Handmade fabrics, woolwork, colorful quilts highlight this year’s Indiana Heritage Quilt Show - Indiana Daily Student

Mar 12, 2025

Vibrant patterns decorated both floors of the Monroe Convention Center last week during the annual Indiana Heritage Quilt Show. From March 6-8, the convention center bloomed with colorful designs.

Each year, a committee of volunteers coordinates the show. Laura Newton has volunteered since the first show in 1998, when it was based in Columbus, Indiana, before moving to Bloomington. She is in charge of marketing of the event and helping display the quilts.

“We were approached by two of the ladies involved with the show, and my boss at the time said sure, we’ll help,” Newton said. “And then I was the one that was chosen to sit on the committee that never left.”

Quilt show vendors are judged by the National Association of Certified Quilt Judges, a committee consisting of judges qualified to recognize outstanding quilt artistry and quality. Vendors can enter their work into specific categories, some of which include modern, appliqued and challenge quilt categories. There are also specific awards distributed to top vendors including for Best in Show and Exemplary Hand Quilting.

The featured artist for this year’s show was Sue Cortese, who said she has quilted for over 30 years. She is also a member of the NACQJ. She said she has served as a judge for the quilt show before and has been the featured artist at several other quilt shows.

“I make all my own fabrics,” Cortese said. “Most of these are indigo shibori pieces. I start off with white fabric, and then I fold and manipulate the fabric to create texture. Then I take all the pieces of fabric and put them into a sewn composition, and then I quilt them. Some of them I hand-dye the fabric with regular Procion dye, as opposed to the indigo.”

Cortese is a self-taught quilter who began her quilting journey by participating in a quilting bee, which is a gathering for quilters to get together and work on their projects, with other young mothers before gradually improving over the years. She said she had a unique process for creating her quilts.

“Most of them start out as just something that is visually interesting, and I come up with a story in my head as I’m working on it,” Cortese said. “I don’t necessarily force that story into the visual of the quilt, but it’s what I think about while I’m making them, and sometimes that ends up being part of the title.”

One quilt on display, called “Popularity,” was created with this mindset.

“When I was working on it, it was a lot of circular forms, and it reminded me of a high school cafeteria with all the kids sitting at the circle tables,” Cortese said. “There was always that one group of popular kids that always kind of clustered together in the center, so they got a gold circle around them. And so my imagination takes me in many different places.”

There were a variety of quilts on display at the show, with designs including colors ranging all across the rainbow. In addition to traditional quilting designs that typically use squares of cotton, other vendors employed different creative methods in their work.

Darlene Smith of One Wing Wool has been a quilter for about 40 years. She said her work began with antique quilt blocks, or square or rectangular pieces of fabric, and evolved into wool applique designs. She specializes in wool-appliqued pillows, which are wrapped in woolen fabric and adorned with hand-crafted wool designs, and she said her most popular designs consist of animals and flowers.

“I love the color and texture of the wool,” Smith said. “And I love handwork. I find it really relaxing and it’s super portable, so I can kind of take it anywhere.”

Brenda Duncan Davis, another quilter and member of the volunteer committee, said anyone could enter the show regardless of skill level.

“Everyone’s welcome to enter,” Duncan Davis said. “They just have to pick whichever category they want to follow.”

There are specific requirements quilters must follow when entering their work in next year’s show. The quilt must have been finished after Jan. 1, 2021 and must consist of three layers. Quilters must also pay a $20 fee for each quilt they choose to enter.

Duncan Davis said she feels the show is a representation of creative expression within the quilting community.

“I love the creativity and the diversity of quilting,” Duncan Davis said. “There are so many different styles and techniques, and there’s always something that you can learn.”

Next year’s show will take place from March 5-7. More information about the Indiana Heritage Quilt show can be found on the Indiana Heritage Quilt show website