A quilt featuring Batman is dedicated in the memory of “two women (who) fought cancer like superheroes.” It is one of about 300 quilts being auctioned off this weekend with all proceeds going toward fighting breast cancer in Sacramento.

This quilt with cute animal characters is titled “The Lunch Bunch.

Every three years since 1999, quilters from throughout California have generously created beautiful quilts for the Sutter Breast Cancer Quilt Auction, which has raised more than $750,000 for Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento Cancer Center’s treatment programs and services, including the hospital’s pioneering breast cancer navigator program.

However, the auction provides more than just financial benefits. Cancer patients and their families experience emotional support by expressing care and concern through the quilts. Quilters experience an opportunity to memorialize a loved one lost to cancer or to celebrate the success of surviving a breast cancer experience. Communities learn about breast cancer and quilting through the powerful event, which included a display of all the quilts hanging throughout the Buhler Specialty Pavilion on the Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento campus.

Everyone’s favorite mouse graces this quilt.

This year, however, due to the continuing pandemic, the Quilt Auction has gone virtual. It is hosted on Greater Giving – an online auction application best viewed in Google Chrome. To bid, visit SutterQuiltAuction2021.ggo.bid and click on “Get Started” to register. Auction bidding closes on Halloween night, at 8 p.m. (PST) Sunday. Besides the breast cancer navigator program, funds raised help support lymphedema education, patient and caregiver support groups, nutrition counseling, adult art therapy, music therapy and massage therapy.

The auction committee is made up of volunteers from throughout Northern California. As many as 22 area quilt guilds and numerous quilt shops and quilting professionals also offer their time and resources in support of the auction. The quilts are of different styles, but none of them are simply tied. Some are even designed by an artist and then quilted by another. Each one of them is a piece of art, and this year, in addition to Batman, you can find themes with whimsical dogs and cats, Mickey Mouse, a giraffe, “True Grit,” an American flag and the New York City skyline, among many others.

To learn more about the auction and how philanthropy enhances the care of patients at a nonprofit healthcare network, visit sutterhealth.org/smcs/giving.

Here are other quilts that are up for bid:

This quilt is titled “My Kinda Town,” and even includes a square with the Three Stooges!

The “Hope & Strength” quilt has a breast cancer awareness theme.

The “Coral Fish” quilt is a colorful, unique work of art.

“Giraffe – Out of Africa” is proving to be one of the most popular quilts in this year’s auction.