"Nimble, Nimble" by Heidi Parkes won Best Handwork at Quilt National '25.

Artist Statement: "This hand sewn Diary Quilt grew with me from August 2023 through February 2024, a time when I was navigating shoulder tendonitis, shifting from a home studio to a public-facing artist’s residency, launching an exciting yearlong quiltmaking course, and beginning my first daily prescription. For me, a Diary Quilt is different from an autobiography. Textile artifacts stand in as symbols, and perspective shifts from aerial map, to tracing, and to outlining a calendar. During a time when I desired to be nimble, like my favorite animal the rabbit, I cast a spell as I stitched."

Techniques Used: Hand Appliquéd, Hand Embroidered, and Hand Quilted

Materials Used: A vintage bed-covering from Japan, my dad's shirt, silk from my grandmother, retired clothing, and cotton thread

(Photos from Heidi Parkes' website, heidiparkes.com)