Thank you, Quiltie Friends!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Our 25th Anniversary Celebration was a joy to experience. Thank you, Quilters, for entering your quilts! Thank you, Sponsors, for your sponsorship! Thank you, Vendors, for selling your wares! Thank you, McDermont X, for hosting us! Thank you, BOTV workers, for putting together an AMAZING show! And thank you, Attendees, for coming to see and experience our 25th Anniversary Extravaganza! Oh, how I hope you were able to be there, because it was truly exceptional. You outdid yourselves!!
Over the past few months, our Board has met to discuss the future of Best of the Valley. We have crunched numbers and discussed the various aspects of hosting a quilt show and are absolutely in agreement that it would be a huge loss to our community if we were to close our doors. Because of aforementioned numbers crunching, hosting another show is not an easy decision to make, but we will be back, and we will need all of you. We need Entrants, Sponsors, Vendors, Venue, Workers and Attendees. We need all of you to join us once again and keep us going.
Our 2023 Best of the Valley Quilt Show will be a 2-day show, held April 14-15, 2023, again at McDermont X, in Lindsay, CA. Show hours will be 10-4 each day. This is a change from previous years, so do NOT plan to attend the show on Sunday. Please mark your calendars accordingly: Friday/Saturday, April 14/15, 10am-4pm. Quilt release will be late Saturday afternoon, a few hours after the show closes.
Once again, we are honored to host the 2022 Sacred Threads Traveling Exhibit. This is a powerful exhibit of quilts expressing faith in the areas of peace, grief, healing, joy, spirituality, and inspiration. It is always an exceptionally beautiful exhibit, which impacts viewers for days afterwards.
Our BOTV Challenge this year is “TELL ME A STORY.” The theme was inspired by a “storyteller quilt,” on display in the 2022 show. Every quilt has a story. Here is an opportunity to tell a special story of your own in fabric. Details are available for download on our entry rules and forms page.
We did not have space to show all of the quilts that were entered last year, and we know that not all quilters entered their work. Our 2022 show was proof positive that quilters spent much of their lockdown time creating stunning works of beauty. We are confident that you continue to produce beautiful quilts, and are hopeful that you will will enter our 2023 show. Entry details are available for download from the entry rules and forms page. Please do not enter before January 1, 2023, but feel free to print the forms ahead of time, for reference. Entries are due February 14, 2023. There is no online entry option.
As always, Best of the Valley is a juried and judged show. We hire professional quilt judges, who award several thousand dollars in premiums. Please check the 2022 Winners page, for this year’s results.
We are always looking for vendors, but now, more than ever. Many of our longtime vendors have gone out of business, and we don’t always hear of new vendors seeking a venue. Please contact us through our website, and we will put you in contact with Charlotte, our Vendor chair.
Our Featured Artist is Leslie Sobieralski, a longtime Visalia resident, who has recently relocated to Nevada. She excels in handwork, which includes quilts, embroidery, doll-making and many other needlework activities too numerous to mention. She has been with Best of the Valley since its inception, and it is high time for us to celebrate her artistry.
We will again have categories for quilters 80 and older, as well as quilters under 18. There is no entry fee, unless they wish to have their quilts judged. There is a limit of up to two entries in either category, depending upon space available.
The dolls will be back, in the middle of the building, where they offer smiles to everyone with their happy quirky individual little personalities. If you haven’t taken the time to commune with the dolls, you have been missing out!!
What else? Amazing quilts will be on display, along with amazing dolls and a (hopefully) large vendor mall. There is on site food and a free shuttle to take you to and from the venue.
All this to say, we look forward to seeing you in April!! Please enter your quilts, come to the show, and bring your friends!! Our 25th Anniversary was extraordinary, but, with the right ingredients – that would be you, our Quiltie Friends!! - #26 will be even better.
See you there!!
Suzanne Kistler
President, Best of the Valley Quilt Show
P.S. Be sure to follow our Best of the Valley Quilt Show page on Facebook, for updates and show details. While you are there, remember to “like” and “share” our posts with your friends.