Our guild theme for the 2026 is Create Joy! For our Jumping for Joy challenge, members were encouraged to use the prompt ‘movement’ to inspire their original quilt designs. There were no size requirements. (Read more about the challenge rules.)
Voting for Viewer’s Choice will close at noon on Saturday, November 7. Members can find their unique member number in an email which was sent Monday, November 2 at 8am.
Thank you to our sponsor’s Cary Quilting Company, Oliso, Snuggly Monkey, andFreeman’s Creative for their support. Prizes will be awarded to Viewer’s choice and in a random drawing. As an added incentive, members will receive a Jumping for Joy Quiltchievement badge to commemorate their entering the challenge. (Badges will be available for pickup in January.)
Please note that quilts are displayed below in the order they were submitted.
Un Cafecito. by Itnuit Janovitz @itnuit
16″ x 20″
Movement Inspiration: This quilt uses the Line Art technique developed by Tzitzi Bejarano to create a continuous line image. The technique is all about movement and continuity by embracing organic lines.
Artist Statement: When I need a boost of joy, the best solution is un cafecito with a loved one.
Technique(s): Bias line drawing.
Quilted by: Itnuit Janovitz
Difficult Wave by Rhonda Namba
31″ x36″
Movement Inspiration: In the center of the quilt is the symbol for my last name, Namba. Namba translates to difficult wave and is supposed to symbolize a raging ocean wave.
Artist Statement: I made this quilt as a memory for my daughter. My husband was Japanese and I wanted to make a wall hanging quilt that she could hang in her office as a daily reminder of her father, her background and a little bit of me.
Technique(s): Appliqué, machine quilting
Quilted by: Rhonda Namba
It’s Selectric! by Ann Whitehurst @aw_quilts
42″ x 42″
Movement Inspiration: The result of my experimental use of striped fabric produced a design that I believe has a lot of energy and movement.
Artist Statement: This quilt is made using my mom’s old striped, knit tops that she wore to work as a secretary. The backing is made of various t-shirts and dress shirts of my mom and dad. As a kid, sometimes my mom would bring me to her office where I got to play around on her typewriter, an IBM Selectric. I made courthouse steps blocks using diagonal cut strips of these shirts, which created a dynamic effect. Who knew a pile of plain ol’ shirts could turn into something this fun?
Technique(s): traditional pieced, hand quilted
Quilted by: Ann Whitehurst
Bouncing Back by Jane Herlihy
27”x35”
Movement Inspiration: So easily set in motion whether they are rolled, bounced, tossed, batted or dropped, and present in most of our sports and children’s games . . . what can be more fun than a whole lot of bouncing balls?
Technique(s): Traditional piecing, machine quilting
Quilted by: Jane Herlihy
OPA! OPA! by Sandy Maxfield
80″ x 76″
Movement Inspiration: The smashed plate is a result of joyful movement and the jagged line quilting echoes that movement in an almost comic book style.
Artist Statement: This quilt was inspired by the Greek practice of smashing plates and exclaiming “OPA!” during special celebrations. It is an unusual but fun expression of joy and high spirits. This design started with a large Dresden Plate block which I had made as technique practice for a different quilt. What to do with the practice plate? Smash it of course! A quilty joke you will have to explain to non-quilter friends.
Technique(s): Traditional piecing, machine applique, ruler quilting on a stationary machine
Quilted by: Sandy Maxfield
Stars in the Night Sky by Laura Brooks
87″ x 87″
Movement Inspiration: The arced flow of the stars in the night sky help the viewers eyes travel from one side to the other. The curves in the quilt and the edges help emphasize the movement.
Artist Statement: This started with an idea of making the stars and grew and grew until it was bigger than anything else I have made. It was a great feeling when it was finally done.
Technique(s): Traditional piecing and a lot of trial and error.
