2022 Houston Quilt Show Winners

Attending a quilt show and becoming inspired is just one of the excellent outcomes from attending a show. Well, at the International Quilt Festival, you cannot help but become inspired by the hundreds of quilts on display. Of course, some are more inspiring than others based on what you like and enjoy.

Last year's show held at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas, had truly inspirational quilts. The show judges examined quilts entered in eight categories, plus there were exhibited quilts from other collections and showcases. These quilts are displayed with the honor and respect they all deserve. The quilts are displayed with great lighting and informational signage. The staff devotes a large segment of the convention center footage to the displays, so there is plenty of space to enjoy the quilts.

One of the major prizes was awarded to Mike and Debbie Corbett, who received the prestigious Master Award for Machine Artistry for their quilt, "Soul of the Southwest." The couple runs Corbett Design Quilting in Glendale, AZ, where they do longarm quilting for their customers as as well as teaching on the Gammill Statler. They offer one-on-one teaching at their studio, through Zoom or at a customer’s site.

Debbie Corbett has been sewing and piecing since 2008. Five years ago, after marrying Mike, they decided they wanted a hobby both could enjoy and started longarm quilting a year later. They focused on learning all they could about the longarm machine. They can be contacted at (623) 202-0689 or at quilting@corbettdesign.net

Previously they submitted a quilt, "Two Grey Hills," to the Arizona Quilters Guild in 2020, where it won awards for Exemplary Machine Quilting and First Place Piecing.

For "The Soul of the Southwest" quilt they wanted a quilt based on their research on serape blankets and used the "Classic Serape" pattern from J. Michelle Watts. It consists of 2,426 one-inch pieces of fabric. It took about one year for Debbie to do the piecing and another six months to do the quilting jointly.

Kim Diamond of Sweet Dreams Quilt Studio digitized the 28 unique quilting patterns for them based on some Native American pottery designs they had collected. The quilting took over a million stitches and twelve thread colors. They first entered the quilt in the 2022 Arizona Quilters Guild show and earned the Best of Show, Team, and 1st Place Pieced-Large Duet awards.

Other quilters at the Arizona show encouraged them to enter this quilt for the Houston show, and they were surprised to learn of their award. After the show, the quilt went directly on display for six months at the Texas Quilt Museum. They were especially pleased when Angela Wolfe highlighted their quilt in her review of the International Quilt Festival.

Seeing what others have done with fabric, time and desire are always invigorating. Seeing the Corbett quilt takes everything to a new level. Sharing this quilt will inspire you as well in 2023.