If you go
› What: American Quilter’s Society QuiltWeek.› When: 9 a.m.-6 p.m. today-Friday, Sept. 15-16; 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17.› Where: Chattanooga Convention Center, 1150 Carter St.› Admission: Single-day tickets $11 AQS members, $14 nonmembers; multiday pass $20 members, $35 nonmembers.› Website: www.americanquilter.com.
Quilt appraisals
AQS-certified quilt appraisers will appraise new or antique quilts for insurance replacement or fair market values. There is a $50 appraisal fee per quilt, payable at the AQS Information Center. Walk-in appraisals will be available from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today and Friday, Sept. 15-16.
The Cherrywood Challenge special exhibit at QuiltWeek features the results of quilters tasked with using Broadway's "The Lion King" as inspiration.
"Bouquet Royale," an 80- by 80-inch quilt by Margaret Solomon Gunn of Gorham, Maine, was chosen as Best in Show at Chattanooga QuiltWeek 2015. According to Gunn's website, www.mainelyquiltsoflove.com, the quilt is modeled after the Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses design but scaled smaller. It represents more than 800 hours of work. Below is a detail shot of the winning quilt.More than 12,000 visitors are expected at QuiltWeek in the Chattanooga Convention Center today through Saturday, Sept. 15-17, according to the American Quilter's Society website.
QuiltWeek, which is sponsored by the American Quilter's Society, covers all things quilt-related in one convenient location. This weekend's 77 vendors will display the latest in fabrics and quilting tools, everything from books and Bernina sewing machines to thimbles and threads. There also will be quilt contests, quilt displays, classes, lectures and demonstrations.
Fifteen quilting experts from across the country are leading classes at Chattanooga QuiltWeek, which began Wednesday. Among them are Bernina ambassador Frieda Anderson, who hand-dyes her fabric and has been quilting for more than 40 years; Karen Combs, known for her 3-D quilts; author and teacher Nancy Mahoney, who has been featured in more than 175 national and international quilt magazines; and Paula Nadelstern, whose work was chosen for "The 20th Century's 100 Best American Quilts."
Many quilters come to QuiltWeek to shop the vendor booths. Others want to learn from the celebrity instructors. Visitors are advised that special event/class/lecture tickets are sold separately from admission tickets; event tickets do not include show admission. Purchase admission tickets at the admission counter; special event/class tickets at AQS Information Center.
American Quilter's Society is the biggest quilting membership organization in the world. It encompasses all ages, design styles and methods of quilting.
AQS sponsors QuiltWeek events in multiple cities across the country each year. This is the last year of a three-year run in Chattanooga.
Special exhibits
* SAQA: People and Portraits: Celebrates the expressiveness of the human face, focusing on both emotional states and the ways in which people interact. The 40 quilts represent two each from the 20 artists featured in the companion book "Art Quilt Portfolio: People and Portraits."
* AQS Authors Showcase: The displays feature the latest books from well-known authors, along with interactive opportunities as the quilters offer quilts, projects and demonstrations.
* Presidential & Patriotic Collection of Sue Reich: The quilter and collector shows how quilt history has honored the U.S. presidents and patriotic events.
* Patriotic and Presidential Quilts: The featured display is a hand-pieced and hand-quilted Mariner's Compass Quilt, circa 1850, done in red, white and blue.
* World Painters Challenge: This display compares the techniques and styles among quilters of three nations: Japan, France and the United States. Thirty quilters in each nation were tasked with designing and executing a piece of fiber art that represented either the work or the style of one of 30 world-famous painters.
* Build a Barn: Julie Sefton's passion for barns inspired a quilt version of "See Rock City" and a book about her process. From this book sprang the Secret Society of Barn Builders, an international group of quilters who test the process by creating their own original free-pieced barns.
* New Quilts From an Old Favorite: New York Beauty: From the National Quilt Museum comes this selection of 18 finalist and award-winning quilts by quiltmakers who responded to a challenge to create works from the classic New York Beauty block pattern. Their creations modified those block designs in imaginative ways.
