The Minnesota Quilt Show – 2026

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I recently attended the Minnesota Quilt Show (MQS), an annual show in St. Cloud, and a “Partner Show” with the Nat’l Assn of Certified Quilt Judges (NACQJ). As a Candidate, I was able to assist for 2 days in the judging room, and then attend an Advanced Quilt Judge Training class, with a day at the end to see the show. It was quite a trip!

I have never been to MQS and I was blown away! There were 169 quilts judged, in 15 categories. And there must have been maybe even 3 times as many more in the entire show. The Special Exhibit area surely had more quilts than the judged area plus there were many in the unjudged area. It was a huge and very good show.

BIG NEWS!!!!!

I have to start out with my BIG NEWS – I received Best of Show, Stationary Machine Quilting!!! I. Was. Gobsmacked. I entered on a whim. I like to hang in a show if I am teaching or presenting. I wasn’t really doing either, but I decided to submit Tree of Life anyway.

I know I look goofy, but this is my fav photo in front of my winning quilt, with fellow Candidates Aimee, Caroline, Anne, and Kathy! There are 2 ribbons – a 3d place for my category, Art, and the Best of Show for quilting – stationary. I didn’t notice until people commented on my photo and thought I won BOS for the whole show. Yikes, no, just BOS for quilting. I not only got a ribbon, but a Big Fat Check forthcoming! I did not have that on my radar.

This was my first time in the Winner’s Circle, an exclusive group with only 5 quilts!

PEOPLE AND SHOPPING

There was a great selection of vendors and yes, I took advantage!

This is my haul from Wendy Richardson’s shop. Oh. My! How do you stop? So much gorgeous hand dyed vintage pieces and fabric! The fabric in front is sheer; oh what fun I will have with that! I also bought a variety of hand dyed vintage linen coasters and such. And that fabric in the back was a tablecloth hand dyed and cut into pieces. Those birds!

And two vendors I know were there in full force:

The fabulous Kyra Reps was vending and also earned a nice ribbon for her gorgeous quilt!

Who wouldn’t want to have fun dying with Cindy Lohbeck? She was selling some of her beautiful hand dyed fabric and also taught a class.

Fellow candidates Kathy and Caroline committed to doing the Cherrywood Challenge! Happy quilters!

Included above are all the Candidates in attendance, plus three Certified Judges who mentored us. Candidates literally came from all 4 corners of the lower 48 and the center.

Judging:

You cannot take detailed photos of the judging room, but I have these two from the NACQJ FB page. You get a feel for the vibe:

 

The Certified Judges were Colleen Carlson and Nancy Fuka and they were excellent! I was able to hear the discussion and comments on most of the 169 quilts.

Funny story – the A/C went out for the days we were judging. There were lots of people in the room and it got into the mid-80’s. We arrived at 8AM and went until 4-ish. It was fairly miserable.

But, my friend and fellow judge Eileen recently judged a Northern California show in an un-airconditioned tin roof building on a day that reached 105! Yeah, we were complaining about mid-80’s!

I did receive this award of merit, lol!

Many of us took the Advanced Quilt Judge Training course which was challenging and excellent. One challenge was to have one Candidate go through a mock Panel; a Panel is a one-hour session with 3 Certified Judges that decides whether you pass or not. It is definitely NOT a given that you will pass the first time.

One part of the mock Panel was to look at 3 different quilts featured on a quilt calendar and judge them, as well as rank them first, second, and third. Then you defended your choices and were peppered with probing questions. Only one of us did the panel (due to time) and Bev was excellent!

I was so taken with how supportive and giving the Certified Judges were to Candidates. Our fearless leader, Karen Kendo created an organized, thoughtful, and supportive experience. There was so much prep that went into all that was done with and for us. After Day 1 of judging, there was an evening seminar on a variety of useful subjects and skills. And the Advanced Seminar the next day had realistic mock judging, team judging, and hit on all kinds of issues that we would run into. Now I just need to get out there, find more jobs, and do it!

Once our judging and training course were over, it was time to relax. There were many great food choices in the area. Candidates Lynette and Kathy enjoyed some post show beverages, double fisted style!

THE SHOW!

I tried my best to get quilts into their correct categories. As usual, I don’t post photos of the top winners as the photos on the show’s site are usually better than mine. Also, if I’ve posted a quilt before, I don’t post again. Enjoy!

Unjudged

2026 Challenge – Silk and Stars

American Quilt Study Group, “Makers and Designers”, reinterpreting quilts of 1945 – 1979

Julia McCloud:

Julia is a friend and fellow Northern California quilter. Her work with silk and repurposed textiles is exquisite. She was the Featured Quilter and Keynote Speaker at the banquet (which I missed). This is just a small selection of her beautiful work:

Faculty quilts:

Various exhibits

NACQJ – Make it Modern

Plaids – Daphne Young

Judged:

A few observations:

• I probably know more about the quilts in this show than any other I’ve been to.
• The Panel category (might have been another name) was extraordinary. The last 3 quilts above are from that category. If you’re not familiar with this concept, a number of pre-printed panels are used and “fussy cut”, usually into hexagons, and reassembled into a brand new image. The quilts in this category were striking.
• There were so many exceptional art quilts.
• I wish I could walk you through this show and point out what you miss as you scroll by; oh what you could learn from some of the statements.
• There is so much wonderful that I can’t include in a post.
• So many of these quilts are much more beautiful than my rudimentary photography can show.
• If you can make this show, do!

I’ll be linking up:
Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday