Monday, August 31, 2009

Lancaster AQS Quilt Contest Rules are Online

Calling all quilters!

The rules for the AQS Quilt Show & Contest - Lancaster are online at www.AmericanQuilter.com, click on the Lancaster show. More than $44,000 in cash prizes will be awarded in five categories. The categories are: Bed Quilts - Pieced; Bed Quilts - Applique; Wall Quilts; Pictorial Quilts; and a special category: Grand Geometrics - Created the Amish Way.

The Best of Show winner will receive $10,000 in this contest. There will be a $5,000 Best Hand Workmanship, $5,000 Best Machine Workmanship, $5,000 Best Longarm Workmanship, and $3,000 Best Wall Quilt awards. There are additional prizes in each category of $1,500 for first place, $1,000 for second place, and $750 for third place.

One of the changes in the rules for the AQS quilt contests for 2010 is that you can enter any or all of our shows. Only those quilts that win cash awards in any of the AQS contests will be ineligible to be exhibited again in another AQS contest.

The winning quilts in the Lancaster show will be sent to Paducah for photography for the American Quilter magazine, and these quilts will be shown in a special exhibit in Paducah. The winning quilts from Lancaster will be shipped back to the makers after the Paducah show.

The deadline for entering the AQS Quilt Contest in Lancaster is December 1, 2009. That date will be here before we know it. You can send your entry to AQS any time - you don't need to wait until the deadline.

Remember, you can't win if you don't enter. The Best of Show winner in Knoxville entered a contest for the very first time. Enter your quilts today!

Good luck!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

New AQS Quilt Show, Lancaster, PA

March 24 - 27, 2010 will be the dates for the newest AQS Quilt Show & Contest in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The AQS staff is busy selecting classes and special events for this new show. We plan to have the Registration Guide finished in late September (see below to order a printed copy of the Guide).

Below is the news release about this new event:

AQS Announces New Show for 2010

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Becomes 4th AQS Show
by Bonnie Browning, Executive Show Director

Paducah, Kentucky – August 20, 2009: Today AQS President Meredith Schroeder announced plans for the American Quilter’s Society (AQS) to hold a fourth quilt show in 2010.

AQS will produce a new show in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, March 24 – 27, 2010, at the new Lancaster County Convention Center. The AQS Quilt Show & Contest – Lancaster will feature a quilt contest with $44,000 in cash awards. A special category in the contest is Grand Geometrics – Created the Amish Way. “We are pleased to bring an AQS Quilt Show to Lancaster and the southeastern Pennsylvania area, and to provide another opportunity for quilters to enter our contests and be recognized for their artistry,” stated Schroeder. AQS has signed a three-year agreement to hold this event in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

“We’re thrilled at the prospect of welcoming the American Quilter’s Society (AQS) and one of this country’s top quilting shows to the new Lancaster County Convention Center (LCCC),” remarked Josh Nowak, director of sales & marketing with the LCCC.

“We can’t think of a better setting for the AQS Quilt Show & Contest than Lancaster County – home to a rich quilting heritage within our Amish community, and where this art form continues to thrive today,” said Christopher Barrett, president and CEO of the PA Dutch Convention & Visitors Bureau. “The 2010 AQS Quilt Show presents an undeniably alluring opportunity for local and national quilters alike to share their creative process and outcomes, in a setting recognized worldwide for its beautifully manicured quilt of farms and fields.”

AQS also holds events in Paducah, Kentucky (pending for 2010); Knoxville, Tennessee (July 14 – 17, 2010); and Des Moines, Iowa (October 6 – 9, 2010).

Contest rules are available on the AQS Web site, www.AmericanQuilter.com. Registration guides for each show will be available online as soon as they are completed. To order a printed registration guide, send $2.00 for each guide to: AQS, Attn: (name of show) Registration Guide, PO Box 3290, Paducah, KY 42002-3290.

In addition to the AQS Web site and the AQS Blogs (AQS Quilt News, AQS Publishing, and American Quilter magazine), quilters can now become a fan of AQS on Facebook, and follow AQS on Twitter. The AQS quilting community grows again!

For lodging and general information on American Quilter’s Society shows, go to www.AmericanQuilter.com, or call 270-898-7903. Tour groups can contact Marcelle Cashon or Laura Davis for information on booking charter tours by calling 270-898-7903.
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