Quilted by: Laura Brooks
Mumsi’s Garden by Sue Wilson
52″ X 48″
Movement Inspiration: This quilt began as an exercise in learning to sew inset circles. Those particular circles, pinned up on my design wall, reminded me of a garden. The lovely thing about a garden is it gives a person reason to be outside AND it provides for multiple ways of moving: squatting, reaching, pulling, digging, bending, lifting, hauling … The color palette associated with GARDEN was obvious … green! And that bright yellow green truly does have some good energy. Plus, I love the “random” pinks and purples that pop here and there.
Artist Statement: My garden is typically orderly at the beginning of the season, evolving to a tangled mess by the end of summer. From the center out, that’s what’s happening in this quilt. I started piecing the 12 inset circles together with a subtle striped fabric. To me, that bit of order in the center represents the effort and sweat it takes to make and keep a garden. Then comes the sun and the rain and the magic of growth…. a border of strips that represent the fruit, the flower, the fertile, as well as the fallow. Finally, outside the garden, an outer border of wildness.
Technique(s): Inset “”6-minute circles””, traditionally pieced on my domestic machine, Bernina’s 770QE+. I wanted to use big curvy lines that incorporated the circles. First, I drew a central curvy line midway between each paired row of circles, extending that design to the edge. I used my walking foot to quilt that line, then echo those lines, sewing around the circles when I came to them. This pushed the walking foot outside it’s linear comfort zone, but I was able to do it by going slow.
Quilted by: Sue Wilson
Little Boy’s Jar of Lights by Billie Shambley
29″ by 37.5″
Movement Inspiration: My prompt was actually the firefly material.
Artist Statement: The movement comes from the fabric, the different size the fireflies. The larger size in the jar, The background of fire flies moves from larger to smaller size in the background. The quilting follows the flow of the fireflies. The silhouette of the boy captures the event of the evening.
Technique(s): This background was traditionally pieced together. The silhouette is machine appliquéd. I did the machine quilting on my home machine. I keep it simple because the fabric is the star of this show. The fabric is from Spoonflower. I bought this a few years ago. When the challenged was announced my mind immediately went to this material. In the summer, I took a picture of my grandson holding the big jar. Next I used the ColorFilla app to change it to black and white. Then I went to the library to use the copier to get it to the size (120 percent, then 120 percent of that) I wanted.
Quilted by: Billie Shambley
Just Passing By by Shari Forvendel
15 1/4″ x 16 3/8″
Movement Inspiration: Jumping immediately meant Dolphins to me. That lead me to swimming, flying, the rolling of the waves, and the drifting of the clouds and the sand to complete the motions of the beach.
Artist Statement: My favorite thing to do at the beach is watching the dolphins, the rolling of the waves, and listening for the call of the seagulls. This challenge gave me the opportunity to put that into motion for a quilted wall hanging.
Technique(s): Traditional piecing, applique, various decorative stitch quilting, facing.
Quilted by: Shari Forvendel
Whorl by Melissa Woodard @meliwoodcrafts
45”x45”
Movement Inspiration: This quilt features circles rotating around
Artist Statement: I was inspired by fingerprint whorls and concentric circles. I used inset half circles and quarter circles of varying sizes to achieve the visual effect.
Technique(s): Machine pieced
Quilted by: Melissa Woodard
Swimming with the Fishes by Karen Newbery @khnewarts
20”x29”
Movement Inspiration: I’ve always loved watching fish swim because it relaxes me. The cool colors of the water and the motion of the waves ease my troubles away.
Technique(s): Traditional piecing, machine quilted using my domestic machine. Quilt finished with the facing technique.
Quilted by: Karen Newbery
Watermelon Physics by Hillary Emer
9″x65″
Movement Inspiration: Watermelon Physics was inspired by Muybridge’s photographic studies of motion. I wanted to take the idea of his film strips and recreate it using squares, a shape we use often in quilting. After playing around with different sketches, I landed on a design where a green square moves toward a stationary pink square, collides with it, and then bounces away.
