Playing Favorites | Quilt Alliance

Playing Favorites, the 10th Annual Quilt Alliance Contest, Exhibition & Auction

Thank you!

We would like to thank all of the artists who donated quilts, to the winning bidders who purchased them (and those who tried), and to our sponsors, who help make our annual contest possible. You helped raise $8,593 to support the Quilt Alliance mission!

Stay tuned; information about the 2017 Quilt Alliance contest will be posted here in January.

About the 2016 Contest

The Quilt Alliance presents a contest, exhibition and auction of small wall quilts every year. This key fundraiser supports our mission of documenting, preserving and sharing the history of quilts and their makers, and is an important opportunity to showcase and record the work of quilters in the U.S. and all over the world.Thank you to all of the artists who entered and donated a quilt (or quilts!) to the 10th annual Quilt Alliance contest! View a gallery of all the quilts.

Our 2016 contest was for all quilters—we encouraged everyone who makes quilts to enter regardless of their style (traditional, modern, art) or technique (longarm, hand quilting, applique, pieced…)—all are welcomed and valued! This year’s theme is “Playing Favorites” and we encouraged entrants to work deep inside their comfort zone, their happy place, and we presented our resources to give you extra inspiration.

The rules were simple: make a 16” by 16” wall quilt showcasing your very favorite pattern or technique. Whether it’s double wedding ring or hexies, crazy quilting, textile art or modern, make your quilt about whatever you love most in quilting right now. We’re interested in documenting the state of quilting in 2016—including your favorites!

Winners

Judges Awards (Given by Marianne Fons, Mark Lipinski, and Paula Nadelstern):

Handi Quilter Grand Prize: Margaret Cibulsky
Judge’s Choice (Marianne Fons): Amy Munson
Judge’s Choice (Mark Lipinski): Sheri Cifaldi-Morrill
Judge’s Choice (Paula Nadelstern): Mary Kay Davis

Members’ Choice:

First place: Nancy Brown
Second Place: Betsy Vinegrad
Third Place: María González Rico

Honorable Mention (Members’ Choice):

Margaret Cibulsky
Michelle Banton
Pauline Salzman
Sheri Cifaldi-Morrill
Michael Michalski
Karen Grover
Sondra Millard
Maria Cousins
Katherine Dossman
Sandi Goldman

Prizes and Sponsors

The Alliance is proud to announce that professional judges selected the Handi Quilter Grand Prize, this year going to Margaret Cibulsky of Port Washington, NY, for her piece, “My Garden.” Cibulsky will receive her choice of either a HQ Sweet Sixteen sit-down longarm machine package or a HQ Simply Sixteen and Little Foot package from Handi Quilter, Inc.

First, Second and Third Member’s Choice, and Honorable Mention prizes were selected by Alliance members via online voting.

Additional contest prizes were contributed by these generous sponsors:

Moda Fabrics, Aurifil, EZ Quilting, Simplicity Creative Group, and StoryPatches. Our venue sponsors are Original Sewing & Quilt Expo, The City Quilter and Handi Quilter, Inc.

Please note: Past Quilt Alliance Contest Grand Prize Winners are ineligible for the Grand Prize on any given contest year. Employees, dealers or retail representatives of contest sponsors, as well as Quilt Alliance staff, board members and advisory council members are ineligible to win any and all Quilt Alliance contest prizes.

Moda Prize for Quilt Guilds

A special prize goes to the Asheville Quilt Guild, who had the most members to enter an individual quilt for this contest. All entrants from the AQG will receive a thank you gift from Moda Fabrics. Nice job!

Auction and Exhibitions

As in previous years, the contest quilts will tour the country to various quilt shows like Original Sewing & Quilt Expo, corporate exhibition spaces like the one at Handi Quilter, Inc., and events like Quilters Take Manhattan, before being auctioned off to benefit the Quilt Alliance. An exhibition schedule will be shared here soon. All quilts will be labeled using StoryPatches, which include a QR code to link the quilt to its Quilt Index record.