MIX Quilts depict Japanese Garden

If you've ever been to Portland's Japanese Garden, this year's MIX (Materials in the Extreme) Quilt Exhibit will evoke fond memories of tea gardens, luscious greenery, sparkling water features, and peaceful fishponds.

As in past years, the MIX Quilts are on display in the Community Room of the Sisters Library throughout July. MIX members, all from the Portland area, are Lynn Anderson, Kathy Blondell, Betty Daggett, Diane Losli-Britt, Valori Chiapetta, Annette McFarlane, Elaine Millar and Hilde Morin.

This year's theme, "Reflection and Renewal," honors the world-famous Portland Japanese Garden. Created in 1967, the garden completed an expansion and renewal project in April 2017. Excited and intrigued by this endeavor to add an architectural space to what was mostly a serene garden of lovingly tended plants.

As usual, this group of advanced quilters set some parameters: a primary piece measuring 24 inches square, a smaller piece to be hung on either side, top or bottom, measuring 24 inches by 10 inches, and the possibility of adding another small piece. They did not specify use of any particular color, nor did they say that concentration had to be on the garden's new structures. That choice was left entirely up to the artist.

Chiapetta notes, "While much of the garden's tranquility comes from the static nature of its plants and rock design areas, the carp in the strolling pond are always a favorite with visitors. Their silent but lively glides through the water are mesmerizing." Her upper quilt shows the rocks and paths, and the fish swim across the lower panel.

Millar's quilt represents a top-down view of the garden. "The circles represent the trees and the hand stitching represents the branches reaching outward from the center," she notes. The tea house and its surrounding sand gardens inspired Blondell to create a three-part quilt.

Blondell calls her three-piece quilt "The Spaces In Between," and it's inspired by the tea house and surrounding sand gardens. The sand gardens, with their synchronous designs, inspired Anderson, who said, "In contrast to the more varied experiences among the many 'gardens-within-the-garden,' the sand gardens are very peaceful in their simplicity." Her quilt features actual photographs, printed on fabric, then appliquéd to the quilt.

Although most of the quilts are primarily shades of green, Morin's three-piece depiction of the famous Japanese maple tree has warmer tones. "Having seen so many photos of this spectacular Japanese maple tree, I decided to check it out in person. Much to my surprise, what I thought was going to be a humongous tree ended up being small and almost insignificant. After getting over my initial disappointment, with camera in hand, I crawled under the tree, looked up, and that is when I saw the most magnificent view of this famous tree."

If you've never been to the garden in Portland, you may stop to visit these quilts in the Sisters Library, which is open Tuesdays through Fridays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 to 5. It might just inspire a visit to the real Japanese Garden.

On Quilt Show Day, July 14, the Three Sisters Historical Society will be set up in the library with two historic quilts - one from 1913 and one from 1934. (See related story, page 1.)