Beth Ferrier  from Saginaw, Michigan is the featured speaker at the Berrien Towne and Country Quilt Guild Show taking place June 26-27 at Lake Michigan College Mendel Center from 10-5 p.m.  Admission is $6 at the door with children under 12 free.

Every two years this Berrien Towne and Country quilt show unveils local talent at its best.  There are things to see and learn for everyone, with hundreds of quilts ranging in size and purpose from very small art quilts to large ones intended for everyday use. Quilted clothing, humorous quilts, and  miniature art work will be on display as well past show award winners. A special feature at this show will be a display of  “Quilts of Valor” made for injured service men and women throughout the nation.

The guild has a mini-quilt auction to benefit a charity. This year the Quilts of Valor program is the designated charity and besides artistic mini quilts for decorative use, the members will be making table runners for the silent auction. Bidding continues throughout the show on Saturday and Sunday.  Winners need not be present to win the auction and all proceeds go to buy fabric and materials to make more Quilts of Valor.

Ferrier will talk about “Pieces of a Quilter’s Life at 11:00 a.m. on June 26. She describes her topic as, “What do you get when you mix a life long addiction to needle and thread, an inability to follow directions and a love of language? In my case that led to a career in quilting. You’ll be inspired take on those goals you’ve always thought were just beyond your reach.”

At 2:30 p.m. on June 26, Ferrier will talk about “When Finishing is Highly Overrated.” “Why do we quilt? Are we really trying to cover the world (or at least all the beds in our world) with our quilts? Or perhaps we quilt with an entirely different goal in mind. If finishing is a lifelong goal, or a dirty word, you will enjoy this talk.”

Both talks will be accompanied by a trunk show of Ferrier’s amazing appliquéd and patchwork quilts.

On Sunday guild guests and members will offer demosntrations on a range of topics from basics techniques to  complicated piecing. A Sit and Stitch session runs throughout the show where visitors can join in, learn a new technique, bring their own work or just sit and observe some masters of appliqué, quilting, and more. A bevy of vendors will demonstrate and sell novel quilting tools, threads, fabrics, and more.

For the first time there will three raffle quilts. Raffle quilts will be sold throughout the show at $1 per ticket or 6 for $5. The final drawing is on Sunday afternoon. Winners need not be present.

On Saturday, visitors will be able to vote for their favorite quilts. On Sunday visitors will see the award-winning quilts highlighted by original ribbons designed by Kathy Brown of Bluebird Meadows, a local artist known for basketry and quilting accessories.

For more information on the show and the guild, check out the website: www.btcquiltguild.org.