The New England Quilt Museum is pleased to announce the auction on eBay of a unique work of quilt art and sports memorabilia created for the museum. A quilt containing a center panel signed by 24 members of the 2009 Red Sox--23 players from the 2009 Red Sox team, including Tim Wakefield, Jason Varitek, Jonathan Papelbon, Dustin Pedroia, J.D. Drew, and Josh Beckett, as well as President and CEO Larry Lucchino, will be auctioned on eBay starting September 15.

The panel was generously donated by the Red Sox Foundation in response to a request by the museum. The autographed fabric was then made into a quilt by nationally-renowned quilt artist Rosemary Bawn, who is known nationwide for her pictorial Red Sox works.

Featuring a panorama of Fenway Park, the piece was hand-quilted by the artist. Measuring 54" by 40", the work took a total of 175 hours to complete. It incorporates fabrics that are reproductions from a quilt soon to be exhibited at the museum, made around 1910, with early twentieth century baseball players depicted in the fabric.

The complete list of Red Sox players who signed the quilt is:

Jason Varitek

Nick Green

Dustin Pedroia

Rocco Badelli

Takashi Saito

Jed Lowrie

J.D. Drew

Julio Lugo

Brad Penny

Jason Bay

Mike Lowell

Daniel Bard

Jacody Ellsbury

David Ortiz

Ramon Ramirez

Justin Masterson

Daisuke Matsuzaka

Tim Wakefield

Josh Beckett

Hideki Okajima

Jonathan Papelbon

Kevin Youkilis

Mark Kotsay

The New England Quilt Museum, located in downtown Lowell, Massachusetts, sponsors a wide range of activities to bring art education to children in public schools, make comfort quilts for hospitalized children in cooperation with Project Linus, help Scouts earn their badges, raise awareness for breast and cervical cancer, and a host of other projects. The Museum sent the Red Sox Foundation a panel of fabric this spring, asking that the players and management sign the cloth to be made into a fundraising quilt, to further the Museum’s mission. The Foundation responded with virtually the entire team signing. Massachusetts artist and longtime Sox fan Ms. Bawn transformed that signed panel into the quilt that is being auctioned, using her popular style, which combines traditional quilt motifs with images of players, fans, and Fenway Park. The auction of the quilt is expected to bring funding that will help the museum maintain its 150-year old building, as well as the community projects that they host.

For more information, visit the museum's website at http://www.nequiltmuseum.org