I had some green striped fabric that I thought would be perfect for showing movement, with the stripes helping reinforce the direction of the square as it travels. When I paired it with the pink fabric, I realized the colors reminded me of a watermelon. From there, I leaned into the idea, using black for the background to represent the seeds and cream around the edges to suggest the rind.
For the quilting, I used green thread on the moving square to further emphasize the motion of the green squares. I also quilted rectangular outlines along the sides to mimic the edges of a film strip, bringing the design back to its original inspiration.
Technique(s): Traditional pieced, domestic machine quilted
Quilted by: Hillary Emer
The Edge by Lauren Piper
17″ x 17″
Movement Inspiration: Waves crashing against the rocks inspired my idea of movement.
Artist Statement: The Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland was the inspiration for my movement quilt.
Technique(s): I used a combination of English Paper Piecing and layering raw edge pieces with machine quilting.
Quilted by: Lauren Piper
Surprise! by Robin Thomas @rct_quilts
39″ x 58″
Movement Inspiration: What has more movement that confetti tossed into the air. That is where this idea started.
Artist Statement: I don’t like surprises and I believe that confetti is nothing but a big mess. However, these days it seems that every time I open the news or social media it comes with a surprise. Most of those surprises are frightening and overwhelming. So, for now I’m longing for days when all surprises are celebrations of joy and come with confetti.
Technique(s): traditional pieced, walking foot quilting
Quilted by: Robin Thomas
Shibuya Crossing in the Rain by Cynthia Nanto @cynthiananto
31″ x 24″
Movement Inspiration: I was inspired by memories of a very busy pedestrian intersection in Tokyo!
Artist Statement: With each change of the traffic lights, Tokyo’s Shibuya Scramble Crossing springs to life with pedestrians walking freely in all directions. I used a variety of new and vintage Japanese fabrics (indigo, tenugui, katazome, kimono silks and polyester) to represent the diversity within the crowds, each person walking with individual purpose, even as they preserve harmony with those around them.
Technique(s): Machine piecing, hand applique, sashiko, machine quilting (walking foot).
Quilted by: Cynthia Nanto
BoxPop by Vicki Price @piecetymes
42″ x 48″
Movement Inspiration: BoxPop represents a 3D simulation of staggered boxes, a playground where one might imagine children jumping from box to box, like a game of Hopscotch.
Artist Statement: The fabrics are selected from the QuiltCon 2027 Windham Fabric Challenge, a beautiful collection called Handloom by Tara Faughnan, where the substrate has an irregular nubby cross weave, such an interesting texture. I decided to augment the rectangular sense of the texture into solid shapes, quilted horizontally across the box faces, angled in the shadows, and vertically in the background.
Technique(s): Traditionally machine pieced and quilted on a domestic machine.
Quilted by: Vicki Price
Gestalt by Kate Kalinowski @Mamakbreakingbath
23.75” x 23.75”
Movement Inspiration: The movement in this quilt is reflected in the color flow and blend of the individual pieces and how they work together as a collective. I tried to enhance the movement with the diagonal quilting lines, hoping to pull the eye in a specific direction (from bottom left purple to the complementary yellow in the upper right corner).
Artist Statement: According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, the German word gestalt is defined as “something that is made of many parts and yet is somehow more than or different from the combination of its parts”. The individual fabrics that make up this quilt do not necessarily “go together” in the traditional sense, but are pieced so they meld together, forming something different, arguably better, that each individual piece is alone.
Technique(s): Traditional piecing (machine), quilted on my domestic machine (walking foot), with hand binding/embroidery.
Quilted by: Kate Kalinowski
A Bit Fit by Erin Bell
49″ x 57″
Movement Inspiration: I used the prompt literally, and mapped my daily step count for Jan-July 2026
Artist Statement: I interpreted the prompt literally, and mapped my daily step count for Jan-July 2026, as measured by my trusty fitbit. Step number was grouped into categories, with a fabric assigned for each; a key of the category/fabric order is captured in the right binding. I chose greens because I am fortunate to live in a leafy neighborhood, and walk with green around me.
