Quilt show to help fight cancer

Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show organizers have a big goal. They hope during this year's quilt show week to raise $10,000 for the Wendy's Wish foundation. Funds will be raised through the sale of 1,000 fabric postcards.

An ongoing community effort is making the project a reality. Classes are being offered throughout mid-April where participants learn to make fabric postcards. All materials, supplies and instruction are free.

According to Jackie Erickson from the Stitchin' Post, students have the option of making a postcard for themselves and making another to donate to the fund-raiser.

"All the money raised goes to Wendy's Wish," she said.

Postcards are crafted using an interfacing called "fast2fuse" as their foundations.

"You cut it to the size you want your card to be. Then, you just build on it. When you have it all built up, you press it down," said Erickson.

Approximately 40 fabric postcards crafted for the quilt show will be sold through a silent auction. They will be custom framed and ready for hanging. Some will be crafted by the quilters who teach at Quilter's Affair, the five-day quilters workshop that precedes the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show.

"Some will be made by local artists, and some may be made by people who take the free classes," said quilt show executive director Ann Richardson.

This year is the second year that the quilt show has incorporated a fund-raiser into its event.

"We have a huge audience of people who come here," Richardson said. "We have the ability to do something that benefits. One of our missions as a non-profit organization is to benefit the schools and the community groups of Sisters and Central Oregon. This is one of the ways that we do that."

The quilt show chose Wendy's Wish because Wendy Huntley was a crafter and a quilter. After her death a huge circle of her friends were looking for a way to raise money for the foundation established in her honor, said Richardson. "It just seemed to be a nice fit for what we're doing."

Wendy's husband Al Huntley was crafting a postcard at a recent class at Sisters Art Works.

"The project was a nice link for us, so we jumped in," he said.

Funds raised through this year's fabric postcard sales are especially important to the Wendy's Wish foundation. According to Huntley, the foundation is endowed.

"We are at $33,000 working towards $50,000, after about a year of fund-raising," he said.

Wendy's Wish provides education, promotes the early detection of cancer and offers affordable, compassionate emotional support for those dealing with cancer.

"We emphasize colon and rectal cancers and all of the cancers that have no voice. Anyone that needs help on their journey with cancer, we hope to help," said Hurtley.

All local folks are encouraged to participate in the fabric postcard project. A class is planned for Saturday, April 19, at 10 a.m., at Sisters Art Works.

For more information visit the quilt show Web site at http://www.sistersoutdoorquiltshow.org or the Wendy's Wish foundation Web site at http://www.wendyswish.org.