The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

Some were strolling the quaint streets of Sisters passing from shop to shop to chat with area artists and enjoy the evening’s fiber arts and quilting exhibits and demonstrations.

Others were cruising up and down Cascade Avenue flying the Stars and Stripes on their Harley Davidson bikes. One was dressed as Uncle Sam sporting a red, white and blue spangled baseball cap. All were taking time to appreciate the creations and talents of the more than 30 regional and area artists who exhibited their works and crafts Saturday evening, July 1, at the Third Annual Around the Block Fiber Arts Stroll and Quilt Show Preview.

The event kicked off a week of activities in Sisters that will culminate on Saturday, July 8, with the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. The show attracts more than 20,000 visitors from all states of the nation and from many foreign countries. It has grown during its more than 30-year tenure to be touted as the largest outdoor quilt show in the United States.

A broad palette of art forms was displayed upon the canvas of Sisters Saturday evening. Among the more unique were Julie Senders fabric handbag creations. Senders uses plastic to construct the frames of her handmade clutches and totes. She covers the plastic frames with bright, eye-catching floral and geometric cotton fabrics and embellishes her creations with coordinating ribbon.

For more details about Senders’ handiwork, visit http://www.hauteplasticbag.com.

Another noteworthy exhibition was the fiber and metal quilted art of Trisha Hassler.

Hassler believes that fabrication techniques are the same for building a car as they are for making a dress. She finds compatibility in blending the hard surfaces of metal with the soft textures of fabric.

Trisha encourages all who view her art to touch it. She says, “The brain can’t get it unless you touch it.”

Hassler relishes the juxtaposition of the hardness she senses while getting her hands gritty and dirty forming the metal for her art with the softness she feels while applying a gentle touch to the fabric she processes through machine work and handstitching.

Bend resident Diane Miyauchi said, “I am impressed. Look at the metal; nothing is shiny, so the color of the fabric pulls out.” To view Trisha’s creations and learn more about her artistic philosophy visit http://www.trishahassler.com.

On a more primary-color spectrum of the Sisters’ art palette is the work of spinner Susan Torassa.

She has been spinning for some 20 years and has lived in Central Oregon during the last seven. In the past Torassa purchased fleece directly from the grower and prepared the rovings she needed. But since spinning is her passion, she now purchases her rovings from a woman in the Bend area and devotes all of her time to spinning.

Out of respect for her spinning wheel, which is more than 20 years old, Susan spins barefooted.

Kathi Johnson makes hand-hooked rugs from old bed sheets that friends give to her. She cuts the sheets into strips and uses a standard crochet stitch to form her rugs. She said that she employs a very simple technique to create works that embellish and add a sense of artistry to any setting.

To create her vintage aprons, Bobbe Schafer formulates her own patterns from her research and study of 1940s and 1950s vintage aprons.

Schafer says that in the 1940s aprons were longer and dresses were shorter; whereas in the ’50s, when cocktail parties were very popular, dresses were longer and aprons were puffy and shorter.

Schafer, who has a vintage collection of more than 300 aprons and lectures on the history of aprons, uses reproduction vintage fabrics and actual vintage buttons and handkerchiefs to create her representative aprons. To learn more visit http://www.bobbeschafer.com.

Another important contribution to Saturday evening’s festivities was the chainsaw sculpture demonstration by celebrated artist Skip Armstrong. Crowds gathered throughout the evening to watch the master in action. Also noteworthy was the exhibition at Sisters Art Works by Kathy Deggendorfer and Tonye Phillips.

The blending of the work of Deggendorfer, the watercolorist, with the appliqué and quilting of Phillips is unusual and exceptional. Of special interest was one of the two collaborators’ latest pieces, “Miss Dolly and Yello at Farmers Market.” Their artwork may be viewed at Sisters Art Works, 204 W. Adams Ave.

Saturday evening’s Around the Block Stroll could not have been realized without the support of the many local shops and galleries who opened their doors to host the artists. A comment from Geraldine May West of Portland, summed things up:

“Who could ask for anything more?”