NEW ULM — Theresa Westrup was smiling a lot talking while with friends and quilting enthusiasts at the 2026 New Ulm Quilt Show at the Royal Oak Event Center Friday.

“Quilting has been a wonderful hobby. I find myself in my ‘happy place’ when stitching a quilt together,” she said.

The featured quilter at the show, she admitted to making thousands of quilts over the past 45 years, but said the quilt with a number of garden flowers may be her favorite.

“When I sold my house a few years ago, I left my flower gardens behind, so I made a garden quilt I hang in my dining room now so everybody can see it,” said Westrup.

She began quilting after taking a New Ulm Community Education class on quilting and tailoring in September 1980.

“I came home after the class and couldn’t get to sleep that night, because all I could see was quilts. I still dream about them, especially when I’m having a hard time deciding what color to use,” Westrup said. “I’ve quilt almost every day.”

She made quilts for her 12 grandchildren when they were born, added a matching teddy bear to quilts for their first Christmas and gave them quilts when they were married.

Westrup said she enjoys putting together scrappy quilts using small pieces.

Her motto to family and friends is “quilts are to be used.”

She makes charity quilts for the Heart to Home Furnishings organization that donates household items to those in need in Brown County.

She said quilting is therapeutic for her.

“Quilting helped me after my husband Dave died 25 years ago. I just love making quilts with patterns I like,” said Westrup. “I don’t hand quilt everything anymore. Forty-five years of making quilts takes a toll on your hands. A friend does the machine quilting for me. I do the rest.”

She worked for 15 years in the New Ulm Public Library reference department. Her husband Dave was a 3M engineer.

When asked if she would ever stop quilting, she replied “heavens, no.”

“Most of my friends are quilters. We give each other ideas on what to buy and quilt,” said Westrup.

Prairie Piecemakers Quilt Guild members Deb Raschke and Nancy Sponholz of New Ulm said they hear a lot of positive feedback from people about the quilt show.

“We get a lot of Twin Cities metro and Iowa people at the show,” said Raschke. “Our two quilt stores in New Ulm are a big draw to begin with. The quilt guild make quilts for veterans, newborns, people in crisis and New Ulm Medical Center cancer patients.”

“People tell us when they leave the show that our show is as good as the state quilters guild quilt show that takes place in bigger cities around the state,” said Sponholz. “Our quilts at the show are all made by Prairie Piecemakers Quilt Guild members. We love to share what we’ve been doing with everyone who walks in the door. We have young quilters and people who have been doing it for a long time.”

The guild now has more than 80 members. It meets at 7 p.m. on the second Thursday of the months of May through September. The guilt can be followed on Facebook.

The New Ulm Quilt Show happens every other year. The show continues from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.