History

In 1999, Betty Dahlin and Valerie Begeman came to Lou Schuelke and Sherryl Alexander with the idea of having an outdoor quilt show in Hill City, in addition to their Great Black Hills Quilt Escape Retreat.  At that time, we formed the Heart of the Hills Quilters, and the first quilt show was held in 2000.

We continued under the name of Great Black Hills Outdoor Quilt Show and Classes through 2002.  During 2003 and 2004, the quilt show was classed as a featured state event by the South Dakota Board of Tourism and the Governor’s Top Ten Events.  This provided a lot of advertising that we did not have to pay for.  It was a win-win situation for us.  We hung all of the quilts that were entered outside, either at the fronts of the businesses or on teepee poles that we constructed for this event.  It always looked so beautiful.

In 2003 the Great Black Hills Quilt Escape decided to move their retreat to a space in Lead, so we changed the name of our show to Hill City Outdoor Quilt Show and Sale.  The Hill City Chamber of Commerce came on board with the Heart of the Hills Quilters to put on the show in Hill City.  We continued to have classes for a few more years.

In 2004 we were chosen as one of ABA’s Top 100 Events in North America.  This was a great honor and ​provided more publicity for our show.

In 2010 we moved the bigger part of our show inside at the Hill City School and made a two-day event ​for the quilt show.  We continued to have some quilts hung outside, but most were inside.  The wind was ​always a challenge with the outdoor quilts.

For the last several years the Hill City Arts Council and the Hill City Chamber have organized the show ​with the help of the quilt guild.  This year the quilt guild will be organizing the show again.

In 2019, we expanded the show to include fiber arts. The Hill City Quilt and Fiber Arts show continues ​today to be a very popular event for those who want to display their quilts or fiber art and those who just ​want to come and enjoy them.