"We don't want someone who calls in and says: `If you eat a lot of watermelon, you will not get Alzheimer's,'" she said.
Some of the 300 members of the Annapolis Quilt Guild are participating in the program through an initiative called the $1,000 Promise. The members have pledged to raise $1,000 for Alzheimer's through the sale or auction of the quilts that they make and then donate, Matton said.
Matton has met her $1,000 goal, having raised $1,085, but has continued to make the quilts, she said.
"Quilting is a medium you can put a lot of yourself into," she said. "In cross stitch, you use patterns that tell you the colors to use and you create something someone else designed. You use patterns for quilts, but you can make them more your own. You can use the colors and materials you want to use."
People also have a personal connection to quilts, said Matton, a docent for the Smithsonian Institution, where she lectures on the museum's quilt collection.
"Interest in quilts is increasing," Matton said. "Most people have a mother or a grandmother who quilted. So quilts are a piece of their past."
When Matton challenged other guild members to participate in the program, Ann Kelsall signed on.
"We make small quilts," said Kelsall, 74, of Mitchellville, whose quilts have mythological themes. "It's a great opportunity to try new techniques. You can take chances and see what happens. It doesn't matter if it works out or not, because you haven't invested a lot in it."
Kelsall said she makes her pieces very graphic, with high contrast. When they are placed on the Internet for the online auction, they are shown in 1-inch squares. She creates quilts that photograph well and show up in the small pictures, she said.
Dozens of quilters have registered more than 2,000 quilts during the past two years, Simms said. The project has grown so much that Simms is hiring someone to help, she said.
"This project is eating up my life," she said. "My business is in the toilet. And I spend about 25 hours a day thinking about it. But when I look and see what the disease has done to my mother, I get overwhelmed by all the quilters who open their hearts and create little masterpieces that turn into research dollars. It is so worth it."
The quilts made by the local group will be exhibited in the U.S. District Courthouse in Greenbelt from Feb. 1 through the middle of March.
