COLORS OF AUTUMN
Quilt raffle earns $2,470

Displaying the “Colors of Autumn” quilt are (left to right) Ruth Sheppard, Jerry Lacy (Santa), Dorothy Lacy, Violet Shuttlesworth and Deborah Burkett, owner of Aunt Lillie’s Antiques.

Hopeful owners spent $2,470 for a chance to win the “Colors of Autumn” quilt, a collaborative effort featuring the handiwork of 92 dif ferent people.

Stephanie Roberts, a registered nurse with ETMC, won the quilt, and the Cameron-J. Jarvis Troup Municipal Library and Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation will split the raffle proceeds.

The event was sponsored by Aunt Lillie’s Antiques, owned by Deborah Burkett. A customer from Rusk donated the pieces for the quilt to Burkett’s shop back in January, and the idea was formed to use them for a community project and fundraiser.

The king-size quilt has been hanging at Aunt Lillie’s since the shop’s July quilt show, where a wide assortment of visitors contributed to the old-fashioned stitching.

Skilled and unskilled quilters from all over Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and as far away as Kentucky, New York and South Africa were able to lend a hand to the final product.

Raffle winner Stephanie Roberts shows off the “Colors of Autumn” quilt.

Locally, Carole Wilson pieced the quilt on a machine. She and Martha Reneau did the majority of the work, said Burkett.

The names of all the people who helped create the quilt are listed on its back on appliqued fall leaves.

The raffle was held Saturday, Dec. 2 at the library. According to Burkett, work on the quilt was finished on Thursday, with some ladies burning the midnight oil to ensure its completion.

Aunt Lillie’s Antiques has hosted seven quilt shows, and Burkett said she is always looking for new ideas and special events to be involved with.