As Ami Simms, founder of AAQI says "It’s been quite a November, friends! First IQF Houston, and now the auction!"
The Celebrity Invitational Quilt Auction held November 1-10, 2012 raised $15,545 for the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative! It was the most successful auction ever to benefit the all-volunteer nonprofit!
It was also the most fun to watch as bidding for the top quilts continued on for almost an hour after the auction’s end at 10pm central time due to popcorn bidding.
World famous quilters have been competing with each other to see who could raise the most money for the AAQI since 2009.
Competing this year were Alex Anderson, Hollis Chatelain, Caryl Bryer Fallert, John Flynn, Diane Gaudynski, Becky Goldsmith, Pat Holly, Libby Lehman, Marsha McCloskey, Sue Nickels, Mary Sorensen, and Ricky Tims.
Pat Holly’s quilt “Fear of Empty Spaces” (16″ x 16″) took top honors. It sold for $3,665 — more than any quilt has ever raised for the AAQI.
Pat wrote in her artist statement, “On a recent trip to Turkey, I encountered the design idea “fear of empty spaces,” meaning every inch is filled with motifs. It struck me that in life, we fear those empty spaces and hope we can find a way to cope when it happens.”
This is the most heavily quilted quilt I have ever seen. I doubt there is more than an eighth of an inch anywhere on the quilt that isn’t stitched. I just had to look at it under a magnifying glass and I was not disappointed. Oh, my goodness! Masterful!
“Joy Remembered” by Diane Gaudynski sold for $3,135 and “Scrambled” by John Flynn sold for $2,010. All the quilts in the field were exceptional, and I felt that there were several that were underbid. But am I happy? YOU BET! Wow!
$15,545!
The AAQI sponsors the Celebrity Invitational Quilt Auction each November in honor of National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month. If you would like to suggest a world renowned quilter whom you would like to see join the competition in 2013, please use the comment section below.
If you wish you could have bid but didn’t, you can still get T-shirts, tote bags, and all sorts of cool stuff with the 2012 quilts on them from CafePress.com. Don’t wait too long. They’ll be gone soon.
Huge thanks to the extraordinarily talented quilters who created these 12 outstanding quilts and to the generous buyers who purchased them at auction.
Ami Simms
Founder & Executive Director
Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative
1200 Creekwood Trail
Burton, MI 48509
(810) 637-5586
DISCLOSURES
Don’t forget we have hundreds of quilts for sale right now. They make wonderful holiday gifts!
Michele Bilyeu blogs With Heart and Hands as she shares a quilting journey through her life in Salem, Oregon and Douglas, Alaska and all of her AAQI Quilting. Sharing thousands of links to Free Quilt and Quilt Block Patterns and encouraging others to join in the Liberated Quilting Challenge and make or donate small art quilts to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) Help us change the world, one little quilt at a time!
