November Events Include Tess Harper Fundraiser and Auction of "Put on a Roof" Contest Quilts

October 25, 2007

Asheville, North Carolina, October 25, 2007 – The nonprofit Alliance for American Quilts is holding two important events in November to raise funds.

Tess Harper, an actress and quilt collector who serves on the Advisory Council of the AAQ, will be lecturing about her life with quilts on November 12 at the Folk Art Center in Asheville, North Carolina. Her free public lecture at 10:00 a.m. will be followed by a fundraising luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Tickets are $25, with a $5 discount to members of any North Carolina guild.

The actress, whose roles include a lead in the movie Tender Mercies, grew up in the Ozark Mountains among many quiltmakers, including family members. She has lived surrounded by quilts ever since and will share photographs of some of the gorgeous quilts in her personal collection.

The Alliance also announced that it will auction off the quilts from its Put a Roof Over Our Head contest in November. These 74 house-shaped quilts, which are just completing a 13-city tour of the country, will be offered on eBay in three batches, with the first group of 24 quilts up for auction on November 12, for one week. Subsequent auctions will begin on November 19 and November 26. Bids begin at $50.

To view all 74 quilts to be auctioned, go to
www.allianceforamericanquilts.org/par/

All the proceeds from the Tess Harper event and the quilt auction will help fund the AAQ's mission to preserve and share the stories of quilts and quiltmakers. This work is reflected primarily on our groundbreaking and fast-expanding website, www.centerforthequitl.org, which includes oral history projects, hundreds of interviews with today's quilters, and thousands of historic quilts. Come see where quilt history has been -- and where it's going.

For more information on the Tess Harper event, contact administrative assistant Sharon O'Neal, admin@quiltalliance.org or (828) 251-7073.

For questions about the auction or other aspects of the organization, call or e-mail Meg Cox at 609-924-9135,meg@megcox.com.

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