Marilyn Dorwart’s love of quilting
started as a small girl while
watching her grandmother putting
wonderfully small stitches into the
beautiful quilts. Her quilting
career began when she started making
baby quilts for family members.
Appliqué was always her technique of
choice. Over the years, she
improved her stitch and expertise
and developed a “pre-assembled”
appliqué technique first used in her
winning entry for the State of
Florida in the 1986 Great American
Quilt Contest.
Marilyn serves on the Houston-based
International Quilt Association
Board as the financial
vice-president. She was the
chairperson of the Jury Committee
for the 2002 International Quilt
Festival in Houston. She was
invited to make the donation quilt
for the International Quilt
Association in Houston in 1998.
That quilt, “Oh My Stars and
Garden,” was very well received by
the committee, the attendees and the
thrilled quest who won the drawing.
As a NQA Certified Teacher, Marilyn
has enjoyed the privilege of
lecturing for many quilt guilds and
teaching many students. She was
featured on a regional television
show, Decorating Made Easy,
doing a segment called “Tricks of
the Trade.” The show is broadcast
on NBC and CBS of Palm Beach County
and airs in southeast Florida.
Marilyn’s quilted projects were
published in several national books
and magazines, such as Southern
Living Christmas issues and craft
books by Leisure Arts and Plaid
Publications. That Patchwork Place,
Inc. published her first book,
Tropical Punch, in 1997. Since
then, she has developed an extensive
line of patterns.
She recently closed her own quilting
supply shop, Quilters Marketplace,
in the summer of 2006. She was
twice nominated as businessperson of
the year in recognition of her
contribution to the area’s
merchants.
Katharine Stubbs Ward has been
quiltmaking since 1985, teaching since
1986, and judging since 1991. She has
been sewing since the age of three, and
quiltmaking has been a natural
transition. She feels that fabric is a
wonderful medium, and the creative
possibilities are endless! She is a
Florida native, and especially enjoys
making quilts that emphasize the beauty
of this state.
Kathy is active in The National Quilting
Association, having served as president
as well as several other board
positions. She is also a participant in
the state
organization- Sunshine State Quilting
Association-as well as the Palm Beach
County Quilters Guild. She has taught,
lectured, and judged locally, regionally
and nationally.
Judging has included shows from 10 items
to 400 items, so her experience is
extensive and varied. Teaching includes
hand and machine classes, though machine
appliqué and quilting are two of her
favorites. Creating unusual looks with a
variety of traditional materials is the
newest of her many interests.
Of her many awards, the one that is most
special to Kathy is the 1996 Teacher of
the Year by the Professional Quilters
Magazine. The National Quilting
Association certified Kathy as a
Beginning Quiltmaking Teacher in 1988
and Judge in 2001.
