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Knapp loves competitive quilting
Published 6:00am Sunday, March 21, 2010An intricately machine-embroidered quilt with 4,000 Australian crystals, each hand-glued to the fabric, was chosen for exhibit at American Quilter’s Society show in Paducah, Ky.
The juried show, which runs from April 21 through 24, includes quilts from 47 U.S. states and 10 countries. It will feature 386 quilts, including one submitted by Fergus Falls resident Janet Knapp, titled Latte Obsession.
Knapp entered the quilt in the Minnesota Quilt show in June 2009, and received first place for her work. The quilt also was chosen the viewer’s choice in the Fargo quilt show in 2008.
While the workmanship has proven to be award-winning, Knapp realistically has no illusions of winning in Paducah.
“There will be 50 or 60 Japanese quilts and they are just gorgeous,” she said. “I go to hear what (judges) have to say about (my quilt). I don’t go to win, it’s just nice to be in it.”
Knapp has been in the Paducah show with seven quilts over the 22 years she has created fabric masterpieces — one which she dedicated to her parents earned her third place — and admits being in a juried show “is like icing on the cake.”
“I love competitive quilting,” she said, adding she is presently working on several quilts she will donate to raffles.
With approximately 1,000 quilts submitted for the Paducah competition, it’s an honor to be chosen, Knapp said, who was vacationing in Mexico when she went online to see if the quilt had been selected.
For Knapp, creating a quilt can take four to five years. She usually dissects each block and makes it her own, she said, and then may put it away for years, sort of like putting it on a back burner, while she mulls over the direction she will go with it.
“Some quilters just want to go out on their own,” she said. “Some turn out fine, some turn out not so fine. I have one I set aside five years ago; now I can’t wait to get back to it.”
She also is a multi-tasker, with about five quilts in various stages of completion at any given time.
Latte Obsession is a 96-inch-by-96-inch quilt which she made as a wedding gift for her granddaughter, she said.
She spent about 50 hours over several years, creating the blocks, piecing it together and gluing the crystals in place. Rosalie Davenport, a long-arm quilter, stitched the quilt layers together.
“A good long-armer enhances the appearance of a quilt,” she said. “They need to be recognized.”
Another aspect that Knapp enjoys about participating in large national shows is the exquisite quilts on display.
“I saw one quilt with a camel in the design and you would think the camel is blinking,” she said.
In addition to the seven quilts chosen for the Paducah show, she has also displayed a quilt in the Houston, Texas competition.
Although she wouldn’t mind winning — the honor comes with a substantial cash award — there is a downside to winning — you have to give up the quilt and so far, she’s not interested in relinquishing any quilt she has created. But she treasures the experience.
“Just to have a contestant’s ribbon, though I wouldn’t mind winning, it’s something to have a ribbon at that level.”
