The Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival presented February 23-26, 2017 in Hampton, Virginia offers an incredible view into quilting and the textile arts. The quilt and wearable art competitions, and special exhibits provide a colorful vista of fabric and thread. In addition, the renowned faculty presenting workshops at the show can open the doors to a whole new world of quilting with their innovative designs and techniques. M-AQF is excited to announce that well-known quilting artist and instructor Jamie Wallen will present six longarm workshops during the festival. Plus, the The Virginia Longarm Network and Innova will be providing the longarm quilting machines for these festival workshops and have a vendor booth in the show’s Merchants Mall!

After a longarm purchase in the late nineties, Jamie began to develop his unique style of quilting and soon was sharing and teaching his style to others. Jamie travels and teaches workshops internationally as well as produces educational materials for the quilting community through his company, Quilters Apothecary. In addition, in 2013, Jamie was the recipient of the 2012 Machine Quilting Teacher of the Year honor. As his students learn in his workshops, teaching is Jamie’s passion.

Jamie’s Thursday workshops are Mystical Feathers in the morning (8am – 12 pm) and Mystical Rulers in the 1pm – 5 pm afternoon session. In the Feathers workshop, you will learn and apply a myriad of new and classic feather styles. In the Rulers class, Jamie will show students how to put these handy tools to work and save time.

Friday’s workshops are Mystical Florals, Leaves and Vines in the morning followed by Mystical Shapes in the afternoon. The Florals class covers florals, leaves, and vine variations that will make your quilts take root in creativity. The afternoon Shapes workshop will show students how to breathe new life into their surface quilting with a new twist on the common shapes found on quilts along with taking it to the next level with paisleys, orbs, and curved cross hatching.

Mystical Grids and ThreadFusion are Saturday’s workshops. The Grids session covers exciting new designs with the focus on Jamie’s incredible Point-to-Point “Mystical Grid Designs.” ThreadFusion students should come prepared to learn a mouth-watering array of techniques and designs that will make your projects sing.

M-AQF is excited to provide these enlightening and instructive  longarm workshops for its registrants. Be sure to sign up early as spaces in these workshops are going to fill quickly!

Founding Sponsor BERNINA/Nancy’s Calico Patch; Major Annual Sponsor Brother/Tidewater Sew-Vac; Major Sponsors Baby Lock/All Brands, Elna/The Quilters Studio, Janome/ Tidewater Sew-Vac, and Pfaff/Bella Fabrics; Silver Sponsors ABM International / Innova and Handi Quilter; and Special Vendor Competition Sponsor IntelliQuilter  generously sponsor the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival.

The Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival Welcomes Pepper Cory
Quilt Maker – Teacher – Author

The world of quilting consists of many talented artists, amazing instructors and those who have a love for fiber art. The twenty-eighth annual Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival is proud to return February 23-26, 2017, to the Hampton Roads Convention Center with an incredible line-up of instructors offering workshops for all skill levels. Included on the Festival’s 2017 faculty is well-known instructor and quilter Pepper Cory.

Pepper Cory has been a quilt-maker since 1972 when she saw an antique quilt at a rummage sale, purchased it for $1.00, and on the way home fell in love! From that moment, Pepper wanted to learn to make quilts and so she sought out quilt-makers who could teach her the art. While a college student, she joined a group of elderly women who over time patiently taught her the art. Since then, Pepper has been collecting quilts, making quilts, writing books about quilts, designing needlework tools, quilting stencils and fabric, and sharing her love of quilting with others by teaching and lecturing.

Pepper both machine and hand pieces, but prefers hand quilting for her own work. Handling a needle gives her, in her own words, “A kind of high.” And, while she collects antique quilts, she creates contemporary quilts with all sorts of fabrics.

Pepper, who is known for her eclectic use of color and her personalized one-on-one approach to teaching, shares her enthusiasm for quilting by teaching and lecturing throughout the United States as well as internationally. A longtime instructor, Pepper brings a sense of humor and confidence to her classes.

Pepper is presenting three full day workshops at the 2017 Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival:

– The Blackjack Basket Quilt: A New Take on a Traditional Southern Scrap Quilt
– The Flower Market Quilt – a Contemporary Four-Patch Posey
– Yokoso (welcome) to Sashiko

For complete details, please click here.

Pepper is also lecturing on Friday, February 24 at 6:00 pm – a great pre-dinner appetizer! Pepper will talk about the strange and wonderful fabrics that inspire her quilts. Don’t miss The Fabric Made Me Do It!

So far, Pepper has written seven popular books. She is also a fabric designer and has designed numerous lines of stencils for marking quilts. Her shot cottons are called “solids with spice.” Pepper also writes two blogs. Pepper at the Quilt Studio (musings about creativity and quilting with the occasional recipe thrown in) and Quilt Flap (antique quilts from her collection).

What does Pepper do when she’s not quilting? She reads history and poetry, goes to the gym, collects odd things like anodized aluminum ware from the 1950s, and walks on the beach picking up shells. In 1996, she moved to North Carolina. “We love the beauty of our coastal home and share our house with two lucky cats that double as doorstops, bookends, and quilt testers.”

M-AQF is excited to have Pepper Cory on its faculty! Be sure to sign up early as seats in these workshops are going to fill quickly!

Founding Sponsor BERNINA/Nancy’s Calico Patch; Major Annual Sponsor Brother/Tidewater Sew-Vac; Major Sponsors Baby Lock/All Brands, Elna/The Quilters Studio, Janome/ Tidewater Sew-Vac, and Pfaff/Bella Fabrics; Silver Sponsors ABM International / Innova and Handi Quilter; and Special Vendor Competition Sponsor IntelliQuilter  generously sponsor the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival.

