Quilt For Kids

The twenty-fourth annual Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza, September 14-17 was more “fun” than ever. Show-goers, workshop students, vendors, and the competition entrants enjoyed an outstanding event.

Mancuso Show Management proudly supports Quilts for Kids, Inc., a volunteer based charity, that for over 15 years has been comforting children in need with the gift of beautiful handmade patchwork quilts. The charity had a booth at the Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza where visitors signed up as volunteers, made donations and purchased fabric and quilt kits – all proceeds went towards the production of the children’s quilts.

Along with Quilts for Kids, Inc. Founding President, Linda Arye, many individuals and businesses support the charity’s cause. In 2016, about 200,000 quilts were distributed worldwide.  Today, the charity has 98 chapters throughout North America and the Bahamas. For more information on how to donate, join a chapter or volunteer, go to www.quiltsforkids.org or call 215-295-5484.

Visit the Quilts for Kids booth at the upcoming Quilt & Sewing Fest of New Jersey, April 26-29, 2018 and learn how you can help make these children’s arduous journeys a little brighter, a littler snugglier, a little happier. Pictured below, happy recipient of a quilt from QFK.

Major Annual Sponsor Brother/Byrne Sewing Connection; Major Sponsors Baby Lock/Steve’s Sewing, Vacuum & Quilting, BERNINA/Hayes Sewing Machine Company, Janome/Elna/Pocono Sew& Vac; and Silver Sponsors Handi Quilter and Innova generously sponsored the 2017 Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza.

PNQE will return to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, Oaks/Valley Forge, PA September 13-16, 2018. Stay tuned to quiltfest.com to learn our plans for the twenty-fifth anniversary celebration of this outstanding Quilt Extravaganza.

Special Exhibits

The twenty-fourth annual Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza held September 14-17, 2017 was more “Special” than ever. Show-goers enjoyed an outstanding array of over 1200 (yes, twelve hundred!) quilts and works of textile and wearable art on display in 28 special exhibits during the event.

The scope of the exhibits ranged from the international entries of the 2017 World Quilt Competition: On Tour to Quilts for Kids to Modern Quilts from My Grandmothers. Guilds from New Jersey and Pennsylvania traveled to the show to hang their recent works. Challenges, including Fly Me to the Moon, Inspired by the Nationals Parks and The Lion King Cherrywood Challenge, made for plenty of eye candy! Plus, there were more … much more!

Pictured below are quilts by Becky Paneck, Jackie Berry and Karon Huggler from Rhapsody in Blue presented by Artrageous (Missouri):

Fly Me to the Moon included many ‘out of this world’ quilts including these of astronaut Ed White, a Moondance and an Apollo spacecraft on the launch pad at the moment of take-off.

And there were even more exhibits, too numerous to mention, of great quilting and textile art from across the U.S. and the world.

Major Annual Sponsor Brother/Byrne Sewing Connection; Major Sponsors Baby Lock/Steve’s Sewing, Vacuum & Quilting, BERNINA/Hayes Sewing Machine Company, Janome/Elna/Pocono Sew & Vac; and Silver Sponsors Handi Quilter and Innova generously sponsored the 2017 Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza.

PNQE will return to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, Oaks/Valley Forge, PA September 13-16, 2018. Stay tuned to quiltfest.com to learn our plans for the twenty-fifth anniversary celebration of this outstanding Quilt Extravaganza!

The Merchants Mall

The twenty-fourth annual Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza held September 14-17, 2017 was more about “Shopping ‘til you drop” than ever. Anyone who has ever attended the Extrav will attest to the vast variety of merchandise that is offered each year by the quality companies in the Merchants Mall.
PNQE 2017 featured an extravagant Merchants Mall, filled to the brim with vendors who offered everything quilters, textile artists and needle crafters needed to quench their creative thirsts – quilting supplies, fabric,  books, sewing related craft items, kits, sewing machines, notions, clothing, embroidery, accessories and so much more! Everything needed to make the beautiful quilts and works of textile art on exhibit was available in PNQE’s Merchants Mall.

Major Annual Sponsor Brother/Byrne Sewing Connection; Major Sponsors Baby Lock/Steve’s Sewing, Vacuum & Quilting, BERNINA/Hayes Sewing Machine Company, Janome/Elna/Pocono Sew & Vac; and Silver Sponsors Handi Quilter and Innova generously sponsored the 2017 Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza.

PNQE will return to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, Oaks/Valley Forge, PA September 13-16, 2018. Stay tuned to quiltfest.com to learn our plans for the twenty-fifth anniversary celebration of this outstanding Quilt Extravaganza!

Workshops & Lectures

The twenty-fourth annual Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza held September 14-17, 2017 was more “Enlightening” than ever for the many eager students who attended the Extrav’s classes and lectures.

