Meet our Judge

Katharine Stubbs Ward has been working with a needle since childhood, both hand and machine. She has a love affair with fabrics, and even though she has worked with other mediums--clay, wood, paint--she always returns to fabric. Kathy's education includes a Bachelor of Science degree in home Economics/Fashion Merchandising and a Masters degree in Social Work, both from Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. She spent two years in the fashion industry as an Assistant Buyer, and sixteen years as a Social Worker with the State of Florida .Kathy began quilt-making in 1984, and began teaching quilt making in 1986 .In 1989 Kathy received Teacher's Certification from the National Quilting

Association (NQA). She has been involved in teaching since 1986, and teaching on the local, regional, and national levels since 1991. She became a Certified Judge (NQA) in 2001. Kathy is a charter member and Past President of the Palm Beach County Quilters Guild, charter member of AQS, and holds membership in Gold Coast Quilters Guild, International Quilt Association, and NQA. She has served on the NQA Board of Directors as Chapter Coordinator 1992-94, Nominating Committee 1994-96, Education Chairman 1996-98, and President 1998-2000. She is a charter member of the Sunshine State Quilters Association, serving two 2 year terms as secretary of that organization. Kathy is knowledgeable in teaching many techniques such as Beginning Quilt making, Machine Piecing and Machine Appliqué, Scrap Quilts, Baltimore Album style Hand Appliqué (for which she designs many Tropical Flower blocks), and specialty classes such as Trapunto and other texturing techniques. Her emphasis is machine techniques. She has taught at the

community schools, specialty shops, and at quilt shops and guilds around the country. She has written articles for Harris Publications and for The Quilting Quarterly, NQA‘s magazine.. She has added the job of Educator for Superior Thread Company to her resume’. Katharine's garments and quilts have been juried into and received awards locally and nationally, including the American Quilters' Society Fashion

Show, Quilters Heritage Celebration in Lancaster, PA, Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza, Pacific International Quilt Festival, the International Quilt Festival in Houston, and the AQS show in Nashville, TN. Kathy participated in the invitational 1996 Silver Dollar City Wall hanging Challenge, and the MAQS Museum Benefit Challenge in 1998-99. The Professional Quilter Magazine selected Kathy for their 1996 Teacher of the Year award. In July 1997 her one-woman show was hung at the NQA Gallery in Ellicott City,

Maryland. In the 2000s’ she has participated in several group invitational exhibits with an Art Quilt group.

Kathy loves teaching, and working with students who love fabric and the art of Quilt-making like she does! Machine work is her specialty, though the hand appliqué is very rewarding using her original blocks. Her goal is always to inspire and leave people enthusiastic for making something in fabric