Hey, everyone!

It’s Great WI Quilt Show Time again, and the madness has officially begun! Jess and crew left bright and early this morning and are already down in Madison getting everything ready for opening day tomorrow. She and Amy have been hard at work building our monstrosity of a booth back in the warehouse here at PG for about a month, so getting to watch all their blood, sweat, and tears finally come to fruition has to feel pretty darn good right about now.

As I mentioned, Jess isn’t at the show setting the Primitive Gatherings booth all up all alone. The STITCH Brothers (Luke and Jake) are there taking care of the BERNINA side of things along with my longarmers Tyler and Colleen. Then we have Jackson for bean counting and computing purposes, my store manager Barb to keep everyone in line, and a handful of the best shop girls a quilt shop owner could ever ask for — there to do the real work of manning the booth and registers during the show. That said, it takes a pretty solid crew to pull something like this off every year, and I want the world to know how lucky I am to have each and every one of them on my team. Special thanks to them all!!!

Have you seen this year’s show spread? Between the quilt exhibits, the vendor mall, workshops, lectures, Sit & Sews, stage presentations, and all the other things happening over the next three days, there is a LOT to see and do at the 2026 Great WI Quilt Show. The vendor mall alone covers 100,000 square feet, with vendors bringing fabrics, kits, patterns, notions, machines, and plenty of other goodies.

And then you have the quilts… ahh, the QUILTS — what a treat! With a juried and judged competition and special exhibits to wander through, you’ll see everything from modern minis and quilted fashion to some pretty spectacular fiber art. Below is a map of this year’s layout (there is a full list of booth assignments available on the PDF version — we are listed as Primitive Gatherings Quilt Shop/BERNINA 1135-38, 1201-04). Want a printed copy? Grab the PDF version by clicking the button below the map!

Wondering where you’ll find us in all the quilt-show madness? We’re all the way back in the vendor mall, right next to the classroom, so you really can’t miss us. Between the shop side of the booth and the BERNINA area, we have one of the largest booths at the show (if not the largest) which I would say makes us fairly easy to spot! The shop side will be filled with lots of quilting goodies to browse, while the BERNINA boys will have longarms set up and ready to let you try before you buy. Whether you’re on the hunt for a new machine or browsing for your next big project, please feel free to stop by and say hello!

If you’re headed to Madison from out of town, there are a few things you’ll want to know before you plan your trip. The show opens tomorrow at the Alliant Energy Center, located at 1919 Alliant Energy Center Way in Madison, Wisconsin. One-day admission is $12 in advance or $15 at the door, with two-day and three-day passes available if you plan on going more than one day. Tickets can be purchased at the door or by clicking the button below. Parking at the Alliant Energy Center is $10 per car per day, and heads up — this year it’s cashless, so don’t show up with a pocketful of twenties expecting to pay for parking the old-fashioned way because they don’t accept it.

Shenanigans start at 9 a.m. and run through Saturday, September 12, 2026, which is plenty of time to shop, learn, admire the quilts, and get yourself into a little bit of trouble in the Primitive Gatherings booth. Thursday and Friday, the show runs until 6 p.m., and Saturday wraps up at 5 p.m., so there’s no reason to try squeezing everything into one mad dash through the aisles if you don’t have to. Give yourself some time, wear comfortable shoes, and plan on making a day of it!

One last thing I need to mention… normally, I would be heading down for the first day of the show to help man our booth, but this year my schedule conflicts so I won’t be there tomorrow. Womp-womp, I know. I’m going to do my best to get there on Friday, but we’ll see. Either way, you can catch me LIVE tomorrow on my YouTube channel at 1:00 p.m. CST for my normal Thursday jam session in the studio. I’ll be hanging out with Heidi, Kali, and maybe a few extras too — we’ll see who wanders in! You can wander in too by hitting the STITCH button below. Hope to see you there! ~Lisa