2017 Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show

For this year’s post on the 2017 Sister’s Outdoor Quilt Show (SOQS) I am going share my 2017 SOQS experience in one post instead of breaking it into a series of posts like I did last year. Warning: There are a lot of photos in this post!

For more background on the SOQS and for photos and stories from previous shows, see my blog category Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show.  

Also watch for upcoming posts and videos from two other local bloggers – Woolie Mammoth: wooliemammoth.blogspot.com and  Kristen Shields: kristinshieldsart.com/blog on the 2017 SOQS. There was an incredible Lion King Exhibit I did not get photos of and perhaps these bloggers will feature photos of this mind blowing photos to share on this traveling exhibit.

It was very hot yesterday (imagine the witch in the Wizard of Oz: “I’m melting, melting”)

in Central Oregon and this year I decided to go to the show in the afternoon instead of the early morning as previous years. I had plans to meet friends for dinner after the show and I thought I would be completely melted by the end of the day if I went early!

Pathways Exhibit

I shared the progress on my art quilt for the annual Central Oregon SAQA exhibit, Pathways, in several previous posts (most recent Artist Statements, Part II). It debuted on Saturday July 8, 2017 at the SOQS.

Below are photos from the exhibit which featured the works of some majorly talented art quilters in the SAQA group I belong:

My SOQS Wandering Partner

My friend the NY Times Bestselling Author, Marie Bostwick, was in town for a book signing at Paulina Books (a wonderful indie bookstore, please support your local indie bookstore!).

I retrieved her after the book signing to extract her from the comfort of an air conditioned bookstore so she could experience the sweltering heat and wander around and look at quilts!

Inside Sisters City Hall: Respite from the Heat

Here is a secret to SOQS: If it is sweltering hot, you can take break from the heat inside of Sisters City Hall and look at quilts (or pretend like you are looking at quilts and just sit inside and relax!)

Inside City Hall, when you first enter, they had an incredible quilt on display by Jean Wells Keenan that is a tribute to the town of Sisters Oregon:

Walking into the City Council meeting hall, there was an incredible display of art quilts, the Quilt for Two Rivers project, inspired by the Whychus Creek in Sisters:

It was very empty in City Hall towards the end of the SOQS and Marie and I spent a leisurely 30 – 45 minutes or so sitting in the comfortable chairs of City Hall, in air conditioning, visiting. Finally the SOQS volunteers came in and kicked us out as they had to lock up City Hall.

More Around SOQS Photos

I did not take the volume of the photos I have taken in previous years attending SOQS. I hope I do not sound too jaded but it is a very nice show with a lot of very nice quilts, but I  no longer think I need photos of every spectacular quilt.

Instead I took photos of a sampling of sights to give a mini experience of attending this mind-blowing show. The entire downtown of Sisters, Oregon is closed to traffic and the entire downtown, every building (and seemingly every nook and cranny) is covered with quilts!

Here is a glimpse inside the Stitchin’ Post quilt shop (Jean Wells Keenan of the Stitchin’ Post started the show in 1975):

 During SOQS it is pure madness inside this quilt shop as compared to the rest of the year for us locals. I do not attempt to shop there during SOQS (as I can shop there anytime the rest of the year) but I do like peeking in to see the craziness as quilters from all over the world try to take home a little of the magic.

One thing I have to say about the Stitchin’ Post, besides having a fantastic staff (which includes many talented fiber artists), is that it has a fantastically curated selection of fabrics and yarn. If you are an art or modern quilter this is definitely the place to buy unique and hard to find fabrics.

At the show I ran into Donna R., an extremely talented art quilter and long time SOQS volunteer. She had on a handmade and dyed dress created from previous SOQS volunteer T-shirts:

The SOQS volunteers are quite an amazing group. I volunteered once in 2007 when I had my first quilt ever in quilt show at 2007 SOQS, but I have not been able to volunteer again since that time. Maybe in the future.

Speaking on volunteers, Jan T. another incredible art quilt and head of our Central Oregon SAQA group, presented a quilt story book in which each page of a giant book had a story on the right and a quilt on the left inspired by that story:

How often do you get to see something like that? Only at the SOQS!

While at the show I ran into the wonderful teacher and incredible person, Janet Shorten the head of Sisters of the Heart Foundation which brings medical teams and community enrichment teams to struggling villages in Uganda. Janet teaches women in Uganda to do crafts, including quilting, then helps them sell those crafts to raise money for their communities.  Here she is with one of the quilts the women she works with in Uganda made:

They focus on community empowerment and if you are looking for an organization to support with your donation, I recommend this wonderful organization!

So that is my reporting from the 2017 Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. Check out the other blogs I mentioned early in this post for additional photos.

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Postscript

While at the show, I did stop at the Sisters Habitat for Humanity Thrift shop and found this lovely sunflower fabric for $2:

I do love sunflowers and if you have followed my blog for awhile you might remember my obsession with sunflowers, like in this July 2016 post Waiting for the Sunflowers.

It is July again and I am once again waiting…so I just had to buy this fabric!