SAGUACHE - Beautiful colorful quilts of all sizes, shapes, colors, and textures, were hung in the gymnasium at Mountain Valley School District, on June 14. The Saguache Sagebrush Quilters had quite a show with 15 quilters displaying their work in five different categories. The show went until about 3:30 p.m. 

The public was invited to attend this free event, to vote on their favorite quilt. There was also food at the quilt show, being sold as a fundraiser for the St. Agnes Parish in Saguache. The parish is raising funds for ongoing repairs at the church.  

All the quilts were hung up on racks and display squares in the gym. Each quilt had a color on it depending on the category it was in, and each quilt also had a number. People were given a ballot form to fill out as they walked in, and they were shown how to vote in each category for first, second, and third place. All the quilts only had categories and numbers on them; no quilt had a name on it, of the person who made the quilt.  

The designs on the quilts were incredible and intricate. The various categories included, Machine Quilting, Lap Quilts and Throws, Wall Hangings, Machine Quilting done by Professional, others or computerized machine for Quilters, and a miscellaneous category, where quilters were invited to showcase quilts and other talents such as pillowcases, totes, or purses to name a few. The Best of Show was chosen. 

 At least 10 people were in the gymnasium around 1 p.m. voting on quilts and enjoying the information that some of the Sagebrush Quilters were giving out about quilting.  

Sue Rushton, who is new to the Sagebrush quilters and has only been with them a year as of February, spoke about her experience with quilting as a newbie, and stated that she found it interesting and fun, “I was not really a quilter, but I was recruited,” she stated with a laugh. It was a great decision, though. My grandmother was a Home Economics Teacher. I would come out on vacation from the Midwest in the summer for a week, and she would make me sew at least an hour or two a day, and I hated it. So, I never sewed after that. So here I was almost 70 years old, when my neighbor recruited me. She kept telling me you should come. When my husband passed away, it had been a couple of years, and I thought oh I will stop by and say hi. I stopped at a retreat that the quilters were having at Joyful Journey, that they have every year. The whole room was full of women there, quilting. There was fabric, and all these women just having fun. They were so fun and friendly. It wasn’t the quilts that made me want to do it, it was the women. They were supportive and fun. I thought, ‘Well, I will just go to one meeting, and I honestly have been hooked ever since. It’s been interesting and fun.’”  

At the quilt show, all the ballots were tallied, and the winners were announced as follows, and their quilt received ribbons.  

Machine Quilting – where quilters created and stitched their own design  

1st: Summer Breeze Horse by Karen Hazard  

2nd: Antique Iron by Virginia Drake  

3rd: Pretty Petals by Pat Tullos  

Lap Quilts and Throws this was our largest category for entries  

1st: Jagged Road by Pat Tullos  

2nd: Mystic Owls by Bernita Curry  

3rd: Kiss the Girl by Tara & Harley Miller  

Wall Hangings  

1st: Donkey by Karen Hazard  

2nd: Lights from a Midnight Sky by Pat Tullos  

3rd: Bunny Quilt by Cherry Moon 

 Machine Quilting done by Professional, others or computerized machine for Quilters  

1st: SOLARE Block of the Month by Stella Rosenquist  

2nd: Fantasy Stars by Karen Balentine  

3rd: Cabin by the Lake by Cindy Archuleta 

Miscellaneous is a fun category as it showcases quilting or other talents that Saguache Sagebrush Quilters have.  

1st: Hidden Large Moose (Shams) by Karen Hazard  

2nd: Indian Bowl by Joan Lorenz  

3rd: there were two in this slot:  

Watch Me Grow Chart by Cherry Moon  

Oval Rug by Pat Tullos  

The Best of Show went to Karen Hazard and her entry Summer Breeze Horse.  

Pat Tullos of the Sagebrush Quilters thanks everyone who made the show possible including The Saguache Sagebrush Quilters, their families and friends, the Town of Saguache who helped with a grant and Mountain Valley School for the use of their facility. She also thanks the public for attending and voting at the show, as all winners were chosen through the ballots and by the public who voted.  

The Saguache Sagebrush Quilters is an important non-profit organization that creates quilts for ill people, and people who have lost loved ones, and they also create quilts for preschool children. For more information about the Saguache Sagebrush Quilters, visit their Facebook Page.