A popular quilt auction draws hundreds of people to New Hamburg

Annual quilt auction held in New Hamburg on Saturday, May 25, 2013. Photo taken by David Imrie/CTV News

The auction gavel was busy in New Hamburg Saturday as hundreds of people dug into their pockets to help support the work of the Mennonite Central Committee at home and abroad.

Judy Pearce spent the past three years working on her quilt called “Straightening the Rose Garden.”  It was featured on the cover of this year’s auction catalogue.  She has spent the past three years working on it.  At times she found it challenging to find fabric to match her creation.

“I had a hard time matching the colours especially in the blue dress so I dyed my own fabric in the end.” Pearce says.

The work-of-art was sold to Brenda Jewitt of Waterloo.

“It is just a stunning, stunning quilt,” Jewitt says. “The story behind it, the workmanship, the creativity, the precision, the motivation.”

Ontario Mennonite Relief Sale Inc. holds two sales annually; the Heifer Sale is held on the second last Friday of February and the New Hamburg Mennonite Relief Sale held on the last Friday and Saturday of May.

The first Relief Sale was organized in 1967 by Mennonite churches in southwestern Ontario in response to ever-growing world-wide need for relief from hunger, poverty and natural disasters.

Since 1967, the total contribution of M.C.C. is over $15 million.

John Reimer, the chairman of the Relief Sale says two thirds of the money raised goes overseas and a third stays in Ontario.   “We make a significance difference in the world with this.” Reimer says.

Myrtle Horst donated a quilt to the first auction 47 years ago she is still quilting for the cause.

“I have deep feelings about the needy around the world so I like to, I can’t do much but I can do something with my hands.” Horst tells CTV News.

“A Caring Community” is a quilt that tells the story of the auction and it will be donated to the Mennonite Central Committee to go on display in its new headquarters in Kitchener.

186 quilts were auctioned off Saturday.

Reimer tells CTV News that the preliminary numbers for the New Hamburg quilt sale raised $310, 000.