What is a Quilt?

A quilt is a sandwich made of three layers of fabric:

1.   The top is usually made of geometric shapes of fabric sewn together by hand or machine in a pieced design.  Or it is made with decorative shapes sewn onto background material, a technique called appliqué.

2.   The center layer consists of batting, a padding of cotton, wool, or polyester fabric.
3.   The quilt back may be a solid piece of fabric, pieced, or appliquéd.

Quilting stitches hold these three fabric layers together adding a three-dimensional design element to the quilt.

Quilts come in all sizes.  They range from miniatures, to wall hangings, to lap quilts, to bed quilts. in recent years a market for art quilts has developed, which has attracted prominent artists to fabric as their medium of expression.

Quilting is a social activity for many women.  They join quilting guilds to meet other quilters, to learn new quilting techniques, to hear speakers with quilting expertise, and to participate in quilt circles, quilt shows, and quilting community projects like this breast and gynecological cancer auction.

How long does it take to make a quilt?  Quilters find this question impossible to answer.  Should we count the time spent learning how to quilt?  The hours spent reading quilt books and choosing quilt patterns?  Shopping for just the right colors of fabric is a time-consuming activity.  So is planning a quilt's layout and solving construction problems.

Actual sewing time depends on a quilt's size, the complexity of its design, and the skill of the quilter.  Hand quilting is much more time consuming than machine quilting.

Few women sew eight hours at a stretch.  They sew an hour here, a half hour there, squeezing time for quilting from their busy work and family schedules.  And they generally have a number of quilt projects in progress at the same time.  So a single quilt from start to finish may take several months, or several years, to complete.

The cost of making a quilt may surprise you.  With quality fabric averaging more than eight dollars a yard, supplies for a crib quilt can cost in the neighborhood of seventy-five dollars.  A double bed quilt may cost the quilter more than two hundred dollars for fabric, batting, and thread.  Embellished quilts with buttons, beads, and fancy metallic and silky threads cost even more to construct.  The value added by the quilter to these materials, both creative spark and labor, is seldom fully compensated in quilt sales.  As a result, few hand-made quilts are put on the market.

Quilts in this auction have been donated by quilters in Tucson and nearby communities for the purpose of raising money for breast and gynecological cancer research and treatment.  Each quilt is a gift of love and support to those with breast or gynecological cancer.  We hope that those of you attending this auction value the beauty of these quilts and recognize the generous contribution of the auction quilt makers.

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