Submitted photo Work by Janelle M. Nelling, above, will be on display during the 2025 Log Cabin Quilters Guild’s annual Quilt Show during the Mountain State Forest Festival. The event will take place Oct. 2 through Oct. 4.

ELKINS — The Log Cabin Quilters Guild’s Quilt Show during the Mountain State Forest Festival has established itself as a popular annual attraction during the autumn celebration.

The Quilt Show, which has consistently drawn more than 3,000 visitors and close to 100 vendors the past several years, will once again be offered at the Elkins/Randolph County YMCA. This year’s event will run Oct. 2 through Oct. 4, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the first two days (Thursday and Friday) and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.

“A beautiful collection of hand-quilted quilts will be on display and a wooden hoop will be set up for visitors to try their hand at quilting,” Quilt Show organizer Deb Curtis told The Inter-Mountain. “Additionally, visitors can enjoy gazing at youth quilts, a Quilt of Valor, and a gorgeous embroidered quilted wall hanging, which was done by hand and received special recognition by a National Association of Certified Quilt Judge at the West Virginia Quilt Festival held last month.”

In addition to the array of quilts on display, a section will be set up to highlight festival queens and their families. Guests are encouraged to browse the attractive Quilt Market, where an assortment of hand-made items will be available.

This year’s Featured Guild Member is Janelle M. Nelling, while Mary Ellen Lemons will serve as Featured Guest Quilter for the event.

Nelling was born in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and her earliest memories of quilting date back to when she was a child and sitting alongside her grandmother and her sewing machine. After graduating from college, she purchased her own first sewing machine and worked on improving her craft over the years.

“I tried to improve my skills with a hobby I could control,” Nelling said. “I read quilt books and magazines, attended quilt shows, watched quilting television shows, and joined quilt guilds. My early quilts are train wrecks professing to be quilts. I persevered and with each quilt, large or small, I tried to improve my skills a bit at a time.

“I like to experiment with anything that catches my attention. I cannot help myself, if I see a technique or pattern, off I go. I have more quilts in my head than I will ever be able to stitch in my lifetime… My quilts in the show are a progression of my quilting from piercing, knowledge of materials, and finishing techniques.”

Lemons, meanwhile, is a West Virginia native, born and raised in Buckhannon. She has been sewing since childhood. Her earliest stitching memory is quilting alongside her grandmother. She learned many machine skills from her mother, who was a seamstress, and her father, a tailor and dry cleaner.

Since 1983, Lemons has been perfecting her skills and techniques. She is known as an experienced quilting instructor, speaker and award-winning quilter. She taught community education piecing and quilting classes for the Upshur County Board of Education for 20 years.

Lemons has exhibited her personal quilts and won recognition in many state shows, including the West Virginia State Fair, West Virginia Quilt Festival, West Virginia Cultural Center, and the West Virginia Strawberry Festival.

Significantly, she has been awarded the Best Machine Quilter Award and the Certificate of Merit for Excellence in Quilting Design, Judge’s Choice, People’s Choice, and Best In Show for various quilts.  

In 2011, Lemon acquired a long-arm quilting machine and started Lemon Twist Quilting. She works closely with her clients to enhance and complete their quilts. She especially enjoys walking into quilt shows and seeing ribbons on their quilts.

“We’re excited to present Mary Ellen Lemons as the Featured Guest Quilter this year,” Curtis said. “Her collection consists of charming wool and applique pieces. Janelle Nelling is the Featured Guild Member Quilter, whose lovely quilts will show her progression as a beginner to a fully-accomplished quilter.”

Lemons

Nelling