Auction of 26 Amish-Made Quilts Set for Annual Event

October 24, 2013

From therapeutic horseback riding and a Highland pipers program to painting the gym floor, proceeds from the annual Quilt and Craft Auction benefit various spectrums of the diverse Metzenbaum Center.

While the beautiful, hand-stitched quilts and crafts will draw hundreds of buyers to 8200 Cedar Road in Chester Township on Nov. 2, you can bet folks who travel from Cleveland and other distant points will bring their appetites with them.

“Come for the breakfast, stay for the auction!” the event flier suggests, also listing the hot lunch, refreshments and room full of Amish baked goods for sale.

“I always buy pies and take them home and freeze them,” said Patti Gallagher, treasurer of Friends and Families of Metzenbaum Center, which sponsors the auction.

The day-long event is a tradition established during the 1980s to provide supplemental funding for projects and programs for the developmentally disabled Metzenbaum clients, said Amish committee member Freeman Miller of Middlefield.

The original idea was to have the women from each church make a quilt each year to auction off, but after a couple of years, the community decided to split the chore, he said.

Now, about half the churches make quilts and the other half bakes for the event.

This year, women from the churches north of state Route 87 are baking and those south of Route 87 are stitching quilts, Miller said.

Next year they will switch.

So far, 26 quilts have been promised, mostly for double and queen-sized beds, but more could arrive, Miller said.

“Some people bring quilts the day of the auction,” Gallagher said.

Betty Miller presented a list of the quilts with well-known patterns such as Star of Bethlehem and Trip Around the World. Less common is the Feather Heart with Doves.

“These are one-of-a-kind gifts,” her husband said.

While the patterns have been handed down for generations, the combinations of colors and fabrics make each quilt unique.

Auctioneers Pete Howes, Crist Miller and Owen Miller donate their time and skills in the center auditorium to be sure the quilts, furniture, handcrafted toys, wreathes, Amish rockers and variety of items bring the best price to help support Metzenbaum.

Geauga Meats in Troy Township always donates two quarters of beef for the auction, too, Miller said.

Another room at the center will be turned into a holiday shop full of hand-made items, and the hallway will be lined with baskets and such donated to be sold during the silent auction and Chinese raffle, Gallagher said.

Hundreds of visitors are expected to enjoy lunch including clam chowder, pizza and other donated entrees as well as homemade pies, Betty Miller said.

“Lots of folks come to the auction to eat,” she said, adding they also clean out the room full of baked good.

“There’s everything in that bake sale,” Gallagher said.

The week before the Quilt and Craft Auction, Amish kitchens will be extra busy as pies, cakes, breads and other goodies are prepared.

Because there are so many women doing the baking, it is not too big a chore, Betty Miller said.

Gallagher’s team collects the goods by the car-full just before the auction and takes them to the center, she said.

It adds up to a car load from each church district, with 40 districts on the south side and 30 on the north side.

“It’s a great group of people. We can’t do it without each other,” she said of the dozen or so core members as well as the 40 or 50 volunteers who handle sales, serve food and clean up the center.

“Most volunteers come back every year,”?Betty added.

When the doors to the baked goods room open, there is a rush for the favorite items.

“I think the pies and breads go first,” Gallagher said. “There’s everything in that bake sale. It’s a lot of work.”

The quilt and craft auction continues to evolve.

This year, the committee will be selling raffle tickets for an Amish Wedding Dinner for 15 people at the home of Rachel Yoder on Patch Road, Gallagher said.

Tickets will be $5 each or six for $20.