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The Intermountain Research and Medical Foundation’s 22nd Holiday Quilt Show and Auction is returning to Salt Lake City this month. It’s the largest quilt show and auction in the nation devoted to medical research and education and will feature nearly 100 hand-quilted quilts that will be on display for the public Nov. 16-21.
All proceeds benefit breast cancer research.
Here are four great things to know about this year’s quilt show, which is held every two years.
Handmade to traditional styles of quilts
There are 89 hand-quilted quilts that will be on display and sold at auction this year, produced by a host of volunteer quilters over the last two years. Most quilts take several hundred hours to complete. Some take much longer.
The exquisite Yo-Yo Coverlet was conceived and designed by the Colonial Quilters. Yo-Yos constructed of cloth circles most likely originated several centuries ago. Popular in the 1930s, the American interpretation was typically made from recycled clothing, feed sacks or fabric scraps. More than 2,500 yo-yos from fabrics out of the quilting closet were used to create Yo-Yo Coverlet and two coordinating pillows, a modern interpretation of this traditional fabric technique.
Glimpse history through the artistry of the quilts
The quilts are constructed to intricately tell a story or capture a moment in history. For each quilt show and auction, the Holiday Quilt Show and Auction board creates, assembles and quilts a quilt. This year’s quilt, "Colonial Album," is an original design by expert quilter and board member Cody Mazuran.
Historically, 19th-century album quilts consisted of a variety of applique designs, pieced work and dense quilting. The blocks represented the quiltmakers' lives, homes, favorite flora and charming poetry. "Colonial Album" was created in this tradition. Fourteen objects, hidden in plain sight, which represent the board's love of quilting, homes, favorite flora and charming poetry, can be found within the design.
All for a good cause — helping fund breast cancer research
Proceeds from this year’s will help fund the CREST study, a groundbreaking breast cancer research project. Cancer researchers at Intermountain Medical Center’s Breast Care Center, led by Dr. Brett Parkinson, and the Intermountain Precision Genomics Program, led by Dr. Lincoln Nadauld, are collaborating on this exciting, three-year study.
The study will determine if a blood test that looks for DNA from a cancer tumor can be used to complement mammography and improve the way breast cancer is diagnosed. You can visit Intermountain Healthcare’s website to learn more about the breast cancer CREST study.
The Holiday Quilt Show and Auction is the nation’s largest quilt show devoted entirely to medical research and education. The highest amount paid for a quilt at the auction was $24,000, purchased at the last Holiday Quilt Show and Auction in 2017. Since 1983 when the first auction took place, the Holiday Quilt Show and Auction has raised more than $2.3 million.
“Our volunteers donate hundreds of hours of their time and materials to create these works of art. We appreciate their immense generosity to stitch handmade quilts that will be sold at auction to benefit medical research for our community,” said Quilt Board Chair Jodi Cheney
When to see it
You can visit the 2019 Holiday Quilt Show at the Little America Hotel on the Mezzanine Level Nov. 16-21. The show is open from 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and admission is $5.
To take part in the dinner and auction, join us Nov. 22 from 6-9 p.m. Tickets cost $100 and include dinner and a live auction.
To learn more about the 2019 Holiday Quilt Show and to purchase tickets for the Dinner and Auction, visit Imedicalfoundation.org/quilts.
