Quilting Guilds and the Utah Quilt Show Circuit: The Utah Valley Quilt Guild, the Bees, and Every Show From July to November

JoAnn Giordano Editor-in-Chief, Provo.com How we make Provo.com

If you quilt in Utah Valley, two organizations and one museum shape your year: the Utah Valley Quilt Guild, which meets in Orem; the statewide Utah Quilt Guild, which runs Quilt Fest; and the Springville Museum of Art, whose juried summer show the local guild co-presents. Around them sits a circuit of shows that runs from a July fair in a barn to a November auction of hand-quilted quilts at Thanksgiving Point. This page is the guide to joining in and to the shows, in the order they happen.

For the shops, longarm services and classes, see our quilt shop guide. This page is about the people and the shows.

The Utah Valley Quilt Guild

What it is. A volunteer guild "established in 1982 to promote the Art of Quilting through educational and social means and to provide service," in its own words. Its history page credits Bonnie Bryce with organizing it after a class with the then-president of the state guild; the first meeting, at the Orem City Library, drew 19 people, and membership grew to around 200 after the first year. A 2017 recap on the same page put membership at 270.

When and where it meets. The third Wednesday of the month at the Orem Senior Friendship Center, 93 North 400 East in Orem. Meetings usually start at 1:30 p.m., and the guild suggests arriving early to browse its lending library, fill out a show-and-tell form and find a seat. It does not meet in December, or in the month the state guild holds Quilt Fest (usually September or October). The July Fair takes the place of the July meeting, and the annual Service Day meets at a different location.

What a meeting looks like. A program, then show and tell. The 2026 calendar shows the range: a round-robin of short classes in January, a trunk show by a past president in February, a visiting fabric-shop owner in May, a history-of-fabric talk in June, and in October a program by Jill Finley of Jillily Studio, a quilt pattern and fabric designer.

Joining. Non-members may attend meetings. Dues are $15 a year (or $15.40 by Venmo, to cover the fee), and membership runs one year from the month you sign up. You can join at a meeting or mail the form and a check to the guild at PO Box 133, Orem, UT 84059. The guild lists the benefits as a gift bag on joining, its library of quilting books, the monthly Patchwords newsletter, and the option to sign up for workshops and retreats at extra cost. Membership is required for those special events.

The year's set pieces, from the 2026 calendar:

• Service Day, March 18. At the Utah County Health Department building, 151 South University Avenue in Provo. The guild reported 98 members signed in, 70 quilts "enveloped," 16 quilts tied, 154 burp cloths and 77 soft toys finished in one day.
• Mini Spring Retreat, March 21. A one-day sew in Mapleton for $16: bring your own machine, project and lunch.
• Specialty teacher, April 15 and 16. A trunk show at the April meeting and a half-day workshop the next day for $35, pattern included.
• July Fair, July 15. The guild's fundraiser at The Red Barn in Wallsburg: a free quilt show, free classes, vendors, a fabric garage sale, a bake sale and a silent auction.
• The Springville show, July to September. Co-presented with the Springville Museum of Art (below).
• Fall Retreat, November 11 to 14. At Zermatt in Midway, capped at 120 registrations and full with a waitlist by spring. Registration opened at the March Service Day.
• The November challenge. The 2026 president's challenge asks for a finished, quilted and bound piece of any size (at least hot-pad size) made entirely within one color, shown at the November meeting for a viewers' choice prize and a judged prize.

Service. The guild publishes running totals. As of August 31, 2026, members had donated 152 quilts, 234 burp cloths, 144 hats and dozens of blankets, toys and booties. It says it has given more than 75 quilts to be sold at the Festival of Trees, and that a youth camp at Mutual Dell returned 55 tied quilts made from guild kits. Members check out and return quilt kits at meetings. If you want to start with service, our guide to starting a craft group covers how wards and neighborhoods organize their own.

The bees: where the weekly quilting happens

A guild meets once a month. The bees are the smaller groups that meet weekly or monthly to sew together. The guild's site spotlights several. Two give a sense of the range:

• Piecemakers, Spanish Fork (open). Meets the third Thursday of each month at 7 p.m., except December, with two sew days a month. The bee runs a one-day outdoor quilt show at Jones-Hughes Pioneer Park on July 24 as part of Spanish Fork's Fiesta Days; the guild's August 2026 newsletter said more than 80 quilts were on display. It also reported 79 charity quilts donated in 2026, to recipients from Orem to Nephi.
• KNOTTS (closed). Short for "Kreative North Orem Thimbles and Threads," founded in 1994. The guild's spotlight, which it notes is several years old, described about 35 members meeting weekly at the Jacobs Senior Center in Pleasant Grove, with membership closed for lack of space. Its founder, Liz Teerlink, was one of the judges for the 2026 Springville show.

The guild's site also links a bee list, though it marks that list as dated. The practical route into a bee is still the monthly guild meeting: sit at a table and ask who meets near you.

A modern guild. Corn Wagon Quilt Company's October 2026 calendar lists a Nebo Modern Quilt Guild gathering at the shop in Springville on Saturday, October 17, at 10 a.m. If your taste runs to solids, negative space and improv piecing, ask the shop about its schedule.