* Simple Quilts - Complex Fabric: This premiere exhibit, based on a new book, "Fabricadabra," by Paula Nadelstern, promotes the idea that simple quilt patterns can be transformed into visual spectacles by using charismastic prints.
* Jacobean Appliqué: Patricia Campbell Quilts: From the National Quilt Museum comes this collection from a quilt artist known for her nontraditional style of patterns and use of bold colors. A fan of the fantasy botanicals of the Jacobean style crewel embroidery designs, Campbell adapted the graceful curves and stylized leaves to her appliqué designs.
* Cherrywood Challenge: The Lion King: Cherrywood Fabrics and the Disney Theater Group challenged quiltmakers to be inspired by the artistry, colors and choreography of the award-winning Broadway musical "The Lion King" to create a 20- by 20-inch textile.
SAQA: People and Portraits, one of the special exhibits during QuiltWeek, will show various ways quilters convey facial expressions in their works.QuiltWeek Chattanooga schedule
Today, Sept. 15
8:30-11:30 a.m.
* Contemporary String Quilts, Lynn Harris
* EQ7 Quilt Layers and Layouts, Barb Vlack
* Free-Motion Fearless Fun, Sandy Fitzpatrick
* Trip Around the World Revisited, Paula Nadelstern
8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.
* Chevron Blocks, Diane Califano
* Divide and Design, Get It Done, Lisa Calle
* Flooded With Color, Frieda Anderson
* Ice Crystals - 3D Quilt, Karen Combs
10-11 a.m.
* Treasures From the '30s, Nancy Mahoney
Noon-1 p.m.
* Using the Full Spectrum of Color in Quilts, Rebecca Bryan
1-4 p.m.
* 40 Tips for Using EQ7, Barb Vlack
* Detangling Tangled Angles, Paula Nadelstern
* Granny's Stars, Nancy Mahoney
* Tried and True: Techniques for Beautiful Hand Appliqué, Mary Sorensen
2-3 p.m.
* Liberated Quilting, Lynn Harris
7-8:30 p.m.
* An Evening With Meg Cox: Quilt Journalist Tells All!, Meg Cox
Friday, Sept. 16
8:30-11:30 a.m.
* Appliqué With a Twist, Mary Sorensen
* Daffodils - Raw-Edge Fused Wallhanging, Frieda Anderson
* Gettin' in the Groove, Lisa Calle
* Transparency, Karen Combs
8:30 a.m.-4 p.m.
* Introduction to Design with EQ7, Barb Vlack
* Liberated Log Cabin, Lynn Harris
* Round About - Strip Piecing, Nancy Mahoney
* Sunstars: A Kaleidoscope Class, Paula Nadelstern
10-11 a.m.
* 400 Years of Quilts at the Click of a Mouse, Meg Clark
Noon-1 p.m.
* Marking Your Quilt Top, Diane Califano
1-4 p.m.
* Cardinal - Raw-Edge Fused Wallhanging, Frieda Anderson
* Perfect Plumes, Lisa Calle
* Tumbling Blocks Fun, Karen Combs
* Wavelength, Rebecca Bryan
2-3 p.m.
* What Makes a Great Quilt?, Mary Sorensen
7-8:30 p.m.
* Paula Nadelstern Presents: The Kaleidoscope as Design Inspiration
Saturday, Sept. 17
8:30-11:30 a.m.
* Advanced Drawing of Pieced Blocks in EQ7, Barb Vlack
* Blue Daisies - Raw-Edge Fused Wallhanging, Frieda Anderson
* Building Blocks of Quilting, Diane Califano
* Fabracadabra Ornament, Paula Nadelstern
* Flame - Pieced Diamonds, Rebecca Bryan
* Liberated Stars, Lynn Harris
* Pebbles, Echoes, Crosshatches Oh My, Lisa Calle
* Summer Heat - Paper Piecing, Nancy Mahone
Source: AQS QuiltWeek - Chattanooga