After seeing each winner’s work at Quilt Canada 2025, we asked how they take a quilt from good to great. In this case, Céleste Compion received the award for Excellence in Appliqué for Dutch Treat.

What a thrill to receive the award for Excellence in Appliqué at the National Juried Show! Judy Garden’s Dutch Treat quilt is a stunner and has won many awards for many stitchers since 2004. I feel honoured to be one of those stitchers!

All quilts have a story, but this one has more than that. It belongs to an invisible crowd of international cheerleaders who watched me stitch it over seven and half years. In all, this quilt took shape from January 2017 to May 2024.

When I started stitching it, I taught myself reverse appliqué from the excellent instructions in Judy Garden’s book. I was quite mortified that I had chosen to go public on social media with my progress as an absolute beginner.

The learning process

As a retired special education teacher, I treated this process like a textbook learning experience. I have spent many years explaining to sometimes reluctant students how the brain functions when learning. “You have to continue with repetitions to allow the brain to lay down neural pathways,” I would say.

Suddenly by week eight or so, my brain kicked in and my hands changed from clumsiness to dexterity. It was like learning to ride a bicycle!

Things I learnt along the way:

• The Dutch Treat quilt has been made by many quilters since 2004. It is a showstopper wherever it is seen, no matter who has made it. I am thrilled to be included in the story of this quilt.
• My choice to post my progress created an international audience, cheering me on all the way. It engaged a whole bunch of followers who also decided to start making Dutch Treat blocks themselves. Social media can be a fickle place, but it created a very positive and encouraging echo space for me.
• You do not start out being an expert, but practice definitely hones your skills.
• I included all the blocks I made from awkward beginner to expert skill level.
• A quilt with imperfections can win awards.

Further, I had collaborated with Peter Byrne by adding big-stitch quilting and embroidery to his indigo Shweshwe Vase quilt. This piece was awarded second place in the category for Landscape and Still Life in the National Juried Show.

Things I learnt along the way:

• Collaboration is rewarding.
• Say yes!

Main takeaway from the whole NJS experience:

• Don’t judge yourself so harshly!
• I still look at my own work with a very critical eye, but a bunch of people have given it a huge thumbs up.