In celebration of its 30th anniversary, the CAMEO Quilters Guild will be hosting a quilt show April 4-5.
By: Mike Koury | Woodward Talk | Published March 18, 2025
OAKLAND COUNTY — The CAMEO Quilters Guild will be hosting a quilt show next month in celebration of its 30th anniversary.
The guild’s 30th anniversary show, called “Bloom Together,” will be held April 4-5 at the First United Methodist Church of Troy, located at 6363 Livernois Road.
The event will feature more than 150 handmade quilts, from smaller 15-by-15-inch quilts to the massive 108-by-108-inch pieces that can take years to make.
“We’re showing them. We’ll have quilts throughout the space and people can come in and see the quilts. We do have vendors who will be there, selling fabric and quilting related items and things like that,” said Pleasant Ridge resident Rosemary Spatafora, of CAMEO. “CAMEO” stands for “Come And Meet Each Other.”
In addition to the quilt showings, there also will be a themed-basket auction and sales of quilt-shop-quality fabric.
While the focus of the show isn’t to sell quilts on-site, attendees who find quilts of interest can meet with quilt makers to strike up potential business deals.
“Some of the quilts, the makers may be selling them, but if that’s the case, they will put a little card on them saying ‘this quilt is for sale’ and put their name and contact info,” Spatafora said. “So it won’t be like, ‘Oh, you can come in and buy a quilt there.’ It’s mostly for people to come in and see the quilts.”
Theresa Nielsen, of Royal Oak, has been making quilts for over 35 years and has been to almost all of CAMEO’s quilt shows for the past 15.
Nielsen, who is in the middle of making 25 quilts at the moment, loves the process of making quilts, whether it’s shopping for the fabric or getting to share her quilts with other people.
“Some people think you can go to Walmart and get the same thing, and you can’t,” she said. “A real quilt is made not only with love, but a lot of hours and hand work. We have a passion like nothing else. It comes out in our work. I can work on a quilt for hours and let the day pass by.”
Nielsen said doing the quilt show is a lot of work, but the quilters end up with a nice display and the opportunity to talk to people about their work.
“I love talking to people about quilts, quilt making, and hoping to encourage … other people to take up quilting because it can be a lot of fun,” she said. “Sometimes people are scared that, ‘Oh, I gotta sew all those little pieces,’ or ‘I have to cut this out. What if I make a mistake?’ Every quilter makes a mistake. You live and learn from your mistakes and next quilt you make, you’ll do better. Everybody has that first quilt that they may not be proud of, don’t want to show it, but it’s out there. So, I love being a part of the quilt guild and being able to give back to other people.”
The show will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 4 and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 5. Admission for attendees to enter is $8, which will help support the group’s programs and charity work. Organizations supported by the event this year include HAVEN of Oakland County, Michigan Honor Flight, Orchard Children’s Services, Clawson United Methodist Church’s Layette Program and Royal Oak House Assisted Living. For more information, visit cameoquilters.org.