By Shannon Hicks

Grand slam homer.

Super Bowl Champs.

In a class of their own.

There are certain phrases that people love to hear in their field of expertise, and young Newtown resident Emily Berube recently heard one of the best for any artist: Best In Show.

A few weekends ago, after entering a quilt into The Bridgewater Fair’s Junior Needlework Competition, Emily brought home her first pair of ribbons. One was a blue ribbon denoting first place for quilted wall hangings, and the second was a ribbon with those three magic words on it.

“I was really happy, and very excited to tell Miss Vivian,” the 12-year-old recently said. An eighth grade student at St Rose School this year, Emily started quilting just one year ago, under the tutelage of Vivian Hultgren at Homestead Quilts.

Emily’s quilt is called “The Asian Emperor’s Wall Quilt” and it is decidedly Asian in its choice of patterns, designs, and fabric. It measures 50 by 50 inches, and was mostly machine pieced. An acquaintance in Florida took care of finishing the long arm portion of the quilt once Emily finished her work.

Emily picked the fabrics for the quilt herself, sticking with cottons that featured white herons and cascading wisteria in shades of light blue, lilac, and white on a predominantly black background for the center panel, and repeating diamonds accented with patterns featuring purple and gold for the border. The judges noticed the selection. One note on the reverse of her first place ribbon commended Emily for her “great fabric choices.”

It was the first quilt project for Emily, who began sewing lessons in September 2008. She did a small bag with a zipper, then a pillow and pillowcases, and finally a table runner, before she began what became “The Asian Emperor’s Wall Quilt” after the holidays.

The Bridgewater Fair ran the weekend of August 21–23, and all needlework entries had to be mailed to the home of Needlework Chairman Coreen Burns no later than August 10. Emily and parents Susan and Ronald did not know how well the quilt did until the final morning of the fair.

“Her teacher kept telling us she would win a prize and I didn’t want her to be disappointed, but we decided to try,” said Susan Berube. “We couldn’t get over to the fair until Sunday morning, and Emily was the first one to see everything. It was wonderful.”

In addition to the ribbons, there was also a $5 check from the parade committee for the top junior quilt winner.

Emily had already planned on displaying the quilt on a wall at home when she incorporated a rod pocket on the upper reverse edge of the quilted work while it was in progress. Now she can plan to add two additional hangings to that wall: A pair of blue ribbons.