BY EDIE GROSS

It was a last-minute decision for Mandie Burrell.

Though she'd been quilting for 12 years, she'd participated in only a few contests.

And though she'd earned several ribbons at state and local fairs, she didn't expect to get any recognition when she entered one of her creations in the American Quilter's Society's international competition.

So the King George County mother of three was stunned this summer to learn she was a semifinalist in a contest that drew hundreds of entries from 41 states and seven other countries.

Her quilt, along with 229 others, is on display this week at the AQS Quilt Show, a prestigious event in Des Moines, Iowa, that's expected to draw about 15,000 people.

"I am floored," said Burrell. "I never go to quilt shows. On a whim, I was, like, well, I'm just going to go ahead and send it in."

Though it took her eight months to piece together the queen-size quilt, Burrell called it "Simplicity" because of its traditional design. It's based on a pattern from 1860, she said.

The quilt earned second place at the 2009 Virginia State Fair and picked up a third-place ribbon at the 2010 Fredericksburg Agricultural Fair. That recognition would've been enough, she said. But in July, she learned that "Simplicity" was an AQS semifinalist, putting her in the running for $44,000 in prize money.

"I really, truly didn't expect anything from this quilt," she said. "Not that it's not good enough, but the competition is insane."

LOVE, SWEAT AND TEARS

Burrell, 36, grew up crocheting alongside her mother, but she didn't attempt quilting until about 12 years ago. At the time, she was working full time as a contractor at Dahlgren. One day, she picked up her kids at the baby sitter's house and noticed a beautiful quilt hanging over the woman's staircase railing.

"I said, 'Where did you get that?' She said, 'Oh, I made it,'" said Burrell, who was astonished. "I never knew quilting was an art, something you could do. I thought you just went to JCPenney and got a bed in a bag."