By Scott D. Johnston

The Sea Pal Quilters group brings the unique blend of colors, textures, patterns, creativity and nimble-fingered skill that is quilting, back to the Ocean Shores Convention Center this weekend. The 24th annual Whale of a Quilt Show runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 15-17, and is free to all.

Generally, top and bottom layers of fabric sandwiching some batting makes a quilt. Beyond that basic definition, purpose, talent and imagination work to weave wonders. At the show, many of the 80 Sea Pal members will display quilted objects ranging from the classic hand-sewn bed quilts like those lovingly handed down from our great-grandmothers, to wearables and accessories such as coats, purses and bags, to the increasingly popular art quilts.

The event takes place in the main room of the Convention Center, where 16 quilting and sewing-related vendors will be arranged around more than 150 quilted objects. “The Boutique,” offers many handmade items for sale, and “Quilters in Action” demonstrates the making of quilt blocks. Demonstrations from vendors and other quilters will take place all three days, with schedules posted at the show. The Convention Center Cafe will be open all weekend.

Peggy Ross, show chair and Sea Pal Quilters secretary, said the show will award 1st, 2nd and 3rd place ribbons in 10 categories, with winners decided by the votes of people attending the event.

The quilting categories with the most entries, Ross said, will be medium and large machine quilted. She said hand quilting, represented in two categories, “is beautiful, it’s amazing, (but) we don’t have a lot of hand quilters left.” She said one bed-sized hand-quilted piece will be featured in the show.

Other categories include wearables, machine embroidered, miniatures, where fabric blocks must be smaller than four inches, a “challenge quilt,” and art quilts.

For the challenge quilt, Ross explained, participants are given a piece of

fabric and a theme. This year, “we asked them to make a quilt that that incorporates that fabric into the theme, Coastal Colors.”

Although most quilts are based on some sort of pattern, Ross said that “art quilts are typically a design by the artist that is not a pattern or a block, but a composite of fabric and other media… all kinds of other materials.” In addition to promoting quilting, Ross said, the non-profit Sea Pal Quilters does outreach efforts that donate more than 100 quilts each year to various area organizations and causes in the area. These activities include making baby, children, elderly, hospital patient and veteran quilts and pillow cases, and animal shelter blankets.

Their major source of funding is the “Raffle Quilt” that the members create each year. One dollar tickets are sold throughout the year, including at most Convention Center shows, with a winning ticket picked at the annual Sea Pals holiday party. For more information, visit www.seapalquilters.org or check Facebook at 2017 Whale of a Quilt Show.