New Hamburg Mennonite Relief Sale Quilt Auction 2013

#125 Straightening the Rose Garden by Judy Pearce; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen 2013

This past weekend was the 47th annual New Hamburg Mennonite Relief Sale and quilt auction and I was there. I've shared about other sales here and here. Normally I am drawn more to patterned quilts than those that are representational, but #125 Straightening the Rose Garden by Judy Pearce of Kitchener, Ontario left me in awe. The first image shows the quilt behind plastic. Remember, the strawberry pie booth is directly across from the quilts and hundreds of people examine the quilts before they are auctioned. No sticky fingers will touch this quilt.

#125 Straightening the Rose Garden by Judy Pearce; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen 2013

The story behind this quilt, according to the 2013 Mennonite Relief Sale booklet, is that #125 Straightening the Rose Garden is a recreation of a photograph (taken by Jeff Schmidt at the 2010 Relief Sale) of the auctioning of quilt #125 called Rose Garden which was donated by the Breslau Mennonite Church Creative Hands group.

#125 Straightening the Rose Garden by Judy Pearce; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen 2013

Judy Pearce dyed many of the fabrics to create the tonal variations in the faces. The head covering worn by the woman on the left appears to be made from the same fabric of head coverings. Pearce further enhanced the quilt with thread painting, coloured pencil and fabric paint. She hand-appliquéd, then machine quilted #125 Straightening the Rose Garden. The quilt measures 79 by 64 inches.

Auction of  #125 Straightening the Rose Garden by Judy Pearce; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen 2013

Pearce learned how to sew and draw in high school and built on this basic training to make portrait quilts. Married to a minister, she is a mother to two children and a grandmother to five grandchildren.

Auction of #125 Straightening the Rose Garden by Judy Pearce; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen 2013

By chance I witnessed the auction of this quilt. It sold for $10,000! Once it sold, the crowd stood up in applause and then after a few words from an MCC representative, all 200 or more of us stood to sing the Mennonite anthem (hymn) Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow in four-part harmony. It was a powerful moment and a highlight of the day. By the end of the day, more than $310,000 was raised for Mennonite Central Committee programs to promote relief, development, and peace.