From Atlantic to Pacific the Quilting is Terrific
at the 2017 Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival XXVIII

Mancuso Show Management is happy to announce that the 2017 Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival’s competitions will award over $19,000 in awards and prizes to quilt and wearable art entrants. The Festival, to be held February 23 – 26, 2017 at the Hampton Roads Convention Center in Hampton, Virginia, welcomes its always unique and magnificent collection of quilt, wearable and textile arts.

M-AQF’s 2017 Quilt Competition theme, From Atlantic to Pacific, is a reflection of how M-AQF has progressed leaps and bounds over its 28 years of existence. Entrants are asked to explain how where they are from, whether it be the Atlantic or Pacific coast or anywhere in between, affects their quilting. Modern quilting, which will again have a category in the competition, has made its mark in today’s quilting world. Entrants are asked to draw inspiration from the Mid-Century Mod period of mid-20th century design and reflect their own exposures or from the work of artists such as Joan Miro, Piet Mondrian, Victor Vasarely, and Frank Stella. The quilt entries are sure to be a beautiful, heartwarming and inspiring display! Pictured:  Silk Road Sampler by Melissa Sobotka, MAQF Best of Show 2016 – Yes, this REALLY is a quilt!

The accepted quilt entries compete in the Traditional, Innovative, and Modern Categories and Wall Quilt Competition with prizes totaling more than $16,500. The winning works of the quilt competition will travel to The Quilt & Sewing Fest of New Jersey in Somerset, March 2-5, so that another region’s quilt artists can get an up-close look at these stunning pieces of art.

Prepared to be dazzled with the exceptional entries in the Wearable Art Competition that will also be on display at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival. The handiwork and detail put into these amazing vests, jackets, coats and full ensembles will astound! The best from among these works will be awarded over $2,800 in prizes. You won’t want to miss these beautiful garments created with creativity, talent and devotion to textile art!

Event attendees can even be part of the judging by voting for their favorite quilt and wearable art entry to win the prestigious Viewers Choice Awards!

Over 500 magnificent quilts and garments on exhibit, workshops and lectures taught by an international faculty and a fabulous Merchants Mall – it’s all waiting for you at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival.

Founding Sponsor BERNINA/Nancy’s Calico Patch; Major Annual Sponsor Brother/Tidewater Sew-Vac; Major Sponsors Baby Lock/All Brands, Elna/The Quilters Studio, Janome/ Tidewater Sew-Vac, and Pfaff/Bella Fabrics; Silver Sponsors ABM International / Innova and Handi Quilter; and Special Vendor Competition Sponsor IntelliQuilter  generously sponsor the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival.

The Largest Quilt Festival on the Eastern Seaboard Celebrating 28 Years!
February 23 – 26, 2017
Hampton Roads Convention Center, Hampton, Virginia

Mancuso Show Management announces the always spectacular Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival at the Hampton Roads Convention Center, February 23 – 26, 2017. Not only does this incredible event feature astounding works of quilting art, it also offers a wide array of workshops presented by world-renowned instructors along with a fabulous Merchants Mall for plenty of shopping. The Festival’s centerpiece, however, will again be its outstanding collection of over 500 quilts and works of wearable and textile art on display. In addition to the competition entries, there will be special exhibitions of quilts and textile art on display. This ever-popular quilting arts event is one not to be missed! “The Hampton Roads Convention Center, which hosts this fabulous event, is an ideal venue for a quilt festival of this magnitude,” states David Mancuso, President of Mancuso Show Management. He adds, “The exhibition space along with the break-out rooms for workshops and the nearby official event hotels make this a win-win situation for Show Management and the City of Hampton.” This year’s Quilt Competition themed “From Atlantic to Pacific” gives entrants an opportunity to tell show-goers about how where they live or grew up affects their quilting! In addition, 2017 will feature a Modern Quilt Category in the quilt competition titled “Mid-Century Mod.” Also, while attending the event, be sure to explore the Wearable Art Competition where you will find unique full ensembles, vest, jacket & coat entries on display. The Quilt and Wearable Art Competitions will feature magnificent works by some of the nation’s finest quilt and fiber artists. Take part in judging by casting your vote for the Quilt and Wearable Art Viewer’s Choice Awards. From award-winning quilters to those who would like to sew their first stitch, everyone will find workshops and lectures that will introduce them to the latest innovations in the quilting world. This year a multitude of workshops and lectures will be offered by a stellar line-up of instructors teaching all levels. In addition, you also will not want to miss the “best time you’ll ever have” at a quilt festival at the Game Zone: Quilters’ Strip Poker/Quilt-O Combo, held on Friday evening, February 24. For those who are interested in pre-registering for workshops, lectures and activities at the festival or for additional information, complete show information is available here, Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival. Everything needed to make the beautiful quilts and works of textile art on exhibit is available in MAQF’s Merchants Mall. The vendors, occupying over 250 booths, will be offering the best in machines, fabrics, notions, wearable art, embroidery and everything for the quilter, textile artist and home sewer. Founding Sponsor BERNINA/Nancy’s Calico Patch; Major Annual Sponsor Brother/Tidewater Sew-Vac; Major Sponsors Baby Lock/All Brands, Elna/The Quilters Studio, Janome/ Tidewater Sew-Vac, and Pfaff/Bella Fabrics; Silver Sponsors ABM International / Innova and Handi Quilter; and Special Vendor Competition Sponsor IntelliQuilter  generously sponsor the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival.