Win a Handmade Quilt at This Year’s Kerens Cotton Harvest Festival
If you’ve never seen what a raffle quilt looks like when it’s made by someone who’s been perfecting their craft for decades, this is your year. Two quilts — each one a labor of love from local makers — will be up for grabs at the 2026 Kerens Cotton Harvest Festival, and tickets are already available.
One Quilt, All of Texas
The first quilt comes from Nancy Heath, a longtime contributor to the festival’s raffle who has quilted for the event for years. For this design, she pulled from a set of Texas-themed fabric panels she’d collected but never used, waiting for the right moment.
That moment turned into a quilt built around the outline of the state itself, with the Alamo at its heart. Ringing the border are smaller panels showing scenes and symbols most Texans will recognize on sight — prickly pear cactus, roadrunners, longhorn cattle, weathered boots, wide-open ranch land. It’s less a single image than a patchwork love letter to the state, and it’s the kind of piece that rewards a slow, close look rather than a quick glance.
A Second Quilt, Timed to a Big Anniversary
The second raffle piece has a different story behind it. Its maker, Shelley Kilcrease, has quilted since her school days and has leaned into it more seriously since retiring. With the nation’s 250th anniversary falling this year, she wanted her quilt to mark the occasion, so she built it entirely in red, white, and blue.
The design follows a star pattern she’d admired in a previous year’s work and had been waiting for the right excuse to try herself. Piecing and quilting it by machine, she says, turned into one of her favorite projects — proof that a familiar pattern can still feel fresh in someone else’s hands.
Getting a Ticket
Tickets run $5 each, or five tickets for $20. The easiest way to buy in is by calling the Kerens Library — ask for John McAdams, who can process a credit or debit card right over the phone. In-person purchases work too, either at the library itself in downtown Kerens or through festival committee members around town. Check the festival’s Facebook page for any additional ticket outlets as the date gets closer.
The Quilt Show Itself
Beyond the raffle, the festival’s Quilt Show runs across two days at Stockton Hall in downtown Kerens, with judging for both a People’s Choice and a Mayor’s Choice award. Entrants should plan to drop off their quilts the Thursday before the show opens, with display running the full weekend during daytime hours. There’s no fee to enter, and registration materials are available through the festival’s website or the library directly.
Vendors interested in setting up a booth — whether for crafts, food, or general merchandise — can also register online now, with a couple of pricing tiers depending on whether electrical access is needed.
Why It Matters
Every dollar raised through raffle ticket sales goes back into supporting the Kerens Library, so buying a ticket does double duty: a shot at owning a genuinely beautiful, handcrafted quilt, and a direct contribution to a local institution that could use the help. With two lucky winners walking away with a quilt this year, the odds are better than most raffles you’ll run into.
The full festival — now in its 22nd year — returns to Kerens with its usual lineup of community events. More details on the season’s schedule, contests, and exhibitors will be shared as the date approaches, so it’s worth keeping an eye out for updates.
