It is difficult to believe that the quite beautiful quilts at the 2026 Tucson Quilt Fiesta were ever intended to provide warmth to sleepers on a bed. They should be called fabric art works–which is what the French have always declared–and hung on a wall. Quilts are art and this show proved it.
This year the Quilt Fiesta, sponsored by the Tucson Quilters Guild celebrated its 50th year anniversary and began by looking back to Best in Show winners over the decades, including one of the earliest ones, shown at the top of this post. That quilt looks very traditional. In fact, I have one not dissimilar on my bed made by hand by my Grandma Dulcie in the 1960s. (I like the pink and pale green colors in my grandmother’s quilt, better.) The contrast of the ornate contemporary quilts to the older ones is striking.
For example, start with the quilt entitled ‘Autumn’. Only the central part of this quilt with its squares give a nod to tradition. Each of those squares goes beyond the conventional boundaries as fabric in the shapes of fruit and vegetables burst outside the frames. While honey bee hives maybe a traditional motif in older quilts, showing the roots of plants definitely is not. This quilt won Best In Show in 2023.
Another elaborate artwork is the ‘Queen Mother Beast in Her Garden’ quilt, the Best in Show winner in 2012. It is clearly more traditional in design than the ‘Autumn’ quilt but takes chances with the free flowing border containing lizards and other creatures. And the machine quilting patterns make it all the better. (I’d really like to know where that quilt name came from!)
Now for some others on display at this show. The quilt on the left, below, entitled ‘Homegrown’ won the Viewer’s Choice award in 2024. The ‘Frida Kahlo’ quilt won the Other Techniques First Place Award for this year, 2026. While both of these quilts rely on squares or rectangles for basic design, irregular shapes and cropped images are okay with both quilt artists.
And here are two more I liked: “Garden Party’ on the left and ‘Raven’ on the right.
Now, one final quilt to show you. It is entitled ‘Camino Miraval’ and was created in its entirety by Ann Wells. She made up the design from plants in her garden, picked out suitable fabric, cut and sewed the pieces, then quilted it. It was not in the show to be judged by judges or viewers, but simply to show her work. Applause for simplicity!
To see the quilts in 2025’s Tucson Quilt Fiesta go here.