PNQE’s instructors related that their workshops were filled with enthusiastic, ready-to-learn students. From hand quilting with Dierdra McElroy, to foundation piecing with Pepper Cory (workshop sample pictured below), to longarm quilting with Lisa Calle students learned new skills or improved on ones they already had. We saw many happy students every afternoon as classes ended – and more than a few were happy to share their class projects with us on their ways home.

Lectures at PNQE included a wonderful history lesson from Sarah Bond and a “Humorous Look in the Mirror” by David Sirota. Sarah related stories about her quilting ancestors – back to 1828! David’s lecture was interactive with a sharing of quilters’ quirks, passions and obsessions. Pictured are two of the quilts Sarah shared in her lecture:

Major Annual Sponsor Brother/Byrne Sewing Connection; Major Sponsors Baby Lock/Steve’s Sewing, Vacuum & Quilting, BERNINA/Hayes Sewing Machine Company, Janome/Elna/Pocono Sew & Vac; and Silver Sponsors Handi Quilter and Innova generously sponsored the 2017 Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza.

PNQE will return to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, Oaks/Valley Forge, PA September 13-16, 2018. Stay tuned to quiltfest.com to learn our plans for the twenty-fifth anniversary celebration of this outstanding Quilt Extravaganza!

Fashion Returned to PNQE!

The twenty-fourth annual Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza held September 14-17, 2017 was more “Fashionable” than ever. Show-goers were thrilled to learn that fashion had returned to PNQE for 2017 in the form of two fashion shows!

Vickie Clontz, vendor, instructor & fashion show moderator presented a show of her own fashion creations, Celebrating Art & Fashion on PNQE’s opening day. Pictured below is one of Vickie’s beautiful and colorful creations just before our model walked the PNQE Runway:
Another of Vickie’s beautiful creations being admired by Julian, the youngest model who walked the PNQE runway.

Then, on Saturday Vickie took to the moderator podium again to moderate the 2^nd annual Sew Batik Challenge Fashion Show. All garments in the Challenge included the SewBatik challenge fabric, Paisley Esprit – Midnight Sand Storm. Kristin Vierra’s garment, Mehndi Magic, pictured below was the Challenge’s big winner taking both the Judge’s Choice and People’s Choice prizes:

PNQE’s Sew Batik Challenge models waiting their turn on the runway:

Major Annual Sponsor Brother/Byrne Sewing Connection; Major Sponsors Baby Lock/Steve’s Sewing, Vacuum & Quilting, BERNINA/Hayes Sewing Machine Company, Janome/Elna/Pocono Sew & Vac; and Silver Sponsors Handi Quilter and Innova generously sponsored the 2017 Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza.

PNQE will return to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, Oaks/Valley Forge, PA September 13-16, 2018. Stay tuned to quiltfest.com to learn our plans for the twenty-fifth anniversary celebration of this outstanding Quilt Extravaganza!

Not Fade Away – Quilt Competition

The twenty-fourth annual Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza held September 14-17, 2017 was more “Extravagant” than ever. Show-goers, workshop students, vendors, and the competition entrants enjoyed an outstanding event.

Competition entrants vied for awards and prizes. With an incredible breath of outstanding entries, the judges had a difficult time selecting the winners. However, Frieda Anderson, Bobbie Bergquist, Pepper Cory, Paula Golden, and Dierdra McElroy were up to the task. We think you’ll agree that their selections were on target! See all the winners here.

Of course, the best of show winner is always the big news on opening day. This year, for the first time, a Mid-Century Mod entry took the top prize in the competition themed Not Fade Away. Atomic Synergy by Deborah Levy is pictured:
Deborah told quiltfest, “Atomic Synergy is my first foray into the modern quilting movement. This original design of wonky pieced blocks and applique blends my love of chemistry and the mid-century modern era. The simplicity of the design and all that negative space to play with made this an enjoyable process.”

Respite by Sandy Curran was The BERNINA 1^st Runner-Up Best of Show:
Respite is a departure from the majority of Sandy’s quilts. She told us, “After a wonderful workshop, I took a break from the realistic, representational quilts I usually do to just play with color and shape.  I loved it so much, I did it three times!”

Major Annual Sponsor Brother/Byrne Sewing Connection; Major Sponsors Baby Lock/Steve’s Sewing, Vacuum & Quilting, BERNINA/Hayes Sewing Machine Company, Janome/Elna/Pocono Sew & Vac; and Silver Sponsors Handi Quilter and Innova generously sponsored the 2017 Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza.

PNQE will return to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, Oaks/Valley Forge, PA September 13-16, 2018. Stay tuned to quiltfest.com to learn our plans for the twenty-fifth anniversary celebration of this outstanding Quilt Extravaganza!