Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show

Q: What do you get when you stick four women in a car and turn them loose?

A: You get a really good time!

Four of us went to Central Oregon to the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show which is the largest outdoor quilt show in the entire world. This is the 4th time I've been there and it's no joke. Sisters, Oregon is a very small town just outside Bend, Oregon. The normal population is 1,400 people on 364 days of the year. On the day of the show, the population is 20,000+.

It's a 5 hour drive from where we are on the coast and probably a 40 degree temperature difference. Yikes! We aren't used to being in 90 degree heat. The moss starts drying out between our toes. We were lucky to find a hotel room within a 40 mile radius because people make their reservation for the next year when they check out. It's crazy, I tell you!

The downtown district in Sisters is about 8 blocks long. At about 10:30 AM, I stood at one end and looked down the length of the street and saw nothing but a sea of people. Most of the quilts are displayed outside in front of the businesses and in any large open space in town. They hang about 1200 quilts every year from all over the world. This year I saw quilts from Tokyo, Japan and Rwanda. In years past, I've seen quilts from Australia and Holland (of all places).

How did this shindig get started, you ask? This is the brainchild of Jean Wells, owner of the Stitchin' Post quilt shop in Sisters and author of many wonderful quilting books. This was the 33rd year of the show. I'm sure when she had her first show in 1975, she had no idea what she had wrought.

Well, the four of us had a fabulous time. We started walking the town at 8:30 AM and by 2:30 PM we were pretty sure we had seen the entire show. At that point, it's really overwhelming. It's hard to imagine 1200 quilts all in one place.

My favorite was a collection of Amish quilts exhibited by a man who commissions and collects them. They were exquisitely perfect in every aspect. The colors were amazing and the hand-quilting was breathtaking.

Many of them were for sale. One was a fish wall hanging that was hand painted and machine quilted. The price, $7,000.00. I can't show you a picture for copywrite reasons but you can see it on the quilt show website.

I'm now inspired to get some quilting done. I've started a quilted tote bag for my daughter that will be fun and quick to finish. Then, it's on to bigger and better things...