Every Stitch An ‘Act Of Love’: Mesas To Monuments Quilt Show To Feature 174 Artworks

With nearly 250 combined years of membership, Sunset Slope Quilters’ Orchard Stitchers — one of the guild’s dedicated sewing groups — organizes and delivers all donated quilts each year. Pictured in the center, Joan Walker has been an active member of the guild for more than 25 years. Photos courtesy of Sunset Slope Quilters.

Karen Murray Boston started quilting 14 years ago after her husband bought her a quilting lesson for Valentine’s Day — which means he can’t complain about the time or money she spends on her hobby, she says jokingly. The sewing pastime apparently runs in the family. A quilt his great-great-grandmother made with the embroidered names of Civil War veterans hangs in the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Boston belongs to Sunset Slope Quilters, a group of approximate 180 members celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. The club is also gearing up for its 2026 Mesas to Monuments Quilt Show, May 1-2. The exhibit, which happens every other year, will feature 174 quilts — both traditional and antique quilts, as well as art quilts. The event also includes a trunk show, an antique quilt bed turning and a silent auction both days.

About half of its members meet monthly at a local church for a “show and tell” of whatever they’re working on, to learn new techniques from guest speakers and plan collaborative quilts to give away. “A main reason we get together is to make quilts for the community,” says member Shari Keivit.

Karen Murray Boston says she was “born too late,” which fuels her passion for vintage and heritage crafts. A hobby farmer and triathlete, she began quilting 12 years ago after discovering a Civil War-era family quilt on her husband’s side — now housed at the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska. Pictured here, her Underground Railroad Quilt incorporates both African and Australian fabrics, honoring the legacy of the enslaved from both regions.

In 2024, the group donated more than 250 quilts for various organizations serving homeless youth and other unhoused community members, hospice patients and survivors of domestic abuse. Sunset Slope Quilters also donate quilts to oncology and pediatric patients at the Community Hospital and St. Mary’s Regional Hospital, Habitat for Humanity homebuilders and to the local chapter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, an organization that partners with Grand Junction High School students to make bed frames for kids in the community who don’t have their own beds.

Quilts have the ability to tell so many stories. Cindy Williams works on a quilt with blocks made by her grandmother. While she passed when Williams was young, the blocks form a generational connection between the two women and a link to the past.

Donated quilts are made by many hands, with one person piecing the fabrics together, while others do the quilting, the binding and so on. Typically, three to seven people work together on the quilts, all made with donated fabric. “At least once a month, we’re contacted by someone with a bundle of fabric to give away,” says Keivit. What they don’t use is re-donated to other groups who can use it.

“We sort through it and take the cream of the crop,” says member Jane Yater.

Additionally, in 2025, the group made 250 Christmas stockings to give to Mesa County foster children. Members then donated money to purchase items to fill the stockings.

In addition to their monthly business meetings, Sunset Slope Quilters gather once a quarter for a two-day “Sit and Sew” where they bring projects to work on. And, once a year in January, 50 members attend a retreat in Moab for three days of sewing at a local hotel.

In addition to their biennial quilt show, Sunset Slope Quilters hang a new quilt each month at St. Mary’s Advance Medical Pavilion. Plus, the group hosts mini shows and fundraisers at Barnes & Noble Booksellers in the spring and winter. The Mesa County Central Library is now hosting a mini quilt show through April 9 at 443 N. 6th Street in Grand Junction.

“The Mesas to Monuments show is a sharing of what we love so much,” says Keivit, who recently gave her mother-in-law a quilt. “Each stitch is an act of love. A quilt is a way to send a hug; it provides warmth. It’s very personal. We’re hoping people can feel that, our caring.”

The show will include several categories, from hand-quilted, appliquéd and embroidered pieces to machine stitching work. The show is from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday at the Grand Junction Convention Center, located at 159 Main Street. Admissions is $8; 12 and under free.

Sunset Slope Quilters meet at the First Presbyterian Church, 3940 27 ó Road, the second Wednesday of each month at 9 a.m. The group welcomes members of all abilities.

For more information, visit sunsetslopequilters.com/40th-anniversary.

Originally published in the spring 2026 issue of Spoke+Blossom.