic rendering of other animals in the ears and background is amazing.

I think you’ll find the description of her technique very interesting.

And some quilts I just liked. I would love to see “Fall Oaks” by Mary Ellen Dunn Wunderlich on my bed.

Or to snuggle under my friend Margaret Gawlik’s “Pokeberry Quilt”.

And I just love the colors and craziness of “Improv Quilt” by Nancy Martin.

Didn’t I tell you the quilts were fantastic? And these were just a few of the many wonderful works.

I also thoroughly enjoyed teaching at the show this year. My lecture was an updated version of one from a few years back about my Mariner’s Compass technique. I think it went over very well, and a repeat of that class next year might be a possibility. I also taught a new sit and sew workshop using the circle maker attachment for the sewing machine, and the pre-programmed specialty stitches we all have, but seldom use. The classes were full, it was a simple project, and everyone had a lot of fun!

I did a previous blog post about this technique, along with a “hack” for quilters who don’t happen to own a circle maker. Click here for that post.

It was such a wonderful show that one post can’t do it justice. But I hope you enjoyed reliving just a bit of it with me.

And one more thing… while at the show Ellen came up to me and said that she participated in a round robin through her guild, and she worked on one that had a mariner’s compass as the center. I’d taught my mariner’s technique for their guild in Janesville, WI a few years ago, and Ellen’s friend Gloria used the compass from that class as the center of her exchange. Her comment was that she was in a very talented group. I agree, and I was so excited when Gloria sent me a photo:

Beautiful! I love the way Gloria set the compass with the central points forming an “X”. An unexpected set that worked so well. Thanks for the photo Gloria!