Without teachers whose innovative ideas and passion for sharing their knowledge, there would not be machine quilting shows like Machine Quilters Exposition (MQX). These women and men have revolutionized machine quilting, turning the general quilting industry on its ear and brought machine quilting from being shunned to an accepted art form. MQX would like to acknowledge and honor one of these teachers with the First Annual Machine Quilting Teacher-of-the-Year Award.

Nominations for this award will be accepted from December 1, 2006 through February 1, 2007. Instead of this contest being exclusively by popular vote (although popularity will certainly be considered), the winner will be chosen from nomination essays received and reviewed by a panel of impartial members of the machine quilting community. In 300 words or less, please help our panel understand how this teacher has not only impacted you as a machine quilter, but how you feel this teacher may have impacted the machine quilting community as a whole.

This award is open to all machine quilting teachers throughout the industry, not just teachers at MQX. Please submit your nomination essay by email to MQXShow@comcast.net, in a Word document if at all possible, with "Machine Quilting Teacher-of-the-Year" in the subject line.

The winner of the 2007 Machine Quilting Teacher-of-the-Year Award will be notified by phone by April 2nd, and publicly announced at the MQX Banquet and Awards Celebration on Friday, April 13th, 2007.

For additional information, call 866-675-4355, email MQX@comcast.net or visit the website www.MQXShow.com