Blanket coverage of quilt auction (lots of pix)

There was a Big Cover Up going on at the Schutz Garden Centre in North Bay Saturday night, and that's just what the organizers of the quilt show and auction wanted.

It was held Saturday night at the Schutz Garden Centre, drew hundreds of people, and is the first event of its kind in Northern Ontario.

It raised $30,000 for the new North Bay Regional Health Centre and the North Bay Association for Community Living.

Eighty-four quilts were up for auction, most made by local quilters and seamstresses.

Some of the quilts are fabric interpretations of themes, such as Home is Where the Heart Is, Keeping the Faith and Everything Old is New Again, while others depict animals, people and flowers.

A number have interesting or offbeat names such as Twisting Around My Garden, Pink Cotton Candy, Shades of Periwinkle and It's Raining Frogs and Stars.

The idea for the Big Cover Up resulted from a conversation between Sandy Foster, a member of the Nipissing Rotary Club, and Darlene Brooks, who works for the North Bay Association for Community Living.

Both are new quilters.