Donna Rice is 2011 featured quilter

When Donna Rice got the call from Ann Richardson over a year ago inviting her to hold court as the Featured Quilter at the 2011 Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show on Saturday, July 9, Rice was thrilled.

"It's the greatest honor in the world," she says.

It's a distinction akin to being "Queen for a Day," but Rice has actually been highly visible in Sisters since the Around the Block Fiber Art Stroll last weekend, previewing her work and answering questions at The Culver House, adjacent to Stitchin' Post.

Rice's quilting style reflects her vivacious spirit, with a strong sense of movement and joy among the layers of fabric and threads. Embellishments are added heavy-handedly.

"I really like beads," says Rice, who lives in Bend.

Lately she gleans inspiration from fractals - geometric shapes made up of smaller parts which are reduced-sized copies of the whole - leading the viewer's eye on a stimulating journey through the repetitive patterns. At the same time, she's leaning toward "more abstract design," adding random free-flowing threads and appliqués.

Rice's fabric art style reveals the way she thinks.

"I'm really blessed with a pretty balanced left and right brain," she says.

By day, she works full-time as a freelance bookkeeper.

Quilting was mainly a side business for years, while she was a busy mom. She and a partner co-owned a quilting machine and she would take in quilt-tops made by others and finish them off with the machine. As her sons went off to college, Rice got more involved in quilting as a personal hobby, at first making traditional bed-covers for family and friends. "But I only had so many beds to cover," she jokes.

She transitioned to creating artful wall-hangings and contest quilts, winning numerous awards locally and regionally. Her 2007 Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show entry, under the theme of "Peace," won here as well as in San Jose, California, for Best of Theme.

"I start with an idea. My inspiration could be a picture ... maybe I'll Google a thought and then just keep playing with it."

Next Rice draws her own paper-piece patterns, primarily working with circles.

But she also allows herself to veer off as the mood strikes, and sometimes her free-flowing creativity causes her to sew herself into a tricky corner. Determination always wins out, she says: "I've never shelved something because I couldn't figure it out."

This weekend's illustrious event is one of her favorites.

"There's a lot of inspiration here at the quilt show and there's such great energy when so many people are in one place who share the same interest and hobby. It's the funnest day. You're hot and tired at the end, but it's worth it."

You'll find Donna Rice and 13 of her quilts on display in front of Ponderosa Properties on Hood Avenue during the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show.