The 2024 Greater Ann Arbor Quilt Show was held on July 27 and 28. Washtenaw Community College’s Morris Lawrence atrium was alive with quilts and viewers. As shown by the viewers’ choices, the quilt styles ranged from traditional to modern and techniques included appliqué, paper piecing, hand quilting and machine quilting.
“Celebrate Our Quilts ” showcases our members’ creativity to the public by featuring more than 200 quilted works and special exhibits.
See the show at the Morris Lawrence Building on the Washtenaw Community College campus in Ann Arbor.
Visit vendors, enter for a chance to win door prizes, and shop at the GAAQG Gift Shop.
The GAAQG Gift Shop is stocked with member-made items. Shop for holiday gifts in July!
Our popular quilt sale is also back, with all proceeds supporting SafeHouse Center.
Our biennial show is non-juried, celebrating skills ranging from beginner through expert.
We invite the public to vote for their favorite quilts. “Viewers Choice” ribbons are announced at the end of the show and posted on our website.
More than 1300 visitors attended our 17th biennial 2022 quilt show.
Over many years, a popular feature of our GAAQG Quilt Shows has been the Special Exhibits. These have ranged from a solo exhibit by Sue Nickels to multiple themed exhibitions sponsored by GAAQG Small Groups.
Because of the large size of our guild (around 250 members), there are several Small Groups of 5 to 25+ members, formed either by a particular quilting interest or within a specific geographic area.
This year we combine both a solo exhibit by guild member and nationally known textile artist Debbie Grifka, with challenges sponsored by five of our Small Groups. We hope you will enjoy the variety of exhibits by our creative members!
Sponsored by the Book Club Small Group
Each entry must have a book theme, either including a book in the design or is an actual book. Any size, shape from a pincushion to a triptych, is acceptable so long as it’s three layers sewn together, i.e., an actual quilt.
Sponsored by Creative Seasons Small Group
Members were challenged to design original art quilts that in some way signified ‘hand crafted’ pieces in their personal styles. Some incorporated their own hands or those of family or friends, others interpreted the challenge in creative ways.
By Debbie Grifka
A series of twelve art quilts, each 30″ square. The titles range from “Focus” and “On Solid Ground” to “Frustrated” and “Dry Spell.”
Sponsored by Knot Even Quilters Small Group
Ann Stamm Merrell was a fiber artist who fought a hard battle against cancer and came to regard ‘bilious green’ as a symbol of her fight. We challenged ourselves to use some of that color in our final pieces by selecting bits and pieces from the leftovers of her textile art. This challenge is a bridge to honor those who built textile art before us and gave us a base upon which we will continue to grow our art.
Sponsored by 8-Mile Radius Small Group
Members exchanged fabrics that we considered “Ugly.” Of course, like “Beauty,” “Ugly” lies in the eye of the beholder. We then had to make a quilt using those fabrics. The resulting quilts were very different.
Sponsored by Design Conversations Small Group
This ‘challenge’ is well-known by a variety of names. The first member designs an art quilt measuring 18” x 30” and secretly passes it on to the next person. They identify one or more aspects (colors, objects, theme, etc.) that inspire their own design within the same size parameters, either vertical or horizontal. Then they secretly pass their quilt on to the next member. The final group results are surprising
