Dan Rickards is Quilt Show storyteller

"Storytellers" is the theme for the 42nd annual Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show (SOQS) with the 2017 poster created by Sisters artist Dan Rickards. This will be Rickards' fourth poster for SOQS since he was first selected in 2009.

"The first poster I ever did for SOQS was a painting I named 'Summer Bliss,' of my daughter Emily running with a quilt through a field of flowers," Rickards said.

This year's poster image depicts a larger-than-life storybook using quilts as pages. The storybook sits atop a wooden table. Whychus Creek, which runs through Sisters, and the Three Sisters Mountains create a stunning scenic backdrop.

The storybook in his original artwork will come to life as a two-foot-by-three-foot leather-bound book of quilts that really do spin a yarn.

"Every quilt tells a story," Rickards told The Nugget. "And I took it very literal and came up with the idea to create an 18th-century-looking storybook of quilts. I am going to design the leather-bound book that will be held up by an elegant book stand."

The book will be available to browse through during the quilt show July 2-7 in the courtyard at The Open Door restaurant

"When Dan was selected, he asked to meet with the Board to present his idea of the storybook," said Jeannette Pilak, executive director of the SOQS. "The board was enthusiastic to Dan's idea and, through a series of meetings with him, helped to develop further how his idea would be successfully implemented.

"What the Board appreciated was Dan's continued look at the ongoing funding needs of producing the free Quilt Show event."

SOQS has had a long relationship with the Rickards, Clearwater Gallery, and The Open Door. Both Clearwater Gallery and The Open Door are presenting sponsors of the annual Fiber Arts Stroll.

"Annually, the Clearwater Gallery hosts our Featured Gallery Fiber Artist (this year Sheila Finzer)," Pilak noted.

This year the artists that will quilt a "page" for the book are those that have been honored by SOQS as featured quilters and have been instrumental and supportive of the SOQS over the years.

Quilts will be on display and available for purchase at silent auction at the courtyard of The Open Door during quilt week, July 2-7. A reception for Rickards' Storybook quilt artists will take place on Thursday, July 6 from 3:30 to 6 p.m. in the courtyard.

The poster may be ordered online from Stitchin' Post at www.stitchinpost.com.