From our earliest days, the quilt and the quilting bee have been part of American life. For the individual, stitching a quilt is an act of love, creativity, and continuity. For the community, the quilting bee is an expression of solidarity and hope, endurance and joy. — The Quilt: Stories from the NAMES Project tells how in 1987 a small group of volunteers in a San Francisco storefront workshop revived the old-fashioned notions of the quilt and the quilting bee, and how their courage and determination -- and that of hundreds of other quilters all across the country -- created what has become the largest on-going community arts project in America: The Quilt. Nearly 2,00 three-by-six foot individual panels have been designed and sewn into The Quilt. Each one celebrates the life of someone who has died of AIDS and the love and hope of those who have made the panels in remembrance.

Many of these panels are depicted in full color in THE QUILT and are accompanied by letters and stories about those honored and about some of the thousands of mothers, fathers, siblings, lovers, friends, and neighbors who have made the panels.