IOWA QUILT FESTIVAL 2023
May 31 – June 3, 2023 | Winterset, Iowa
The Iowa Quilt Festival, formerly known as the Airing of the Quilts, celebrates the history, tradition, and artistry of quilting in Iowa! To start off the festivities, we are offering a highly rated quilt retreat, classes, and Quilt Luminarium with Ricky Tims. We end the event with the grand finale of the Airing of the Quilts on Saturday where you’ll see hundreds of quilts displayed in dozens of historical and cultural landmarks across our picturesque county, including the famous “bridges of Madison County”. This unique event is one you won’t want to miss!
Tickets to Saturday’s Iowa Quilt Festival Airing of the Quilts are $20 per person. Level up to a Premium Airing of the Quilts ticket to receive early check-in on Saturday, a festival t-shirt, entry to the Covered Bridge Quilters Quilt Show and a goodie bag. We’ve limited these tickets to 25 people. They’re $100 per person.
Retreat
Taking place May 31- June 2, you’ll get to quilt, chat and enjoy time in downtown Winterset, Iowa.
Volunteer
An event this big takes a lot of volunteers. If you’d like to help before, during or after on Saturday, June 3, check out the opportunities here.
Special Events
Quilt Luminarium with Ricky Tims
Thursday, June 1, 1 PM to 5 PM and Friday, June 2, 8:30 AM to 5 PM.
A comprehensive quilt symposium that demystifies seemingly complex concepts, teaches mastery of unique techniques and harnesses the power of the ever-elusive muse of creativity.
Participate in two entertaining days and six sessions with Ricky Tims, quilting legend and entertainer to learn how to conquer techniques and concepts you may currently shy away from. Courses include:
- Quilting Caveman Style
- Convergence Quilts
- The Elusive Muse Parts 1 & 2
- The Music in My Quilt & Designing Patchwork
- No Pins Precision Curved Piecing
- Foundation String Piecing
- Fabric Dyeing
- Rhapsody Quilts
- Outline Applique
After this course, you will take home a complete workbook of everything Ricky discusses so you can explore the techniques on your own.
With the purchase of the Quilt Luminarium course, you also receive a complimentary ticket to the Saturday, June 3 Airing of the Quilts and free admission to the Iowa Quilt Museum for your entire visit.
Timestamps Gallery Walk with Ricky Tims
Wednesday, May 31 at 5 PM
Get the full experience of our Timestamps exhibit consisting of 36 quilts by Ricky Tims by participating in the Timestamps Gallery Walk. Ricky will keep you entertained with stories of his quilts, life, and career. Many of the quilts in the exhibit are examples of the topics discussed in his Quilt Luminarium lecture-demo experience!
Quilt Luminarium participants get a complimentary ticket to the Exhibit Gallery Walk. You will still need to register using a code sent by the Iowa Quilt Museum. If you need the code, email director@iowaquiltmuseum.org.
Book Reading with Frances O’Roark Dowell
Saturday, June 3, 2023, at 1 PM
Winterset City Park at the Stone Arbor
Frances O’Roark Dowell first combined her love of storytelling and quiltmaking in her 2016 novel Birds in the Air, followed by the short story collection, Margaret Goes Modern. She currently leads a thriving online community at QuiltFiction.com, where the second volume of her historical quilting series A Friendship Album is being released.
Frances will delight us with a reading of her quilt fiction during our Saturday, June 3 Iowa Quilt Festival Airing of the Quilts. Get your ticket to the airing so you can get more details
Quilts, Wine & What Ifs
Friday, June 2
5:00 to 7:00 pm
Tony Jacobson, nationally known quilt designer and Creative Director for Piece Works Quilt Shop in Winterset, will be presenting his program Quilting: the Art of What If. In this hour-long presentation, he will present around 40 quilts showing you how different the same pattern can look by changing the colors, style of fabrics, and even switching up the values of the fabrics used in the background and the main prints.
Piece Works Quilt Shop will be supplying gift bags for all those who pre-register for the program. There will also be door prizes given throughout the night. Covered Bridges Winery will supply a glass of wine (or beverage of your choice) and an individual charcuterie plate for all who pre-register as well.
How To Make An American Quilt
Thursday, June 1 – 7 PM
Iowa Theater
Soon-to-be-wed graduate student Finn Dodd (Winona Ryder) develops cold feet when she suspects her fiancé is cheating on her. In order to clear her head, Finn visits her grandmother, Hy (Ellen Burstyn), and great aunt, Glady Joe Cleary (Anne Bancroft), in Grasse, Calif. There, Finn learns that Hy and Glady Joe are members of a group of passionate quilters, and over the course of her visit, she is regaled with tales of love and life by women who have collected rich experiences and much wisdom.
Get Your Tickets At The Iowa Theater
Covered Bridges Quilters Guild Quilt Show
Friday, June 2 – 9 am to 5 pm
Saturday, June 3 – 9 am to 4:00 pm
Visit our local quilt guild’s 2o23 Quilt Show at the Winterset Elementary School.
On display are a variety of quilts made by the members of the guild and they’ll also have their show garage sale to purchase great quilting supplies at a discount.
You can purchase $5 tickets the day of the event or add it onto your Airing of the Quilts ticket.
Charming Winterset, Iowa offers a variety of places to stay while attending the Airing of the Quilts quilt festival. From Air BnB’s, hotels and bed and breakfasts, there is something for everyone.
We’ve set up a room block at the Cobble Stone Inn & Suites in Winterset for the 2023 Iowa Quilt Festival. The rate is $139.99 per night.
Call 515-462-4889 to book a room and tell them it’s for the 2023 Iowa Quilt Festival. Or book a room online.
Thank you to our sponsors!
Tony & Jeanne Jacobson
