Sue Gruber of Bowling Green currently has an award-winning quilt on display at the 33rd Annual Quilt Show at Sauder Village in Archbold, which opened Tuesday and runs through Sunday.
Her entry entitled “Going, Going, Gone?” received first place in the wall quilts open class hand- or machine-quilted category.
Thousands of quilt enthusiasts are visiting Archbold this week for the popular show. Sauder Village pays tribute to the craftsmanship of quilters from across the Midwest with a display of nearly 400 quilts in Founder’s Hall, quilting demonstrations and workshops.
Both traditional and modern interpretations of quilts are represented. Even after 33 years, the show is still a new experience since once a quilt has been exhibited it cannot be re-entered into the Sauder show. With categories ranging from pieced and appliqué to mixed media, contemporary art and youth quilts in bed, wall and contemporary art quilts as well as miniature, youth and baby quilts, the variety is impressive.

Other highlights of the popular event include live piano music and quilting demonstrations. Some of the demonstrations offered throughout the week include hand appliqué, piecing the Crystal Ball pattern, a new look to the Cathedral Windows technique, English paper piecing, hand-quilting and “Fun and Done” a new quilting technique. For this week only, there are also antique quilts on display in the 1910 Homestead.
Another popular element of this event is the annual Quilt Challenge. This year’s theme is “Simply Chic.” Starting a year ago, entrants purchased a challenge packet containing the same 14 fabrics and were given the challenge to take those fabrics and create a patchwork design sewn with only squares and/or rectangles. This Challenge Display includes more than 30 unique quilts in the lobby of Founder’s Hall. The Challenge Quilts are judged on choices made in color, placement, workmanship and the imaginative use of fabrics.
This year’s guest artist is designer, author and teacher Nancy Odom of Westfield, Ind. Odom co-authored the popular Elm Creek Quilts book for C&T Publications and her quilts have been featured in several other C&T books. She has also designed three popular fabric collections and has appeared on episodes of Simply Quilts and America Sews. Her designs have also been featured in McCall’s Quilting Magazine and For The Love of Quilting magazine.
Odom is offering workshops today on “Legacy . . . A Pieced and Applique Quilt” and Saturday on “Vinnie’s Double Pinwheel,” plus a dinner lecture later today.
Show hours today and Saturday are 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. A special “exhibit only” admission pass is available for the annual Quilt Show for $8.50. The admission price for the Quilt Show and Historic Village is $12.50 for adults and $6.50 for students ages 6-16. Again this year, children 16 and under are free every Sunday during the season.
Sauder Village offers a wide range of classes in quilting throughout the year. Threads of Tradition Quilt Shop at Sauder Village, open year round, offers supplies, books and more than 3,500 bolts of fabric.
For more details on the quilt show, workshops or other events planned for the 2009 season visit www.saudervillage.org or call 1-800-590-9755.