Ginger was the perfect hostess, keeping the full-size quilting frame set up in the house year-round. Longtime member, Ginger Neusel, hosted Tuesday Bee in her Anderson County home where members gathered weekly to create the completely hand-stitched bed quilts. The raffle quilts were highly prized by the public. During the early years of producing the quilt show, members earned most of the prize money by selling chances on an annual quilt made to be raffled for that year’s show. Perhaps the most difficult challenge has been fund-raising. This decision restored the group’s autonomy in producing the quilt shows, but these productions by countless volunteers throughout the years also came with scores of challenges. In 2007, Smoky Mountain Quilters mutually parted ways with the Dogwood Arts Festival. In 2006, the event moved to the new Knoxville Convention Center where the now 4-day event was held in conjunction with the House & Garden Show. The quilt show shared space with the Art Show and Photography Show. After that, the quilt show was held in the TVA West Tower office building in downtown Knoxville, just a few blocks from City Hall. The first five years of the Dogwood Arts/Smoky Mountain Quilters Quilt Show were at home in the Old City Hall in downtown Knoxville. The show’s duration changed from a ten-day event to one of seventeen days in order to coincide with the Dogwood Arts calendar.Ĭoordinating volunteers for a 17-day event was quite an undertaking, not to mention a monumental expectation! But SMQ made sure it happened. After much evaluation, discussion, and soul-searching by its members, a decision was made to move the annual SMQ show to Following the NQA event, representatives from the Dogwood Arts Festival in Knoxville requested assistance from Smoky Mountain Quilters in producing their annual quilt show. (One could say that ten years of preparation went into that show!) Judy Elwood (you’ll remember her as the chairperson of SMQ’s first show) was president of NQA in 1990. This particular format was chosen due to the fact that SMQ members were absorbed in planning the production of the 21st Annual National Quilting Association Quilt Show in Knoxville. The quilt show was well received and became an anticipated event at the museum through 1990 when an Invitational Show featured previous winners from earlier competitions. Entries were sent from across the state, and a handful of other states were represented as well. Competition categories for that first show included bed quilts, wall quilts, crib quilts, pillows, and cathedral window items. Eighteen vintage quilts were also displayed. The quilt show was in the hands of four total strangers who had never even entered a show, much less produced one! The American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge was the site of the inaugural show and featured 169 entries. Three other volunteers-Suzanne Haase, Janice Sanders, and Glenys Nappo- were also extremely instrumental in planning this event. Judy Elwood served as show chairman, and although they had the support and assistance of other Smoky Mountain members, it was her drive, determination, and exuberance that got this first show off the ground. Between August 1980 and April 1981, plans were underway for the First Annual Smoky Mountain Quilt Competition and Show. SMQ members also voted to take a major step forward and produce their own quilt show. Fair organizers were encouraged to establish a separate category for teachers. Members of the state organization placed an emphasis on promoting fine quality quilting and encouraging good techniques in quilt making. It was noted that in 1980, the typical quilted entries were not of “high quality.” The First Place prize was only $3, and quilting teachers were prohibited from entering their quilts! The public was not being exposed to the excellent quilt-making that was going on around the state. Shortly after the chapter’s formation, members decided to participate in the Tennessee State Fair in Nashville, demonstrating quilting and answering questions pertaining to quilt making. Smoky Mountain Chapter of TVQA (known later as Smoky Mountain Quilters of Tennessee) was a direct result of that meeting. Spurred on by the enthusiasm of Mildred Locke of Bell Buckle, Tennessee, and the newly formed Tennessee Valley Quilter’s Association, Arnold set out to determine if there was interest in forming a group to promote fine quality quilting in the eastern part of the state.

On June 2, 1980, thirty-four women sharing a common love of quilt making, met in the Oak Ridge, Tennessee living room of Allison Arnold, a transplanted middle Tennessee native who had been teaching quilting in her home since 1978. Hi Lynn, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today? Today we’d like to introduce you to Lynn Sykes.

Knoxville expo center quilt show