The third annual Celebration of Quilts Pittsburgh opens this weekend in a kaleidoscope of color.

Celebration of Quilts Pittsburgh will be Friday through Sunday, May 16-18, at La Roche College and welcomes avid quilters, beginners and those who just love to look at the variety of colors and quilt styles.

"You're just going to be bombarded with quilts," says Johanna Blanarik, of Ross Township, one of the show's organizers and owner of Piecing It Together, in Ross.

This year's show will feature work from eight Pittsburgh area quilting guilds as well as master classes, raffles, trunk shows and other activities. Each year the quilt show attracts about 1,000 people from Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas. In the past, participants have traveled from as far away as Washington state. And Blanarik expects this year's show to be just as popular.

"It's a special occasion," Blanarik says of the show. "It's a shame it doesn't last, it's like a party."

Carol Hartman, of Franklin Park, is the current president of the North Pittsburgh Quilt Guild, which meets in McCandless, and says she looks forward to the quilt show every year.

"Where else could you go to meet a whole bunch of people who enjoy what you do and spark your creativity?" Hartman says.

Hartman started quilting when she was a little girl after her mother introduced her to sewing. She says it is the fabric colors that really spark her creativity and imagination, and there is no better place to find an abundance of colors than the quilt show.

The Celebration of Quilts organizers also hope to benefit their community through fundraising efforts. During the weekend show, there will be a collection of personal items for residents of the Butler Veterans Affairs Hospital. Each item brought to the show entitles the giver to vote for the best lap quilt in the VA Donation Gallery. After the show the donation quilts will be presented to the VA Hospital along with the personal items collected.

This is also the third year for local quilters to make a pink and white quilt that will generate donations to the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Previous donations have topped $2,000.

Blanarik says the entire weekend will be a celebration of the quilting craft and all who are involved with it.

"I don't think it's something we do enough: celebrate the people who make the quilts," she says.