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Quilting sure has changed since my granny put needle to cloth, somehow turning scraps of material into what I now realize were works of folk art.

"I design my quilt blocks on the computer," says Evelyn George, who recently became the first Tucsonan inducted into the newly formed Arizona Quilters Hall of Fame.

Quilting software, she says, "allows you to create a virtual quilt, see the quilt before you cut."

When she is ready to cut, she does so with a rotary cutter, not scissors. She then stitches her quilts on one of two sewing machines — one straight stitch, one fancy stitch — in a back room of her house, one cluttered with fabric and materials.

"Machine-sewn is no longer looked down on," says George, who turns out hand-sewn quilts as well.

"The most involved quilt I ever made was a Rose of Sharon, hand-appliquéd queen-size quilt, all hand-quilted for my son and his bride-to-be. It took me eight months, working four hours a day."

Step into yet another room and George graciously unfolds quilt after quilt, some rustic, some romantic, all with intricate designs, all with her name and a label that tells something about the quilt.

"I quit counting at 300," says George, 69, who estimates she's made close to 400 quilts.

Fabrics range from elegant Asian cotton to recycled denim. "I made a jean quilt. It's very durable," says George.

Ideas for her quilts often come from her surroundings. "Sometimes we go for a drive and I will just see something, maybe in the desert, that would make a great quilt pattern," she says.

One of her quilts has blocks representing everything from the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show to the rodeo to Indian pottery and a chile festival.

None of this came early on. For while she made her first quilt as a child, it was sewing where she first excelled. "As a child and teenager, I sewed all my clothes," says George, who grew up on a farm in California's San Joaquin Valley.

Then came marriage and children, five in all. "When my first child was 3 years old, I got scraps of cloth— corduroy, denim — and made a quilt for her," says George.

"That quilt lasted through all five of my kids. Then it became the dog's bed and that dog had puppies who chewed it to bits."

In 1969 she moved to Tucson and later married again, this time to Wally George, now a retired English teacher from Catalina High Magnet School.

Once the kids were out of the house and George retired from her job as a administrative assistant at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, she finally found time for quilting.

"I read everything I could find. I met other quilters and realized, oh my gosh, I have so much to learn." She took classes. And she joined the Tucson Quilters Guild.

Some 650 members strong, the guild meets monthly, offering up workshops as well as an annual showing of quilts.

"Quilting interest is strong in Tucson," says George, who also belongs to three quilting bees. "Some of my best friends I've made from quilting."

George is also one of the founders of Quilt for a Cause. Founded in 2002, it auctions off donated handmade quilts. The money supports local breast and gynecological cancer research.

Auctions are held every three years. At the first auction in 2003, more than 200 quilts were sold, raising $53,000. At the second auction in 2006, 545 donated quilts raised about $120,000.

Raising money through quilting is nothing new, says George. "In the 1800s, churches were making and selling quilts. The quilt money was used to support the minister."

Quilt for a Cause will hold its third auction next November, and will probably feature fewer quilts, says another Quilt for a Cause founder, Jeannie Coleman, herself a breast cancer survivor. "We had so many last time we really saturated the market," says Coleman, who also is asking for smaller quilts, no larger than 72-by-72 inches. "Before, some were as large as 100 inches and were very difficult to hang at the hospital."

That task largely fell to George. "Evelyn takes care of hanging the quilts throughout the community," says Coleman. "I don't know how we would have done it without her."

Besides creating her own quilts, George has also taught the skill to others in her family.

"All of my grandchildren, seven in all, have made a quilt, even the boys. I think they enjoyed the accomplishment."

Granny would agree.

The Tucson Quilters Guild has an ongoing project, "Cases for Kids," which makes cheery pillowcases for kids and teenagers undergoing chemotherapy.

The Tucson Quilters Guild meets at 9:30 a.m. the second Wednesday of the month at St. Frances Cabrini Church, 3201 E. Presidio Road. Meetings also are held at 7 p.m. Tuesdays before the Wednesday meetings at the same location. For more information, log on to www.tucsonquiltersguild.com or call 547-5463.