The Utah Quilt Guild, statewide

The state guild describes itself as a community of more than 500 quilters from Utah and surrounding states, with more than 30 quilt groups from north to south. Local groups can become chartered chapters once three of their members (including the president) belong to the state guild, and chartered chapters can request $50, $100 or $300 toward prizes for their own quilt show, depending on how many state members they have.

Its big event is Quilt Fest, which the guild calls the largest quilting event in Utah. The 2026 edition ran October 6 to 10 at the Davis Conference Center in Layton, with classes, a vendor mall, lunches with presentations, a Quilts of Valor charity sew night, and a free "Community Intro to Quilting" on the Saturday morning. Full event admission was $40 for members and $80 for non-members; quilt-show-only tickets were $5 presale or $10 at the door. State guild members can enter their first quilt in the show free.

The show circuit, in calendar order

The Springville Museum of Art's Annual Utah Quilt Show

The anchor of the summer. The museum's 2026 show, its 52nd, hung from July 18 to September 26 at 126 East 400 South in Springville, presented with the Utah Valley Quilt Guild and supported by Corn Wagon Quilt Company. It is juried twice: a committee of expert quilters screens entries before the show, and judges award ribbons once it is hung, including Best of Show and Best Hand Quilting. Every quilt that hangs gets critique feedback from the judges.

The 2026 entry rules, worth reading before you start a quilt you hope to enter:

• Open to current and previous Utah residents.
• Up to two quilts not previously entered in this show, completed within the last three years.
• No kits, full or partial. No longer than 120 inches. Two layers of fabric with batting between, machine or hand quilted.
• A label sewn to the back bottom with the quilt's name, the entrant, who quilted it and the date.
• A hanging sleeve made the museum's specific way (a 5-inch folded strip basted 2 inches below the fold), which the museum says is unique to this show. Quilts not prepared to its criteria are disqualified.
• An $18 non-refundable fee per quilt, online paperwork at least 24 hours before intake, and drop-off in disposable plastic bags on the intake days (July 10 and 11 in 2026).

The museum lists its hours as Tuesday to Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with Wednesday until 8 p.m. and a Monday evening opening from 6 to 8 p.m.; it is closed Sundays and holidays.

The Garden of Quilts at Thanksgiving Point

A September exhibit of quilts hung in Ashton Gardens. Our quilt shop guide has the 2026 dates and our Ashton Gardens guide covers the gardens.

Payson's Annual Quilt Show

KSL's events listing shows the 2026 show at the Peteetneet Museum and Cultural Arts Center, 10 North 600 East in Payson, opening at 10 a.m. each day from Wednesday, October 21, through Saturday, October 24. Call the museum or check Payson City's events page for entry rules if you want to show a quilt.

The Holiday Quilt Show and Auction

The one that most clearly reflects Utah's hand-quilting tradition. Intermountain Foundation says the show began in 1983 and is now one of the last remaining all-hand-quilted shows in the United States, with more than $4.75 million raised for Intermountain's work. Volunteer groups, including at least one Utah Valley bee, hand-quilt donated quilts that are shown and then auctioned.

The 2026 show is at The Show Barn at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi: Tuesday and Wednesday, November 10 and 11, 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., and Thursday, November 12, 9:30 a.m. to noon, with $10 tickets at the door or online. The dinner and auction is the evening of November 12, at $150 a person or $1,200 for a table of eight. Quilts donated for 2026 had to be turned in by August 25. Intermountain's own page calls the show both "biennial" and an event held "each year," and the Utah Quilt Guild's page says "each year"; confirm the next edition's date before you plan a quilt for it.

City festival quilt shows

Several city celebrations hang a quilt show for a day or two, usually at a senior center, library or park. Besides Spanish Fork's Fiesta Days, Provo.com's Steel Days guide notes a quilt show at the American Fork senior center, and the Daily Herald's August 2025 calendar listed quilt shows as part of Salem Days and Alpine Days. They are small and local, which makes them a gentle first place to hang a quilt; ask the organizer whether a show is judged before you enter. Our Salem Days guide and Spanish Fork Fiesta Days guide cover those weeks.

County and state fairs

The county fair runs open-class divisions for quilting and needlework alongside baking and photography, with entries registered ahead and delivered in an intake window before opening day. Our Utah County Fair guide explains how to enter.

A first year in the quilting community

1. Go to one guild meeting as a visitor. Bring a project for show and tell if you are brave.
2. Join for $15 if it feels right, and put your name in for the next Service Day; it is the fastest way to meet people.
3. Ask about a bee near where you live.
4. Walk the Springville show in August, then decide whether next year's quilt is going to be an entry. Its rules on age, kits and sleeves shape how you make it.
5. Plan for a retreat in your second year. The guild's November retreat filled its 120 spots by spring in 2026. Our guide to craft retreats near Provo covers retreat houses that groups rent on their own.

For machines and fabric, see our sewing machines guide, and for every Utah Valley handmade market by season, our year-round makers' market calendar.

JoAnn Giordano

Editor-in-Chief

JoAnn Giordano is the editor-in-chief of Provo.com. Having lived in and around Utah Valley for years, she leads the site's editorial direction with a focus on the comprehensive, honest local coverage that helps residents, students, and newcomers feel at home. When she's not shaping Provo.com's restaurant and neighborhood coverage, she's exploring the valley's trails and tracking down the best new spots on Center Street.

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