The Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, in
Sisters, Oregon, is the largest outdoor quilt show in the country, an
annual event that drapes the little town at the foot of the Cascade
Mountains with more than twelve hundred quilts, or roughly one per
resident.
Every second Saturday in July – a day
chosen by organizers because it has one of the least statistical
chances for rain – an army of volunteers wake before dawn and begin
hanging the quilts from every downtown storefront, fence and
available public space.
While the spectacle attracts thousands
of visitors for the one-day event, there are other numerous other
quilting-related activities, including classes, contests and
specialty shows. One of the more recent additions growing in
popularity is the postcard show, featuring quilts the size of a four
by six inch postcard.
In 2008 roughly 1,000 postcard quilts
were submitted for the show, according to organizers. Of those, 73
were selected by a jury to be framed and then put up for bid at a
silent auction to raise money for a local cancer charity.
“The postcards are wonderful,” said
Sally Rogers, a resident of nearby Redmond, Ore., who on a whim last
year purchased one of the postcards at the silent auction for $100.
It was a take on the American flag stitched by a well-known local
quilter.
“It was just something that went with
my house … but also a good way to raise money, and, of course, the
framing is wonderful,” said Rogers.
It’s no secret to artists that a
custom frame complements a painting or photograph and adds value,
something Myrna Dow, a co-owner of High Desert Gallery in Sisters,
knows well.
In 2007, the first year of the postcard
quilt show, Dow was disappointed to see that the juried pieces were
framed with generic, mass-produced frames. She approached the
organizers and asked if they would be interested in custom framing
each juried piece for the following year’s show.
They liked the idea but were certain
the show, which is run as a nonprofit, wouldn’t have the money
necessary to pay Dow for her work. So she offered to donate the time
and materials.
The decision made a difference. In
2007, the show’s silent auction raised $6,000. In 2008, helped by
Dow’s custom framing, the silent auction raised $11,400.
“When Myrna put them in frames, they
just looked fabulous,” said Ann Richardson, the executive director
of the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. “The custom framing really made
a difference and added a quality that caused sales to almost double.”
Custom framing 70 miniature quilts was
no easy task – there were deadlines to meet and technical
challenges to overcome – but Dow proved up to it.
Knowing she’d have little time
between when the postcard quilts would arrive at her shop and when
they had to be delivered, Dow started by building frames. Choosing
from the more than 2,800 molding samples in her shop, Dow and an
assistant began building different frames, each 10 by 12 inches,
despite the fact they had yet to see the postcard quilts.
When the organizers finally dropped
them off, roughly a month before the show, Dow began matching them to
the frames.
“What was fun was to be able to use
stock on hand to create different approaches, from fun and festive to
elegant,” said Dow. “We had such a wonderful gamut of frames, it
made each frame look like the postcard was picked for it.”
Next, each postcard quilt was mounted.
Adhering to strict archival standards, no glue or adhesives were
used, enabling the pieces to be easily removed if required. Pieces
with finished edges, such as a border, were suspended by stitching
the corners to a backing material. If the piece was flat and without
finished edges, it was placed in a similar sized hole in the backing
material, also called a sink set.
Many of the pieces featured 3-D relief,
due to beads, buttons or other fabric forms stitched into the
postcard quilts. Dow used foam core spacers in addition to double and
triple matting to keep the pieces from touching the frame glass.
The end result was 73 custom framed
postcard quilts, each one of them different.
“We didn’t just slap a frame on
them,” said Dow. “Each piece had character and we were able to
pull it out. We made them special.”
And that mattered to the show’s
organizers. The Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show has been around for more
than three decades but the postcard quilt show has given a new
meaning to the show. The silent auction benefits Wendy’s Wish, a
nonprofit based in nearby Bend, Ore., that provide education and
promote the early detection of colorectal cancer. It is named after
Wendy Huntley, a Central Oregon quilter who contributed to the
Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show.
“It’s added an element of visible
community support,” said the show’s executive director, Ann
Richardson. “It’s also added that art element. Because we’re an
outdoor show that doesn’t attract what you would consider art
quilts because people don’t want those hung outside, this show is
indoors, on a small scale … it gives us an expanded dimension of
the art side of quilting.”
Alma de la Melena Cox, a Sisters fiber
artist who had a postcard quilt in the 2008 juried show, was also
appreciative of Dow’s efforts. The frames were perfect, she said,
and made a significant impact on the show.
“What I found to be incredible was
how valued the postcards were,” said Cox. “People were standing
next to them at the silent auction in order to outbid others because
they were so passionate about the pieces. It just seemed like people
were not even thinking about the money aspect, they were just drawn
to something they wanted.”
Dow is again preparing to donate her
time and materials for this summer’s postcard quilt show. It’s a
worthwhile effort, she says, but also helps give her business
exposure as well as inspire visitors as to what is possible with
framing.
“What I love is we were able to use
our skills and showcase what framing can do for art and it’s for a
good cause,” said Dow. “It’s a win for everyone.”
The 2009 Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show
will be held Saturday, July 11 in Sisters. For more information,
visit: Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show.
Andrew Moore - April 2009
Gary Miller, Photographer.
Additionally published: Decor Magazine -- May 2009 Retailer Focus
