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Quilts on Display Sept. 20th and 21st
“Probably no craft or art form was more widely practiced by women of all stations of life than quilting – not only in this country but in the lands from whence the early settlers came. From Mary Queen of Scots, to maidens in the most impoverished European cottages, and in America from wives of Presidents to women living in one-room dirt-floored frontier cabins, the needles flew, and beautiful as well as useful quilts were made. No other art form has been so universally practiced for centuries by so many different people. Each a different creation even if the patterns are the same.” John Rice Irwin, Museum of Appalachia, Norris, TN.
What people said about the 2012 festival...
“That is the most spectacular collection of quilts that I have ever seen! And a neat slide show. Awesome.” Dick Sauer, Kansas City, MO
"It was a pleasure to help with this year’s Festival in any small way I could. It is an honor to be ask to work with all of you wonderful folks. I will do my best to be a good team member and I will do whatever I can to help with Festival planning. Thanks again for asking me to help.” Bettie Presley, Algood, TN
"I found myself in awe at all the quilts; the workmanship, etc... I always knew quilts were expensive but I never really had an appreciation for them and all the work that goes into them. Mostly, I felt like that was something I never wanted to do. Well, I am soon going to be working on my first quilt..." Kathleen Bowen, McArthur, CA
You won't want to miss our 25th Anniversary Celebration!
Barbara Tolleson started the Upper Cumberland Quilt Festival twenty five years ago and continues to support it today as Chair of the Board. Barbara has been a life-long lover of quilts and her extensive collection will be on display at the 25th Festival. Today she buys and restores quilts. The Board has designated the 25th Festival as a Salute to Barbara and her leadership for the past 25 years. Please join us September 19-21 for the 25th Festival with the theme of “Heart in Hands …Revisited” in Algood, TN to see over 500 quilts on display. Eleven classes of quilts for competition – the Challenge Quilt theme is “Hearts Forever.”
We had 46 of the quilts from this traveling exhibit for our 2012 festival. Viewers have asked to see more of the quilts from this popular exhibit and we will have more of them in 2013.
A lucky ticket-holder will take this quilt home. Get your tickets at the Algood Senior Center or at Jackson Bank in Algood.
To view this slide show full size click here.
Betty Robinson, of Gainesboro, is one of the quilters on our board who started learning needlework when she was just a child. She says, "I started embroidery back when I was 8 or 10 years old. I'd pick up my mother's stuff when she'd have to go to the kitchen to cook and she couldn't see what I was doing in the living room, so I would put some stitches in. She may have taken them out, I don't know." In 1994, she and her family moved to Tennessee, and she immediately joined the Cookeville Crazy Quilters. Betty’s quilts are award winners and she Chairs the Quilt Classes, Competition and Judging at the Upper Cumberland Quilt Festival. We Salute Betty for her outstanding volunteer service to the Festival and to our community.
Categories for Quilts Entered for Competition
Over 175 quilts and wall hangings made by local artisans will be entered for competition. Ten classes are being offered for entries: they include:
1. Challenge Quilt Theme “Trip Around the World”
Challenge Quilt Rules
2. Wall Hanging – less than twin quilt size
3. Hand Appliqué and Hand Quilted*
4. Hand Appliqué and Machine Quilted*
5. Hand Pieced and Hand Quilted*
6. Hand Pieced and Machine Quilted*
7. Machine Pieced and Hand Quilted*
8. Machine Pieced and Machine Quilted*
9. Older or Antique Quilts (with no sleeve)
10. Hand-woven Coverlet for Exhibition
*Categories 3-8 must have a 4 inch sleeve attached if they are to be hung
Quilt Barn Tour - Friday, Sept. 20, 2013
Don't Miss this Year’s Home and Barn Tour! Friday ONLY
Join us to tour the expanded Quilt Trail in Putnam County, visit a log cabin filled with quilts, see many beautiful quilt squares on barns and buildings and return for lunch at the Festival and time to see quilts on display in Algood. This all inclusive tour includes lunch, transportation and admission to the Festival. A photographer’s delight! Call 423.605.7241 to make reservations. $ 39 per person.
This Year’s (2012) Honoree - Judy Roberson
This award was created to honor individuals who have given unselfishly in support of the Quilt Festival.
Judy Roberson's appreciation of quilts began when she was just a child. She remembers seeing a quilt at her grandmother's house and asking to put in on her bed. She also remembers her mother's talent for quilting. "At the age of seven, my mother quilted a doll quilt made from material from my friends' and cousins' dresses, set together with pink and white checked fabric," she said. "This quilt was my first bedspread and has been on my bed now for 60 years. I had no idea that mother could quilt and was so proud of her. Mom let me cut out my own squares to make a nine patch quilt too. It was my first and last. I couldn't stand sitting still for so long." 
"I call myself a connoisseur of quilts," she said. "Thanks to Barbara Tolleson and Jo Ann Gill for letting me tag along on antique buying trips and quilt shows, I had another passion. Tennessee history, log homes and antiques had always been obsessions, so quilts and woven coverlets fit in perfectly."
Roberson works at the Upper Cumberland Development District as an Older Americans Act Program specialist and quality assurance specialist. She previously worked with the senior centers, helping Tolleson, the then-director of the Algood Senior Citizen Center, to create the first Upper Cumberland Quilt Festival.
"You can imagine how excited I was when Barbara Tolleson said she wanted to do a quilt show in Algood as a fundraiser for the senior center where she was the director," she said. "My job as a monitor and advisor to the network of 20 senior centers in our 14 counties for the past 28 years has allowed me to assist in a variety of unique projects; however, the Algood Quilt Show is my favorite.
"Barbara and I arranged a meeting with the founder of the Bell Buckle quilt show, which had been the most well-known in Tennessee for a number of years. Sitting around her kitchen table, we asked questions and took notes. Barbara came home and, with the help of friends and family, organized the first show."
From there, Roberson became a frequent volunteer for the event and her service is being formally recognized this year. She is only the second person ever to be given the award -- the first being JoAnn Gill last year.
"My role has been to do whatever needed to be done from hanging quilts, serving as guide on the homes tour, exhibiting family quilts to driving the bus," Roberson said. "I have loved being a small part of this wonderful community event which brings so many people together."
(Taken from an article written by Megan Trotter, Herald-Citizen Newspaper. Herald-Citizen Photo by Ty Kernea)
For information about the quilt festival or to make comments about this website contact John Allen at 931.252.2755 or send email