Quiltmakers, your moment is here! Showcase your finest work in this juried and judged contest open to all skill levels — from Artisans to Masters. Compete for thousands of dollars in cash prizes and ribbons.
How It Works
- Review the Contest Rules & Instructions
- Deadline to enter is August 10, 2026
- Entry photos will be juried by the Expo team, and up to seventy-five (75) finalists will be chosen to compete for ribbons and prize money. Finalists will be announced on this page and notified on August 19, 2026.
- Judge Kathryn Zimmerman, a NACQJ Certified Quilt Judge, will select the award-winning quilts at the Expo in Lebanon, TN. Winners will be announced at Noon CT on October 1, 2026, at the Expo and on this page.
Prizes
Best of Show is awarded a Ribbon and $1,500 (Grand Prize)
Expo's Choice is awarded a Ribbon and $500
Viewers' Choice is awarded a Ribbon and $500
First Place in each division (Artisan and Master) is awarded a Ribbon and $500
All First Place winners in each category will be awarded a Ribbon
All Second Place winners in each category will be awarded a Ribbon
All Finalists receive an exclusive swag bag from Original Sewing & Quilt Expo
Judge
Kathryn Zimmerman
NACQJ Certified Quilt Judge
Kathryn Zimmerman gained her National Certification with the National Association of Certified Quilt Judges in 2022. She is a quilter, show competitor, quilt judge, teacher, and program presenter with more than 20 years of experience in the wonderful world of quilting. She has made over 60 quilts and has won awards at the national and regional level, including five Best of Show. Her quilts have been published in American Quilt Society’s Calendar and Quilt Art Engagement Book. She has judged shows and given lectures and workshops in the Southeastern United States including North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Georgia.
Kathryn states that judging quilt shows give me the opportunity to share with quilters a fair and professional critique of their artistic work. Several areas of the quilting process are evaluated based on design and overall construction. My desire in these evaluations is to affirm details that are done well as well as give inspiration and suggestions to the quilter as support to reach a higher level of creative ability.
Kathryn gives lectures on the specifics of quilt judging and trunk shows of her award-winning quilts. Many of her quilt creations contain a mix of piecing, machine applique, and embellishments. She teaches classes in several methods of machine applique, as well as techniques for achieving precision piecing.
Kathryn’s past professional career was in public school teaching and administration. She is a member of the Burnsville and Asheville, NC quilt guilds in which she has held several leadership positions, including coordinating the judging floor for the Asheville Quilt Show, one of the largest quilt shows in the south. She lives in Mars Hill with her husband Herbert and dachshund, Odie, on a 60-acre century farm where three grandchildren play and hopefully realize the need to hold on to the land of their ancestors.
Join us at the Expo in Lebanon, TN
October 1, 2 & 3 at the Farm Bureau Expo Center
Join us for workshops and classes with some of the best teachers in the industry, fabulous shopping in the exhibit hall, hundreds of quilts on display, free presentations and trunk shows, prize drawings, and more!
Expo Event Calendar >>
Previous Quilt Contests
Click here for 2024 Quilt Contest Winners and Finalists
Click here for 2023 Quilt Contest Winners and Finalists
Click here for 2022 Quilt Contest Winners and Finalists
2025 Winners
Daryl Leach's winning quilt Expansion of the Universe pictured above with NACQJ Certified Judge, Mary Wolter, OSQE Event Manager Extraordinaire, Darcy Nicholson, and their official scribe, Judy.
Judge
Mary Wolter
NACQJ Certified Quilt Judge
Mary Wolter has been quilting since 1976, making her first quilt as a teenager from instructions given in a McCall's magazine during the Bicentennial. But it wasn't until the 1990's that her hobby/obsession really took off. She attended her first national quilt show in Paducah, KY with a friend in 1996 and has since taken numerous classes over the years to refine her skills. She's won many awards in local and regional quilt shows in southeastern Wisconsin and belongs to several quilt guilds. Quality feedback from quilt show judges on her own work went a long way to motivate continuous improvement and inspired her to pursue certification as a judge after retirement from WEC Energy Group in 2021.
Mary is Treasurer of the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts in Cedarburg, WI, where she enjoys viewing each new exhibit and getting inspiration from each artist's work. She is also an avid collector of quilts from the 1930's-1960's and is a member of the American Quilt Study Group.
In between Board meetings and guild meetings Mary attends about six quilt retreats each year with a group of like-minded quilty friends, leaving behind her long-suffering but supportive husband of 43 years, Jim. Together they raised four children and now have two grandsons. She has lost all hope of ever finishing all of her UFO's (unfinished objects) or using up her extensive fabric stash, but as a certified judge she hopes to encourage and motivate quilters of all ages and skill levels for many years to come.
101 Artisan Small Traditionally Pieced Quilt
102 Artisan Small Applique' or Art Quilt
103 Artisan Large Traditionally Pieced Quilt
104 Artisan Large Applique' or Art Quilt
201 Master Traditionally Pieced Quilt
202 Master Small Applique' or Art Quilt
203 Master Large Applique' or Art Quilt
NACQJ Award of Merit | Viewers' Choice | Expo's Choice
2025 Original Sewing & Quilt Expo Quilt Contest Finalists
101 Artisan Small Traditionally Pieced Quilts
Midnight In The Jungle
Ellen Koenig
Quilted by John C. Crane
Christmas Glow
Shelley Jungen
102 Artisan Small Applique' or Art Quilt
Galileo
Amanda Manno
Say Ah
Susie Cobbs
Exploring The Cosmos: Space Junk
Nancy Powell
Can You Hear Me Now?
Kristin Driscoll
My Hardest Goodbye
Paula Paradis
Princess Feather
Shirley Kasprzyk
Quilted by Andrew Schwarz
Anything But Broken
Jennifer Carr
Thread Ready
Susie Cobbs
103 Artisan Large Traditionally Pieced Quilt
Burst Of Blue
Stacy DeWolf
Jewelled Dimensions
Kathy Mott
Gather ‘Round
Ann Pederson
Quilted by Connie Rodman
American Pinwheels
Tylee Tidmore
To Calm The Mind
Joy Brown
Quilted by Lebanon Vacuum & Sewing Center
Butterfly Flight
Joseph Feike
Tarnished Windmill
Lisa Storm
Quilted by Dewey Godwin
Rhon
Rhonda Ritchie
Sunset On The Gulf
Karla Hromyak
Only At The Fair
Kathleen Peel
Creating Memories
Glynda Hylton
104 Artisan Large Applique' or Art Quilt
Mola Inspiration
Lauren Bosse
Quilted by Stitches Quilt Shop
Common Bride
Sharon Berger
Off To The Quilt Show
Joanne Lazarz
“From Sea To Shining Sea”
Linda Stover
Quilted by Amanda Randolph
201 Master Traditionally Pieced Quilt
Southern Spin
Denniele Bohannon
Quilted by Becky Collis
Direction Unknown
Toni Oyler
Quilted by Bonnie Sloan
202 Master Small Applique' or Art Quilt
Passion Flower
Tonya Littmann
Quilted by Julia Quiltoff
OZ
Sandra Gard
Whispering Willow Bayou
Cindy Baker
203 Master Large Applique' or Art Quilt
Sofie’s August Morning
Lynne S. Hartman
Storm The Unyielding Bovine
Sandra Gard
Crab Cakes
Dorene Joyce
Quilted by Jackie Lehto
Susan’s Flower
Sandy Curran
2024 Nipped In The Bud
Robyn Gragg