RIPLEY, W.Va. (WVDN) – Quilts of all sizes, colors, and fabrics will be on display at the West Virginia Quilt Festival set for September 11-13, 2025, at the Cedar Lakes Conference Center in Ripley. The theme for this year’s festival is “West Virginia Legends.”
The quilt festival will feature the works of some of West Virginia’s most talented quilters, as well as those of novices and intermediate quilters. Quilts on display will include traditional designs, modern interpretations, pictorial representations, and, in a new category – art, fiber and textile quilts.
“We have seen many changes to the West Virginia Quilt Festival over the years, including locations and the time of year in which it is held,” said Barbara Green, the festival’s coordinator. “We are inviting people from around the state to come to Ripley this fall to see a great display of quilts, grab a bite to eat at the food trucks, and do some shopping with our vendors and the marketplace we will have set up.”
In addition to the quilt display, vendors will have quilt-, craft-, and sewing-related items for sale. The festival also will feature a West Virginia Quilt Market, which will have finished “quilty” items for sale, such as kitchen, table, and domestic linens, and hand-made holiday decorations, to help raise money for the West Virginia Quilters, Inc., which organizes and coordinates the festival.
The West Virginia Quilt Documentation group will be at the Cedar Lakes Vocational Building to record and photograph quilts made prior to 1975. This information is maintained electronically in the Quilt Index, a national database. Files of the information are kept at the West Virginia Culture Center. The West Virginia Quilt Documentation project is operated by volunteers to record details about quilt makers and their quilts made in, or currently residing in, West Virginia. The information will be made available through the database and the West Virginia Culture Center for future reference and research.
The quilt festival will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 11, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 12, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 13, at the Cedar Lakes Assembly and Dining Hall. Quilt displays and vendor booths will be open during those times. The entry fee to the quilt show and vendors’ area is $10.
Karen Kendo, a retired chemistry and physics teacher from South Carolina, will be the judge at this year’s festival. Kendo is a quilt teacher, quilt judge, quilt lecturer, and a longarm quilter. She also is on the board of the National Association of Certified Quilt Judges.
Awards include best quilts in each of the categories: Traditional Quilts, Modern Quilts, Pictorial Quilts, and Art, Fiber and Textile Quilts, as well as subcategories related to quilt construction and hand- or machine-made techniques. A Best of Show also will be awarded, and quilt show attendees may vote on the “Viewers’ Choice” best quilt. A separate judging team will award a ribbon for the entry that most successfully incorporates the festival theme, “West Virginia Legends.”
Other activities at the West Virginia Quilt Festival include a little quilt auction with separate selections offered on each of the three days of the festival, and classes offering instruction on a variety of quilting techniques and quilt patterns. Fees for classes are separate from the entry fee to the quilt show.
Corporate sponsors of the West Virginia Quilt Festival are Bolts and Quarters Quilt Shop in Parkersburg and Renee’s Fabric and Gift Shop in Clay.
Those wanting to have a quilt or quilts documented should contact Roberta Gellner at 304-893-8324 or umwelthund@frontier.com to make an appointment.
More information about the West Virginia Quilt Festival is available on the West Virginia Quilters, Inc., web page: www.wvquilters.org.
West Virginia Quilters, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
