Some of the one-of-kind quilts that will be on display include T-shirt quilts, right, which will be featured near Cascades Outdoor Store.
Popular event sees growth in second year
Back by popular demand, the Winthrop Quilt Roundup will blanket the town with handmade quilts this Saturday (Sept. 19).
Presented in partnership with the Winthrop Chamber of Commerce, the second annual Winthrop Quilt Roundup will feature almost 150 quilts, said event founders and organizers Cynthia Oliver and Linda Wilson.
Last year, the Roundup was launched by the quilting duo as a way to appreciate the diverse beauty of quilts and to celebrate a functional form of art. This year, the festival will do all that and more, with about 50% more quilts than in the inaugural event, as well as some paintings of quilts.
“Late this summer, the quilts flooded in,” Oliver said. “We had to create new hanging spots around town. There’s not a lot of empty space left.”
Wilson said that some of the quilts will be displayed in certain areas according to theme. For example, patriotic quilts will be shown near Winthrop’s Town Hall, while T-shirt quilts will be displayed near Cascades Outdoor Store, and Christmas quilts will hang in Confluence Park, near Winthrop Mountain Sports.
Also at Confluence Park will be the Okanogan Quilts of Valor group, which is a nonprofit formed in 2024 to create and distribute quilts for veterans, thanking them for their service. And Kayla Darch White, a local artist who was raised on a Methow Valley farm, will also set up in Confluence Park, sharing a collection of paintings of quilts.
All told, 94 quilts will be displayed in Winthrop, with an additional 44 at the Shafer Museum. The quilts at the museum will be vintage quilts, which is loosely defined as quilts made before 1980 or those created with either legitimately vintage fabric, or fabric that looks like it is from a previous era.
Twenty of those quilts at the museum were created by the late Frances Hintz, a legendary Mazama quilter who allegedly made a quilt for every grandchild’s birth, graduation, and wedding. Once, she was even contacted by some visitors from France, who saw one of her quilts and commissioned her to make one for them.
It’s possible that her sewing machine — a Singer Featherweight from Ohio — will also be on display. “Frances got a lot of other ladies interested in quilting,” Oliver said. “She was fun, open, and giving. People get tears in their eyes, remembering her.”
Also at the museum will be nine quilts available for sale, as well as Christmas tree skirts, and a hide featuring the brands of the Methow Valley, as well as a book by Lynn Breaky Clark on the topic.
To help visitors get oriented to where various quilts are located, Quilt Angels will be present onsite, led by local quilter Nikki McCullough. Additionally, placards posted by each quilt will provide some information about the quilter and the quilt itself.
Other stalwart volunteers include Kim Harmon and Stephanie Wood, who helped sort all the quilts.
Inspired by show
Oliver and Wilson said that many more quilters got inspired to submit quilts this year. “Last year people visited and saw all these quilts and they saw how beautiful it was,” they said. “Maybe they had a quilt half-finished, or maybe there was a quilt they had been saving fabric for, and they got inspired to finish them for this show. There’s a lot of pride in seeing something you made displayed for others’ enjoyment.”
Some of those quilts include submissions from residents like Kathleen Miller Jardin, who, with help from quilter Kathy Podmayer, repurposed a family heirloom quilt; from prolific Twisp quilter Marva Mountjoy; from Lydia Kleve, a newly self-taught quilter; and from Melissa Cote, whose husband inspired giving an old quilt new life.
Cote’s husband was raised with a quilt made by his grandmother. It was well-loved, old and tattered, but made with beautiful old vintage fabrics. They redesigned the quilt with new fabrics; both versions will hang at Sam’s Place on the boardwalk, on the upstream side of the four-way stop.
The local Scout troop did a quilting project this summer, but word has it their quilted pillows will not be displayed since they are regularly in use, providing cushions for young heads in slumber.
Quilter and seamstress Karen Dahl, of the Nimble Thimble Needle Nook, will provide advice on quilt restoration at the Shafer Museum from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. “Bring your old or worn quilt and she’ll give you repair suggestions,” Oliver said.
Local painter Sally Kuperberg has two unique submissions to the show. First, her aunt’s quilted kimono, and second, a painting of two quilts at the Shafer Museum from last year’s Roundup. Kuperberg’s painting will be raffled, with the proceeds going toward Winthrop’s Christmas at the End of the Road fireworks display.
Resident Jim Matheson’s Star Blanket quilt, which has a complex family history, will be shown at The Wine Shed. Oliver and Wilson urge visitors to make sure to see that piece.
“The stories behind these quilts really get to you,” Oliver said. “Every year we learn more of them.”
As it did last year, the Roundup will wind up at the Lost River Winery tasting room, with the drawing for the gift baskets and other scavenger hunt prizes. It was a lively event in 2025; event organizers expect the same high energy this year.
Oliver and Wilson encourage spectators of all interest levels to attend the event. “You don’t need to know anything about quilting,” they said. “It’s just a great chance to enjoy our town, our community spirit, and see so many different interpretations of quilting.”
