From “staff reports” (that is, a rewritten press release) in the AC-T ...

PADUCAH, Ky. — Asheville area PTA Fiber Artists has been selected as a semifinalist for the 2009 AQS Quilt Expo, tomorrow through Saturday, at the Knoxville Convention Center in Knoxville, Tenn.

PTA Fiber Artists has been chosen to display their eight quilts along with 303 others in the annual contest. In its first year, the competition is offering more than $42,000 in total prize money. The challenge Laughter represents hundreds of hours of work. It honors the results when quilt guilds issue a challenge to their members. The quilt guild sets the rules, chooses the fabric(s), pattern, theme and other elements. The quilt guild then selects the top eight quilts to enter in the Ultimate Guild Challenge category.

This entry was chosen from a field of over 350 quilts. From this point on, the challenge will compete against others within its own category. Three quilting authorities will judge this elite group prior to the opening of the show. The individual challenge receiving First Place will win a $1,500 cash prize.

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090722/LOCAL/90722045

It’s kind of cool that a local quilting guild it holding their own in a big contest like this one. It sounds like this competition focuses on technique, and if anything there’s a lot of innovation in fiber arts here that could be useful.