News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Quilters from all around the globe are already in Sisters, getting ready to watch the downtown bloom into color on Saturday, July 13, as volunteers hang some 1,060 quilts from one end of town to the other.
The Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show (SOQS) is in its 49th year, and it remains the biggest show of its kind anywhere. The show is unique in many ways: it’s free to the public, and the display is not in a convention hall or other institutional environment — it’s outside in the summer sun, and takes visitors all around Sisters.
For any artist who works in the fabric arts, a visit to Sisters — at least once — is a bucket list item. And not a few quilters have made Sisters their home on the strength of its quilting community.
Many quilters come at least a week early to participate in a slate of classes called Quilter’s Affair, conducted at Sisters High School. The week is replete with events and fundraisers for the free show and its educational outreach programs.
The weekend of the show is shaping up to be beautiful — but quite hot.
Executive Director Dawn Boyd is encouraging visitors to stay hydrated and keep their cool.
“We will try to have as much water available as possible,” she said. “And (we) encourage everybody to bring their sunscreen and hats.”
Some of the exhibits are cool in the literal sense of the word as well as in the figurative, artistic sense.
“The teachers’ Pavilion in the (Village Green) park — with shade — is going to be beautiful,” she said.
The Cherrywood Challenge will be found inside the air conditioned Sisters Fire District Community Hall.
You don’t have to park and walk if you don’t want to. Boyd notes that a shuttle will run between Sisters High School and the show, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., running approximately every 30 minutes.
The comprehensive show guide can be viewed online at http://www.soqs.org.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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