BBR quilters raffle quilt for art show

Quilt-lovers will have a chance to snap up a beautiful representation of the art while helping a good cause at Art at the Ranch, the annual art sale fund-raiser of the Black Butte Ranch (BBR) Art Guild.

Proceeds from the event are used to purchase art for public areas at BBR, to provide scholarships for Sisters High School graduating seniors who are studying the visual arts and to purchase art supplies and help with funding artist-in-residency programs at Sisters elementary and middle schools.

The event is slated for the evening of Friday, August 31 and all-day Saturday, September 1 at BBR.

"Every year at Art at the Ranch we have provided ... the quilt that is raffled," said Peggy Click-Taylor, founder of the art guild's satellite group of ladies who call themselves Peggy's Pin Pals. This year marks the seventh year in a row the woman have created a quilt.

"We started this quilt group actually in 2003, but we've all worked on the quilt for the last seven years. I just started my little quilt group because I wanted a quilt group out here (at BBR)," said Click-Taylor. "We started with about four or five people; now we have about 15."

This year's raffle quilt, which is actually the group's project of last year, is a "double quilt," with a finished quilt design on each side. Members of Peggy's Pin Pals work in concert to design the quilt. The quilt comes together through a "collaborative movement," Click-Taylor told The Nugget.

The fabric used for this year's quilt is called "Tuscan Harvest." The colors and the fruits and vegetables are all reflective of Tuscany.

Peggy's Pin Pals started with squares of fabric. The women put the squares on the floor and moved them around until they found the design they wanted.

"We took it apart and put it back together, and then we said, 'OK this is it,'" Click-Taylor said.

Upon conceiving the front side, the designing women realized they had a mound of lovely fabric left over. "We said, 'oops,'" and four ladies came together one evening and crafted the back and put it together, Click-Taylor said.

One group member single-handedly took on the task of quilting the piece. Ruth Ingham spent some 30 to 40 hours at her sewing machine finishing the work.

Raffle tickets are on sale at the front desk at the Lodge at BBR. They are $5 each or five for $20. Buy four tickets and get one free. The raffle drawing will be held during Art at the Ranch festivities.