When Monique Kleinhans makes her quilts, she takes in her beautiful surroundings and lets them inspire her.

Her landscape quilts are works of art, with complicated threading creating familiar sights such as a red jammer bus making its way past Glacier National Park’s Weeping Wall.

That’s why Kleinhans has been selected as the 2014 featured quilter for the Flathead Quilters Guild Annual Quilt Show.

The 33rd show will run 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26, and 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27 at the Flathead County Fairgrounds. Hundreds of items will be on display at the “Quilting with the Stars”-themed show, and guests are invited to vote for their favorite on Friday.

Many quilts, including some by Kleinhans, will be for sale.

Kleinhans, 42, got into quilting with her mother, Yvonne, when she graduated from college. She had a theater background with experience sewing costumes.

“My friends all started getting married and having babies and I started making quilts for them because that’s just what you do,” Kleinhans said. “And once I discovered it was like building puzzles with fabric, I was hooked.”

She was born and raised in the Flathead but moved away after college until 2007, when she returned with a splash on the quilting scene.

“I do traditional quilting, but I also do thread art, thread painting and bobbin work,” Kleinhans said. “But I definitely would say I gravitate toward landscape and pictoral quilts.”

Thread painting is a type of embroidery over fabrics to make minute details come to life on the quilts.

Kleinhans said the amount of quilting talent in the valley is humbling, and her selection by the Flathead Quilters Guild as the featured artist in the annual show was even more so.

“I am completely honored by it,” she said. “There is such amazing quality in the depth and breadth of quilters in this area. There are so many talented national artists here.”

Tammy Doane, the organizer of the Flathead Quilt Show, said Kleinhans was a great choice.

“She’s been with the guild for several years,” she said. “She splits between art and traditional quilts and they are beautiful.”

Several younger women belong to the guild, but the majority are retirees.

Kleinhans’ website, www.ladybugscabin.com, showcases some of her work as well as putting some pieces up for sale.

She donates and gifts many of her creations, but also sells pieces of art. For the former, she expects people to use them.

“It’s great to create something tangible,” Kleinhans said. “You put your well wishes and love into something they will use. You can curl up with it, there aren’t many art forms you can say that about.”

The traditional quilts tend to take less time than others, and she said she can complete a queen-sized quilt in a little more than 20 hours. Next on her quilting agenda is to make some themed quilts about U.S. national parks. A Yellowstone quilt is in the works.

“I got a chance to get down there recently,” Kleinhans said. “The quilt will feature the sights people see when they go to the parks, the iconic sights.”

This year’s quilt show will donate money to Wings Regional Cancer Support and Kleinhans said the show will also be a good shopping opportunity for Christmas as well as a charitable one.

“To be able to walk down aisles of colors and patterns is a great thing,” she said. “It’s a fun event.”

Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.