The 35th Upper Cumberland Quilt Festival

April 4-5, 2025

Algood, Tennessee

Over 500 quilts and needlework art on display at six sites

Hope Church Multi-Purpose Room and 931 Building; Algood United Methodist Church; Algood City Hall, Signature HealthCARE of Putnam County, and White Plains House

Theme: Preserving Tradition

Festival dedicated to “A Memory of a Life Well Lived,” Melinda West Bilbrey

Lunch available at multiple sites (see schedule below)

Special Exhibitions – The Quilts of Brenda Curtis,” Owner of Aunt Bea’s Farmhouse Quilt Shop in Granville, TN.

“Our Favorite Quilts of Anne Barrett,”

Best of Show Award and Judges Choice

Preview Dinner & Auction, Tuesday, April 1, 2025

Home and Barn Tour, Thursday, April 3, 2025

Melinda West Bilbrey
“Memory of a Life Well-Lived”

The Upper Cumberland Quilt Festival Board will honor the memory of Melinda West Bilbrey in 2025 as a part of the 35th Upper Cumberland Quilt Festival.

Melinda, a lifelong quilt collector, served on the Quilt Festival Board for the past 25 years and was Chair of the Algood Senior Citizen Center Board for the past 20 years. Melinda’s love of quilts came from family members who were quilters and quilt collectors. Her Aunt Nola Mae Needham was instrumental in instilling a love of quilts in Melinda as a young person. Melinda’s Mother and Grandmothers also contributed to her love of quilts.

Melinda gave so willingly of her time and talents to several different charities. She served on the Board of Alzheimer’s Tennessee and the Community Health Ministry. She was on the Advisory Board of the Area Agency on Aging and Disabilities. Melinda was a long time member and attended Hope Church along with her family, husband Howard and daughter Sara. Her workplace, Signature HealthCARE of Putnam County, was brought into the quilt show in an important way because of Melinda. Her sense of humor and exceptional talent for relating and working with people was invaluable to the Quilt Board as they worked together all year to plan the quilt show.

“I loved to hear my cousin, Melinda, pray. I always felt the presence of God when she prayed. There was never a question that God was hearing her prayer. And, I always felt better after she prayed in my presence. I will miss that.” – John Allen

The Upper Cumberland Quilt Festival Board of Directors share these memories to remind us all of a life well lived, with purpose and faith.

Our Quilts at the Putnam County Fair

2024 Best of Show by Jacque Love

2024 Judges' Choice by Anne Barrett, AL

2024 Lisa Smith, Smith County

A full house at the 2024 Preview Dinner and Auction
The Largest in History

Testimonials

Just wanted to tell you and all the people who worked on the quilt festival how wonderful my sister and I thought it was. We have gone to our share of these festivals and we thought it was the best! We liked how you had the quilts displayed at different locations and of course the best was the tour of quilt patterns on barns. We are looking forward to next year.

Lynn Calcota and Connie Denton

Palestine, TX

Let me begin by saying, “WOW”, you all put on a GREAT event! I was part of the group of ladies attending Thursday and Friday from Monroe County, KY. We all had a GREAT time! And every one of us was inspired! I thought my vehicle was full of chatter on the way down, but that was nothing compared to the trip back home!! The Barn and Home Tour was a very nice mix of quilts, local history, shopping, unique dining AND the great outdoors. We all enjoyed it. And, oh my gosh! I loved the lady at the white house! What an inspiration! As we came home, we discussed and pretty well designed a tour for our 2018 event! We will be finalizing it in the near future. You can watch for details at http://parks.ky.gov/parks/historicsites/old-mulkey/events.aspx. Thursday night’s dinner was GREAT! Not just the food, but the whole thing! There was such a feeling of community there! We just couldn’t get over the support you had from your elected officials and the banks!! We are sooooooo jealous! Everywhere we went, everyone we talked to was polite! There were no exceptions to that! Oh course, the frosting on the cake was sitting at the auctioneer’s table. Talk about an advocate for his community! Wow, you all should give him a prize! Thanks to him, I will be attending the upcoming “Cooking on the Square”. 2018 is the year of Food for Kentucky and I might host a similar event here. Friday was GREAT too! We made so many good contacts and got so many great ideas! I think EVERY one of us purchased something at the Country Store. We found all the stops right away except for the nursing home. But one quick correction and we were able to get to it easily enough. I am already looking forward to coming back next year and bringing my mother. And I’m challenging our local quilters to participate in your show. Security is always a question for them, but from what I saw, you all have that covered! Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us. We really appreciated it. You all did a wonderful job! Congrats on a GREAT event.

Sheila Rush, Manager, Old Mulkey Meetinghouse State Historic Site, 38 Old Mulkey Park Road, Tompkinsville, KY 42167

Home of the annual “Celebration of Quilts & Quilting”

A HUGE thanks go to you, your board, and cheerful volunteers. We were impressed by so many aspects from the street post festival banners (that helped build anticipation) and the well placed signage at destination spots, to the workshop and variety of quilts on view. And that does not even touch our fantastic homemade lunch and that fried apple pie!!! The hospitality was truly special and I appreciate all you personally did to make our visit one for the books. I know successfully coordinating something as large as the festival takes commitment, countless hours, buckets of patience, and super herding skills. You made it look easy. Thank you for your thoughtful parting tokens. I was charmed.

Krishna Adams Director of Visual Arts, Craft, Media, and Design Tennessee Arts Commission 401 Charlotte Avenue Nashville, TN 37243 O: 615.532.9798

Cultivating the arts for the benefit of all Tennesseans and their communities.

Thanks so much for sharing all of the pictures and the follow-up report. You get a five-star rating. I must tell you that I have worked in Tourism for about 40 years and dealt with a lot of festivals. I work with a non-profit group in southern Middle Tennessee called Tennessee's Backroads Heritage. Over that many years, I have seen a lot but I have to say that this event with the coverage, follow-up, youth involvement, etc. is one of the best I have ever seen for a small town. Your event was over the top. Kudos to you and all of your team.

Linda Murray

Tennessee’s Backroads Heritage