Hundreds of quilters from around the region are in Minot this weekend for what they consider the event of the season.
The Minot Prairie Quilt Guild's 18th annual Prairie Quilt Festival wraps up today in the Grand International Inn with classes, booths featuring 13 vendors and quilter's flea market.
"This is always such a good show that you can't miss it," Michelle Moon of Brandon, Manitoba, said Saturday.
A quilter, Moon said she gets inspired by seeing new quilt patterns.
"If you see it done, it gives you a bit more encouragement to do it, even if you think it's a little over your talent level," she said.
She brings her husband to the Minot shows to get his input on which quilts to try at home. Randy Moon, who is happy to tag along, said the amount of work that goes into the quilts amazes him.
Ann Barnsley and Isobel Fishley of Balcarres, Saskatchewan, are becoming regulars at the show. The friendly people, vendors and the quilts themselves are what draw her back every year, Barnsley said.
She gets as much out of the lectures by Minot's local quilters as she does the national demonstrators who put on classes, she said. Quilting also is a common ground that enables strangers to strike up conversations over refreshments in the tea rooms.
"We have the same interest and the same passion," Barnsley said.
Between 700 and 900 people are expected to pass through the quilt show before the three-day event ends today.
"People come in droves up here because it is really a beautiful show," chairwoman Jennifer Feller said.
Visitors this year have included quilters from Montana, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Canada as well as North Dakota.
"I am here because I love it," said Gloria Lies of Douglas, who belongs to her local quilting guild.
Lindsey Benson of Velva, who learned to quilt in January, brought her mother, Deb Haga of Hazen, and grandmother, Helen Howe of Minot, with her to the show. Her grandmother, a former seamstress who made patchwork quilts in her day, was impressed with machines that do the intricate stitching now. She was even more impressed with the quilt displays.
"They are fancy," she said. "I love them."
Benson said her interest in quilting started with a class that she took just to see if she would like it.
"It's addicting," she said, noting that she bought fabric at the show to make more quilts.
Trish Greenwood of Comfort of Home, a Jamestown quilt shop, said business has been brisk at her booth during the show.
"We love it up here," she said. "I think it's great this year."
The show continues today from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission to the displays and vendor booths is $3. Feller said some class slots also remain open for last-minute students.