Technique(s): FPP, machine quilting
Quilted by: Erin Bell
Make Me by Karen Kepley @karen_jones_kepley
47″ x 74″
Movement Inspiration: “Make Me” is a creative journey toward joy and catharsis through self-reflection. Its visual narrative unfolds as a self portrait and biographical timeline, moving from early childhood to the present, the future implied in the movement of the blossoms at the top. In making this quilt, I pushed my skills in new directions through curved piecing, large-scale construction, embroidery, and embellishment. Combining my experience as a visual artist with my knowledge of piecing has expanded my quilting practice into new territory. My hope is that viewers will be moved emotionally as well.
Artist Statement: Machine-pieced and quilted with embroidered embellishment, “Make Me” is a self-portrait shaped by the experiences that formed me. Arranged as a timeline, it begins at the bottom with my childhood on the shores of Lake Erie and moves upward to the present. It reflects resilience after sexual violence, perseverance through hardship and grief, the meaningfulness of family and motherhood, and the self-realization I found in transforming myself through making.
Technique(s): traditional machine pieced, machine quilted, embroidery, curved piecing, applique
Quilted by: Karen Kepley
Wave after wave after wave by Nadia Pshenitsyna @tell.your.story.quilting
72″ x 49″
Movement Inspiration: I am often mesmerized by the movement of water: the rhythm, the repetition, the predictability. After one wave, there is always going to be another. My design shows the wave that have come and another one that is coming, in embroidery only, waiting to be filled.
Technique(s): Hand and machine piecing, longarm quilting, hand embroidery.
Quilted by: Nadia Pshenitsyna
Jingle Bellsa by Eve Howes
39” x 39”
Movement Inspiration: Moving across the color spectrum always sparks joy for me!
Technique(s): Traditional piecing and machine quilting
Quilted by: Eve Howes
Dagmar Jumps for Joy by Stephanie Knudsen @Sknudsen67
16”x 21.5”
Movement Inspiration: I feel like the flickering effect of the background reinforces the motion of my dog, Dagmar. I didn’t quilt her form to the back choosing to leave some motion in the fabric.
Artist Statement: Dagmar, like many companion animals, has only a few modes: joyful, protective, and asleep. The best thing is her joyful greeting whenever I come back into the house. It doesn’t matter if I have been gone an hour or a week, she just becomes a dervish of joy. Her joy makes me joyful.
Technique(s): Collage, thread painting, machine quilting, chunky binding
Quilted by: Stephanie Knudsen
Connections by Janet Morris
29″ x 42″
Movement Inspiration: The circles represent all of our conections in life.
Technique(s): Hand appllique, hand big stitch quilting, modern pieced blocks, match stick quilting
Quilted by: Janet Morris
Spirit Lifters by Laura Trubey
12” x 10.5”
Movement Inspiration: Not only do all these things bring me joy, but I am happiest when I am active and moving as depicted with biking, pickleball, disc golf, camping, and being outside.
Artist Statement: Moving around and being active outside brings me joy.
Technique(s): Designed stencils using Procreate; cut them out with a Scan n Cut; starting with a white piece of fabric and acrylic paint + paint medium used the stencils to layer colors; free-motion quilted around the elements; tried zig-zag to bind around the edges. Four new techniques I had never done but had fun learning and doing.
Quilted by: Laura Trubey
Sunset Over the Lake by Joann Iannuzzelli @joanniannuzzelli
39″ x 32 1/2″
Movement Inspiration: How the sun sinks into the horizon as it sets; the waves as they meet the shoreline; and lastly how the clouds dance across the sky
Artist Statement: A sunset is one of nature’s most beautiful displays. And if you are lucky, you get to share natures splendor with someone you love.
Technique(s): this quilt is machine pieced using an improv curves technique and machine quilted.
