Kalona Quilt Show makes full return

KALONA — One of Kalona’s biggest events of the year took place last weekend.

Visitors from all over converged on the city for the annual Kalona Quilt Show at the Kalona Community Center.

“I don’t know the numbers or anything yet, but seems like there were a lot of new people,” organizer Katie Karnes, co-owner of Woodin Wheel Antiques, said Saturday morning. “The town was busy Friday.”

The show, which was in its 51st year, featured around 200 handmade quilts, both contemporary and antique.

The antique quilts range in date from as recent as 1940 to as far back as 1850, according to Karnes.

The show was canceled in 2020 and returned in 2021 with smaller numbers than previous years due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2022 show marked a full return for the event.

“Things have gone fairly well,” Karnes said. “We’ve had a lot of traffic and some sales. We’re doing good.”

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