QuiltWest 2026 Winners

Congratulations to Marina Forgiarini on winning the BERNINA WA Best in Show at QuiltWest 2026 with her stunning quilt entitled ‘Wildflower Wreath’. The work on this quilt needs to be seen up close and in person, or you might miss the blue wren amongst the native flowers. Marina won 1st Prize in the Mainly Appliqué Professional category with this quilt and it was wonderful to see a first time entrant win Best of Show. Lucky for us Marina’s friends ‘strongly’ encouraged her to enter her quilt.

Congratulations also to Janine Judge on Runner Up Best in Show with her entry Go GOSH, an amazing quilt that won 1st Prize in the Pictorial Quilts Professional category. Looking at this quilt, you can almost feel the power of the wind and ocean—something Janine experienced first hand when she participated in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. What an extraordinary adventure to inspire a striking quilt.

The first two days of the show have seen a lot of people walking up and down the aisles, some doing multiple laps as once around is not enough. There is such a variety of techniques, colours and designs in the quilts on display. The WAQA groups with a table (Community Quilts, Beginners, Contemporary Quilt Group and Young Sew ‘n’ Sews) have been kept busy chatting with people wanting to know more about WAQA. The display of quilts from Albany has also been very well received, with people lingering to read the information provided.

QuiltWest runs for two more days, so if you have not as yet visited, there is still plenty of time to come along and have a look. You can vote for your favourite quilt which will be announced early Sunday afternoon, before the show ends at 4pm.

Photos of all the prize-winning quilts will be made available on the Galleries of Quilts page on the website by the week.