Jill Schramm/MDN Michelle Proto, an FMCA member from California, shows the peacock-patterned quilt she donated to the quilt show at the Family Motor Coach Association convention in Minot Thursday. Many other quilts in addition to those shown will be on display in the North Dakota State Fair Center until before being given to the Prairie Quilt Guild in Minot Saturday afternoon for distribution locally.

Brightly colored quilts of various sizes and patterns went on display Thursday at the North Dakota State Fair Center in Minot, where members of the Family Motor Coach Association are hosting their summer convention.

FMCA members donated dozens of quilts that will be on display until coming down Saturday morning. That afternoon, the On the Road Quilters and Stitchers group will be handing off the quilts to the Minot Prairie Quilters Guild for donation to local organizations.

On the Road Quilters and Stitchers had collected 89 quilts from FMCA’s men and women handcrafters as of Thursday and more were expected Friday. The group aimed to collect 100 quilts in recognition of FMCA’s 100th anniversary being celebrated this year.

“We have such talent. It amazes me,” said Garnetta Mallory, organizer of the display.

The collection includes pillow cases, lap blankets and crocheted, knitted and stitched quilts. There are quilts for infants, children and adults, including a special red, white and blue knitted quilt designated for a veteran, preferably a female. There are quilts in fleece and denim, sports-themed and “Toy Story” themed, hand-stitched and machine-stitched and accessorized with bibs or burp cloths.

“There are stories about a lot of them,” Mallory said.

An angel-patterned quilt was donated after being discovered and purchased at a thrift store. Another quilt was the shared work of a quilter’s guild.

There is a quilt with hand-embroidered panels. The panels were donated for a quilt by the children of the stitcher after her death. They wanted the panels to have a purpose so they provided them for a quilt to be donated to a good cause, Mallory said.

Luanne Duchsherer with Minot Prairie Quilt Guild said the donations for local distribution come at a fortunate time. The Minot guild has been focused on making weighted blankets, recently donating more than 75 to local schools and Head Start.

“We try to at least have 100 quilts per year that we distribute in the community. We had a record year last year. We did 219,” Duchsherer said. “Doing the weighted blankets, we have not focused on our regular quilts at all so we are coming up a little short.”

She said the FMCA quilts “are filling a void for us. That’s tremendous.”

Recipient organizations haven’t been determined, but Minot Prairie Quilt Guild has worked with a number of groups in the past. Duchsherer said the guild will select the organizations based on finding the most appropriate homes for the donated items. Given the assortment of quilts, several agencies could be recipients.