Original Sewing & Quilt Expo Quilt Contest

Quilt Contest

Congratulations to all our winners and finalists! If you can't join us in Lebanon, TN, you can still see a selection of these fine works as part of the 2025 OSQE Quilt Contest traveling display at one of our upcoming shows in 2026. Stay tuned for Quilt Contest entry details for next year! 

 

Quiltmakers, this is your chance to shine! Highlight your best works at this juried and judged contest is open to all levels of experience – Artisans and Masters. Entrants will compete for thousands in cash prizes and awards.

 

 

How It Works

  1. Review the Contest Rules & Instructions
  2. Entry photos will be juried by the Expo team, and up to 50 finalists will be chosen to compete for ribbons and prize money. Finalists will be announced on this page and notified via email on August 22, 2025.
  3. Judge Mary Wolter, 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 2, 2025, 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

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.

 

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

 

Join us at the Expo in Lebanon, TN

October 2, 3 & 4 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 >>

 

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. 

 

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

Thank you to these fine companies who provide continued support.