Special Exhibit, 2012 Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show

The Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show 2012 . . . the largest 

outdoor quilt show in the world.

Photos of our Fiberexplorations' Fabric Swatch Challenge Special Exhibit:

Crowds gather for an up-close look at our quilts.

by Maureen Erhardt

by Joanna Price

by Erika Close

by Lisa Encabo

by Kathleen Nesvik

by Torrie Gordon

by Chris Deibel

Leaf detail:  hand applique, white cotton velvet, threadpainting

by Deb Sorem

Kathleen amazed us all with her beautifully-executed confetti-style landscape.  Can you believe she's only been sewing for a year or two?  In this piece, it's obvious that she has a background in art, but it also gave her more confidence in her sewing skills -- she said she finally "became friends with her BSR" (Bernina Stitch Regulator).  No wonder Kathleen's smiling like a proud parent; she's definitely earned it!

Kathleen and her masterpiece!

[Thanks to Lisa Encabo for the above photos.]

For the first time in its 37-year history, the show had to close "significantly early" (2:30 pm) because of an approaching thunderstorm.  As soon as the call was made, visitors rushed to help the quilt show volunteers with taking down 1,400 quilts.

Thunder in the distance . . . down came our quilts!

10 min. later . . . torrential rain, and no quilts in sight.

The Three Sisters, after the storm.

Rainstorm moving across the high desert.

Lisa took these final 2 photos while driving 

from Sisters to Bend, after the show. 

I'm so proud of our group!  These quilts all originated from the fabric swatches we created and exchanged earlier this year, based on the color palette of the 2012 Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show poster by Kathy Deggendorfer.  We each started with the same group of 9" fabric swatches and finished with these unique art quilts.  Where to from here?

Our new challenge

Our group enjoyed last year's Fabric Swatch Exchange Challenge so much that we're doing it again this year.  Our finished quilts are already listed as a special exhibit at this summer's Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show (SOSQ) on Sat., July14.
As we did last year, each member does some sort of surface design on fabric, cuts it into 9" square swatches, and exchanges them with other members of the group. The only caveat is that we use the same color palette as this year's SOSQ poster by Kathy Deggendorfer.

This year's poster by Kathy Deggendorfer.

Here are the fabric swatches we exchanged at our Feb. meeting:

2012 Fabric Swatches

If you counted them, you came up with 12, but presently there are only 9 members in Fiberexplorations. The explanation:  some of us got carried away and and created more than one surface-designed fabric, so extra swatches were cut and exchanged.    Here's another view:

An enticing array of color!

It's exciting to see how much our members have progressed!  I compared this new set of swatches with last year's, and everyone was much freer in experimenting and trying new surface design techniques.  This year we see plenty of hand-dyeing, but also the use of DeColourant, shibori, resist work, and even marbling.
Now the real challenge begins -- to design and construct an original quilt using at least some of each of these 12 fabrics, plus others.  Per the SOSQ's requirements, the quilt needs to be at least 36" x 36" and needs to be completed by the end of June.
This year I hope to post photos and notes on most of our members' quilts as they're being constructed.  Unlike other groups, we don't keep our work a secret and then have a big reveal at the end.  Instead, we share our progress along the way.  And if any member requests it, we offer suggestions and advice along the way.  I'm anticipating great results!

Progress on our challenge quilts

Torrie's "Small Wonders" piece

At our April meeting, Torrie brought her finished piece for the "Small Wonders" quilt challenge, sponsored by the Stitchin' Post in Sisters, OR. For this challenge, partipants create and donate a small quilt (between 18" and 24" in size) for a fundraiser benefiting nonprofit organizations in Sisters. The quilts are displayed in the Sisters Library during the month of May, where visitors can vote for their favorites. Prizes totaling $500 will be awarded. If you can't get to Sisters to see them in May, the quilts will also be displayed (and sold!) during the Sisters Quilt Show on Sat., July 9.

I love the cheerful, high energy feel to this little quilt, which incorporates pieces of all the fabric swatches from our in-progress Fabric Swatch Challenge. But Torrie's not finished working with this color palette yet; she still plans to make a larger quilt for that challenge! It will be a different design (and larger -- at least 36" on each side), using the rest of her fabric swatches from our exchange, plus fabrics from her own stash.

I've made some headway on my own piece for our Fabric Swatch Challenge. I first sketched some design ideas in my design journal, chose the best parts, then drew the layout (an abstract landscape) on large tracing paper, choosing a 36" wide x 48" long format. Yikes!!! That's HUGE for me; I usually work much smaller, like 9" x 12" journal quilt size. But it's a good challenge for me -- and that's what a challenge is all about, isn't it? Pushing yourself to try things a different way, testing yourself, getting out of your comfort zone, and seeing what you're capable of.

The next step was to gather the pieces from our fabric swatch exchange and audition others that worked well with them. The fabrics were folded to fit together in their assigned areas of the traced layout, then photographed:

The "draft" layout of my design.

Since taking that photo, I've stitched together 2 rows/sections: the blues and greens and the yellow-oranges.

I strayed from my original plan when placing fabrics at the bottom of the design; I've decided to change it back to my original idea. The dark brown vertical piece has also been nixed, along with several other changes.

Again, that's what I love about art quilts -- that new ideas can be considered and decisions made all the way through the process; nothing's set in stone. That's freedom!

Final note: I really want to be the buyer/owner of Torrie's "Small Wonders" quilt, but I'm afraid I'll have some stiff competition. If anyone out there has some influence in helping me make this acquisition, I'd be most grateful!

Fabric Swatches Exchanged

At Monday night's Fiberexplorations' meeting, we exchanged our 9" x 9" swatches of "transformed" fabric for the next challenge.  Following the guidelines from the new Cloth, Paper, Scissors' Fabric Swatch Exchange, we used a variety of techniques to transform our fabric, including fabric painting, dyeing, stamping, gelatin monoprinting, overdyeing, stitching, and katazome (a Japanese form of printing with a stencil and rice paste resist).

Our palette and samples

The poster (by Kathy Deggendorfer) for the 2011 Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show served as our color palette.  For the challenge, each person will make an art quilt using at least some of each fabric swatch, plus any additional fabrics of their choice.  We plan to enter these quilts at the Sisters' Quilt Show this summer.  (It's always the 2nd Sat. in July.)  The only other rule is one from the quilt show itself:  each side must be at least 36" inches in length.

A beautiful set of fabrics to work with!

The second photo shows some of the techniques used.  On the right, from top to bottom:  Lisa's stitched fabric swatch, Joan's blue & white katazome, and Maureen's green batik dribbled w/ blue and dotted w/yellow.

The swatches are amazing, especially since this was the first experience with fabric painting for many members.  And that's what this group's all about:  pushing ourselves (gently) to step outside the box and explore, experiment, and enjoy the journey!