The Mayor's challenge of picking a quilt

As he looks through the quilts, he’s just waiting to see the one that speaks to him the most.

He’s not looking closely at the stitching, the pattern chosen, but the overall appearance of the quilt.

It’s his job as Green River’s mayor to pick out a quilt each year to be given the Mayor’s Choice Award at Quilting on the Green, which took place this weekend, but it’s something Mayor Pete Rust doesn’t take lightly.

A lot of thought goes into the process he uses before a selection is made, even though he thinks otherwise.

“There’s not much to it,” Rust said. “It’s what just appeals to me.”

Rust admits that he doesn’t have any experience to judge the quilts professionally, but he does like to pick a winner based on how it appeals to him personally. This is what he has been told to do by the Quilting on the Green Committee.

Rust said it’s much like when he’s tasked with selecting his favorite piece of artwork at the Art on the Green event. Rust said he doesn’t know anything about what techniques artists use to create the paintings and sculptures, so he just picks the one that appeals to him the most.

Usually, when Rust goes down the Expedition Island Pavilion to pick out a quilt for the award, none of the quilts have been judged nor has their information been attached to the quilt yet. Rust said this year was different because the quilts were already judged and the ribbons and story behind the quilts were already attached to the quilt. He said it was pretty easy to ignore the sheets of paper with information about who made the quilt, where they were from and the stories behind the quilt, but he couldn’t ignore the big ribbons already attached to them.

Rust said he tries to ignore who made them and where they are from so he isn’t biased. He wants it to be solely based on what appeals to him personally, not whether or not the quilter is well-known among other quilters.

As for judging the quilts, Rust does know certain things appeal to him than others.

“Animals are a big deal to me,” Rust said.

He likes elf, buffalo and moose, but other animals are appealing as well. It’s his love for wildlife that is behind this passion. However, this time Rust went in a completely different direction.

“I picked out one for the colors,” he said. “I would have picked an animal, but I purposefully didn’t this time to be different.”

“I picked it before I saw that.” Rust said about picking a quilt that had a blue ribbon attached to it.

Rust said there were so many amazing designs it really was a difficult decision this year.

“I think it’s a great event in the community and I always enjoy it,” he said.