Pride of the Prairie Quilters

We decided to do a "Featured Quilter" post every now and then, to introduce one of our members. This month, our featured quilter is Anita Marsh. Please enjoy Anita's answers, and pictures of her gorgeous quilts!

1. How, when, and where did you learn to quilt?
I learned to quilt by just making a quilt for my children in the early 70s - I let them pick out the fabric for the square blocks and the color of sheet they wanted for the back, and then I put them together. I must have used batting, but I don't remember. I do remember tying the quilt together, with the color of yarn my children chose. The quilts lasted quite a few years until loved to death.

Then in the 90s, I replaced my failing sewing machine and took my first quilting class with my new Bernina Arista 153. I still have that sewing machine, which works just fine. It's the one I always take to classes and workshops.

2. What was your very first project, and do you still have it?
The quilting project from that first official class was a small rail fence, which I adapted to my taste by adding a small rail fence block in the border. I decided I didn't really like the colors of the quilt, so I gave it to a friend from my quilting bee who liked the colors more than I did.

3. Why do you quilt? (e.g., tradition, artistic expression, relaxation)
I quilt simply because I like color. I can't paint, so I enjoy creating with fabric with those colors.

4. Is quilting a part of your culture or heritage?
Not really - no one else in my family quilts. My great-grandmother made wool quilts in the 1930s, from scraps of wool fabric leftover from altering uniforms for the police and fire departments as a part of their tailoring store. Those quilts were very warm and very functional. I still have one of them that my mother used in college, and my husband and I used when our children were young.

5. What is your favorite quilting technique?
I enjoy improvisational quilting - while I frequently start out with an existing pattern or block, I usually change something to make a more original quilt suited to me. After all, patterns are just suggestions - they aren't the law.

6. Are you a traditional or modern quilter?
I am a modern quilter, although I often use traditional blocks such
as churn-dash and log cabin as a starting point.

7. What is your "go-to" color palette or favorite fabric designer?
My favorite colors are bright ones - especially yellow, lime green, and then turquoise - in that order. But I also like bright clear red and orange, purple. I'm not fond of pink. Navy is fine, but not lighter blues. As part of a quilt challenge of "quilting the blues", I made a quilt that had the words "BLUE" all over a white background, but no blue color anywhere.

8. Is there a technique, fabric, or tool you will NEVER use?
I will usually try a new technique (at least new to me) - but I have made a couple of quilts that I said I would never do again. Not another cathedral window quilt (too hard to get the points to cover the raw edge and still have all the corners meet where they should). No more tumbling blocks either (just too hard to get the y seams to meet properly, and get the whole thing to lie flat). And then, no more completely wonky, off grid, piecing of blocks - I did make a wonky star quilt with the stars of different sizes and no set grid between blocks. It was very difficult to get all the different strips and blocks to lie flat - but I love the quilt.

9. What is the most difficult project you have ever completed?
Probably one of those quilts that I said "never again"

10. What is currently on your sewing table
I am making a charity quilt from scraps that I was given at our last guild meeting. They aren't my colors, but someone else will love them. I also just finished the binding on a modern quilt that was mostly lime green with turquoise that I enjoyed making.

11. How do you handle mistakes in a project?
I generally feel that mistakes are just "design opportunities". I have sliced a hole in an almost finished quilt when getting ready to put the binding on. So I sewed the cut edges together with a zigzag stitch, sewed a colorful patch on the back to cover the stitching, and then glued a slightly larger patch in the shape of a leaf that covered the stitching from the back. And then I decided that one leaf was lonely, so I added three more (with wonder-under and glue). To finish, I stitched stems and veins on the leaves. It looked like I planned it - but really was just a repair.

12. Do you prefer following a pattern or designing your own?
I frequently start with an existing pattern or idea, and then I adapt as I go along.

13. What is your favorite guilty pleasure?
I love Ghirardelli's intense dark chocolate.

14. If you could only use one sewing tool for the rest of your life, what would it be?
I don't think I could limit myself to just one tool - although I do think that glue solves a lot of quilting problems. All kinds of glue. Rubber cement to make the back of rulers quit sliding when I don't want them to. Elmer's school glue (either white in a bottle or purple glue stick) for getting fabric and batting to stay put, piecing circles in quilt blocks, quilting intersecting strips of fabric for perfect intersections (the glue washes out when the quilt is done). And Aileen's OK to Wash glue for sticking things on quilts permanently - like buttons, beads, and fusible web pieces coming unstuck.

15. What advice would you give to a beginner quilter?
I would remind them that there are only two rules for quilting - 1) don't obsess, and 2) don't get blood on the fabric. Quilts aren't perfect - just finish it, and what you think is a mistake is likely something no one else will even notice. Everything can either be fixed or is a design opportunity.

16. What is one thing about quilting that might surprise people?
Quilting is just simply fun - you never run out of ideas, and there are just so any new things to learn. And if you ask questions, quilters are friendly and will always help you learn new ways of doing things. It's just fun, never boring.

We had a great guild meeting last Thursday, featuring a lecture by Colleen Carlson, "Back Talk." Colleen is a seasoned quilter and certified quilt judge who gave us many tips to consider when choosing a backing for our quilts. We also had a terrific show and tell. Enjoy the pictures!

The Winner of the 2026 Opportunity Quilt is Naomi Endres!!

Naomi Endres' name was drawn at our April 2026 meeting and she is the lucky winner of our Opportunity Quilt!!!! She purchased her ticket from Jane Stevens. Jane is pictured with Naomi (on the right) and friends helping her celebrate her win! Congratulations to Naomi, and thank you to all who supported our guild through the purchase of an Opportunity Quilt ticket.

We have some fantastic people presenting workshops coming up in 2026, including Maday Delgado ("The Art of Concentric Circles"), Lynn Vock ("Master Your Stripology Ruler: Back Home Table Topper"), and Monique Kleinhans ("Creative Backgrounds: Creating a Radiant Landscape Quilt").

In addition, we have several other speakers lined up for lectures, including "Back Talk," a lecture by Colleen Carlson, "Beyond Basic Bindings," a lecture by Kathy Herbach, and "Yellow Creek Quilt Designs Through the Years," a lecture and trunk show by Jill Shaulis.

Do you want to attend one of these presentations, or are you considering membership in our guild? Check out our website for more information. You can send us a message through the "Contact Us" tab.

Pride of the Prairie Quilters The Pride of the Prairie Quilters is a quilting guild whose members are friendly, skilled, and diverse.  Among them, talents range from beginners to experts.  Interests are widespread.  Many enjoy traditional block quilting, while others immerse themselves in foundation paper piecing.  The commo...

At our April guild meeting, we got to see some of the ribbon winners from our recent quilt show. Check out the smiling faces on those happy quilters. 😊

A few pictures from the tear-down of our 2026 Quilt Show. But don't be sad! Planning is already underway for our 2028 show! What would you love to see?

We have some more pretty pictures from the quilt show! Hope you enjoy!

Congratulations to Eileen Diercks for Best of Show for Granny Squares Reimagined, and to Catherine Lucas for Viewer's Choice for Garden Party Down Under! Both also received Blue Ribbons for their categories.

We are grateful for the support of our (small, but mighty) guild. If you attended our show, bought tickets for our opportunity quilt or raffle baskets, picked out some fabric, bid on an item in our silent auction, had a snack in our concession area, or looked through our books and magazines, we thank you! We can't wait to see you again in 2028!

More beautiful quilts from the 2026 Quilt Show!