Doris Goins
Doris Goins lives in Kendallville, IN and grew up in a rural area of Ohio where she began learning the needle arts at an early age. She sustained a long working career in both school and public libraries, before opening her longarm machine quilting business, Loving Stitches, in 1996. In 2005, she became a professional quilt judge certified by the National Quilting Association. She has judged quilt shows both large and small throughout the country. Her quilts have won awards in numerous quilt shows, including those specifically for machine quilting, as well as, NQA, and the Hoffman Fabric Challenge. She is currently the treasurer of the newly formed National Association of Certified Quilt Judges.
She believes that it is not just her role to identify the best quilts for awards, but to provide substantive comments of both praise and constructive criticism for each entrant. She views judging as an educational vehicle to aid in the improvement of skills among quilt makers. During judging she not only looks for quilts which exhibit excellent workmanship and design, but also a personal reflection of the quilt maker which gives it a unique or unexpected twist.