Quilts at Tucson Botanical Gardens

Benefits Quilt for a Cause and TBC

Last week, when I visited Tucson Botanical Gardens (TBG), I expected to see lots of beautiful plants and trees. What I did not expect to see was quilts. Had I planned my visit instead of just popping in on a whim, I would have realized there was a special exhibit featuring quilts created for Quilt for a Cause. Apparently, this is a regular fundraiser wherein a variety of handmade quilts crafted by local quilters are available for purchase with the proceeds going to support Quilt for a Cause and the TBG.

I was delighted to see such a wide variety of beautiful quilts on display and for sale at what I felt were very reasonable prices.

Look at those gorgeous colors.

 

Some of the quilt backs were just as beautiful as the quilt tops.

 

The backing on this one has a Native American theme.

 

I am not a huge fan of this quilt top, but I love, love, love the backing material as shown in the next image.

 

The fabric backing for the above quilt features what appear to be heirloom hydrangea flowers.

 

I know the square used in this quilt is called a Churn Dash.

 

The backing fabric for the Churn Dash quilt is beautiful irises in colors complementing the quilt top perfectly.

The above images were all captured in the space where the main exhibit was housed. As I was leaving the gardens, I noticed another room that housed racks of quilts for sale.

This is a smaller, quilted wall-hanging.

The quilt featured below — a table runner —  was, in my opinion, both pretty and unique, so I decided to capture it for sharing here.

Table runner featuring hand-embroidered quilt squares.

 

The quilt was actually a dual-purpose piece that had what I believe is a hanging sleeve attached to the back so the quilt can also be used as a wall hanging.

 

I really enjoyed the cute little flower embellishments added to the back.

I enjoyed the exhibit so much, I think I’ll be returning multiple times to see if other quilts from the for-sale racks are rotated into the exhibit. While folks are free to look through the for-sale racks, it’s hard to appreciate the beauty of each quilt when looking at the piece while folded up and hanging on a crowded rack.

There’s one more very cool item I want to share, but that’s reserved for my next post.