Quilted by: Joann Iannuzzelli
Currents by Heather Walters @heat_waters
32″ by 42″
Movement Inspiration: I thought of flowing water through a stream
Technique(s): Curved piecing, machine quilting
Quilted by: Heather Walters
Aventura by Jessica Easterly-Glass @jeeasterly
27.5″ x 31.5″
Movement Inspiration: Inspired by the color scheme and the shape of the hotel we stayed at during our 2026 wedding, this is a love note to my now husband and the life we are building together. This shape reminded me of a tri-blade boomerang, spinning and always coming back to where it started. See “Ever the Same” by Rob Thomas.
Technique(s): Hand applique, free motion quilting, machine quilting
Quilted by: Jessica Easterly-Glass
Come & Dance With Me by Collette Kinane
44″ × 39″
Movement Inspiration: The excessive movement of my washing machine ripped holes in this almost ready to be gifted baby quilt. After a panicked moment (or several), I repaired the rips and decided to reinforce the repaired areas with fluttering appliqued butterflies. This quilt is also fully created grooving to the soundtrack of the mid- late 90s and early aughts.
Technique(s): Traditionally pieced, machine quilting, applique
Quilted by: Collette Kinane
Untitled by Carrie
12″ x 20″
Movement Inspiration: This is a take on a ball bouncing across the surf at one of my favorite places, the beach.
Technique(s): Traditional piecing, machine quilting
Quilted by: Carrie
Files by Laura Ganson @thedinosewrquilter
42″ x 29″
Movement Inspiration: I intentionally tucked the quilting in between the raw edges of the inside out patchwork to keep the ‘pages’ within the files accessible to movement.
Artist Statement: This quilt is a facsimile of THE files. No materials used were manufactured for this moment. It was pieced together using scraps, offcuts, and leftovers shared from other humans and their experiences. The evidence that remains.
Technique(s): machine piecing (inside out), machine applique, walking foot quilted
Quilted by: Laura Ganson
Constructed Confluences by Charles Cameron @feltlikesweets
58″ x 72″
Movement Inspiration: This work aims to create a moodscape of separate waterways merging to form something more grand and enchanting than themselves.
Artist Statement: Constructed Confluences investigates the purposeful meeting of many creative streams. Individual members of The Quilts Unscripted Bee crafted a block using ice-dyed fabrics and coordinating solids in response to a water-themed prompt. Their blocks were assembled, cut, repositioned, reassembled, cut agin and finally reconstructed into a unified work in hopes of creating a moodscape of separate waterways merging to form something more grand and enchanting than themselves.
Technique(s): Quilts Unscripted Bee blocks were assembled, cut, repositioned, reassembled, cut agin and finally reconstructed into a unified work. Matchstick quilted was provided by Elizabeth Ray.
Contributors: E.A. Cox, Chris Davies, Jenn George Burt, Sarah Goer, Emily Lang, Carole Lyles Shaw, Elizabeth Ray, Sarah Ruiz, Isabelle Selak, Ellyn Zinsmeister; Ice-dyed fabrics by Brooke Biette
Quilted by: Elizabeth Ray
Follow the yellow brick roads by Kelly Aikens
57″ x57″
Movement Inspiration: Movement of color
Technique(s): Traditionally pieced
Quilted by: Kelly Aikens
Baby Boomerang by Patty Dudek @elmstreetquilts
25″ x 25″
Movement Inspiration: The orientation of the blocks makes it look like they are dancing across the quilt top.
Artist Statement: When I was in 5th grade, I had a pen pal from Australia named Janine. Her gift of a small boomerang was the inspiration for this block. My boomerang block was first appeared in a quilt accepted into QuiltCon Together in 2021. It was fun to dust the block off and scale it down in size for the guild challenge.
Technique(s): FPP, Walking foot quilting
Quilted by: Patty Dudek
NOTE: Not eligible for Viewer’s Choice
Ready to vote? Grab the unique member number from the November 2 email and make your selection for Viewer’s Choice!
Viewer’s Choice will be announced in the November 9, 2026 guild meeting.