A stitch in time

Colored+quilts+are+displayed+during+the+Palouse+Patchers+Quilt+Show%2C+April+14%2C+2012.

Colored quilts are displayed during the Palouse Patchers Quilt Show, April 14, 2012.

Quilt lovers from across the Palouse will convene this weekend at the Latah County Fairgrounds to share ideas, stories and adventures in quilting.

The “Cut to the Chase” Quilt Show is an annual event coordinated by the Palouse Patchers, a group comprised mostly of women who gather monthly in Moscow.

The group’s vice president, Debbie Goetz, said members range from young beginners to veteran quilters in their late 80s. Goetz said all members are highly talented.

“They’re a creative group of people joined together out of the love for quilting,” said Julie Trail, the president of the organization.

The quilt show will feature a raffle for a prize quilt sewn in a traditional style, blue and white with a flying geese pattern. The quilt was constructed with the help of multiple members in Palouse Patchers.

“Each year we make a raffle quilt, and the title of that one is Blue Goose Chase,” Trail said. “And in quilting you end up cutting a lot.”

All that cutting is where the show got its name.

Palouse Patchers have been around for about 40 years, and they’ve held the quilt show each of those years. In the event this weekend, 225 quilts will be on display.

“It’s amazing,” Goetz said. “Just seeing the incredible work and talent everybody puts together.”

The show will feature about 12 quilting vendors from across the region, including at least one from Montana. Trail said most of them own their own quilt shops and bring part of those shops with them when they travel to shows.

The vendors will sell numerous quilting-related items, including fabrics, sewing patterns and decorative quilt jewels.

The quilts on display will represent a variety of styles, from bed quilts to those for hanging on a wall.

Smaller quilts will serve as the foundation of quilting challenges, like the flower challenge, in which quilters draw the names of flowers and attempt to form designs around them.  Many of these quilts make use of fake flowers as decorations.

“There is going to be a quilt that appeals to you, one that appeals to your mom, and one that appeals to your grandmother,” said Jenny Kostroff, a member of the Palouse Patchers. “That’s what makes the show really special.”

The styles on display will range from modern to traditional. Trail said the only rule is that the quilts can’t have been in another show.

“My favorite part is just seeing the work of others,” she said. “When I view other people’s work it gives me ideas.”

The event will offer a variety of refreshments, including homemade cookies that Kostroff said members are required to deliver.

“It’s a really nice finish to the show,” she said. “Dads usually go to the cookie room right away.”

The show will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for seniors and children under the age of 10.