Quilts: New Hamburg Mennonite Relief Sale

On Saturday I got up bright and early to attend the 44th annual New Hamburg Mennonite Relief Sale. If you have never attended such an event, you may wonder what one does. Basically you eat, visit, bid on quilts, eat, visit, bid on household goods and old tractors, eat and visit. Every year the quilt auction attracts diehard collectors who arrive the day before to preview the quilts, secure their seats, and register for their bidding numbers. The quilt in the top photo appears to be #053 Double Irish Chain. Some quilts are subject to fierce bidding. In 2003, a woman attended the sale to buy a strawberry pie and went home with the $44,000 feature quilt "Kaleidoscope of Nations." All proceeds from the sale go to Mennonite Central Committee's work around the world.