Congratulations to Marilyn Badger for winning Road 2020 Best of Show for Christmas in St. Andrews. Marilyn received $10,000 from Road to California’s Platinum Sponsor, Gammill Quilting Systems.
Lucky to Win
The winner for the Road 2020 Best of Show, Marilyn Badger, is no stranger to winning awards and being a featured artist at Road to California. Keeping that in mind, Marilyn commented that winning this coveted Best of Show award at the 25th Anniversary Show was special as “I know how difficult Best of Show awards are to come by – the competition is incredible today! I also know how lucky I am when I win, whatever the award.”
Getting Started in Quilting
Marilyn’s journey in quilting began in the mid-70s while she and her husband were living on their boat in Marina del Rey, California. It was all hand piecing back then because of the lack of room for a sewing machine. When they moved ashore in 1986, Marilyn became interested in machine quilting and purchased her first longarm machine in 1991.
Inspiration for Christmas at St. Andrews
Claudia Clark Myers came up with the design and challenged Marilyn to use the plaid fabric in the background. After all the piecing, appliqué and quilting, Marilyn really “had fun” adding the hand details and trims.
It took Marilyn about 9 months to complete Christmas in St. Andrews. She said that she tends to be somewhat obsessive about getting a quilt finished before starting another one. Quite a few were waiting in line when she was working on this one. By the time it was finished, she was more than ready to move on to the next one. Marilyn said she really learned a lot about matching plaid seams on this one. She eventually used 6 yards of fabric by the time she fussy cut everything.
Winning Road 2020 Best of Show
How did Marilyn hear the news that she had won? Another Road 2020 winner, Janet Stone, sent Marilyn a message late Wednesday night, January 22nd, that Marilyn had won Road 2020 Best of Show. Marilyn was “flabbergasted” that she had won. At first, she thought it must have been a mistake until she got a second message from another friend.
She’s not sure what she will do with the prize money but feels that she’s “sure I’ll think of something fun to do with it.”
What’s Next?
Marilyn just finished a new quilt in time to enter it in the AQS Daytona Beach show this month (February 2020) and is adding lots of hand embroidery to a new quilt which she hopes to have ready as an entry for Road 2021.
[…] Badger is another pioneer who is still out there winning major awards (just recently, Best in Show at the 2020 Road to California for her quilt Christmas in St. […]