Quilters gather in Sisters next week

Sisters explodes in color on July 8 with the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show — but town will be full of quilters for a week before that.

Some 1,200 to 1,400 artists will be headquartered at Sisters High School for a week of classes and engagement known as Quilters Affair, running Monday-Friday, July 3-7.

The centerpiece of Quilters Affair is a range of classes taught by some of the luminaries in the field: Violet Craft, Sarah Fielke, Tula Pink, Giuseppe Ribaudo, Latifah Saafir, Jennifer Sampou, and Sue Spargo.

Quilters Affair is sponsored and staged by the Stitcin’ Post in Sisters. The teachers come from all around the country — as do the students. Fielke is coming all the way from Australia.

Attendees can fully immerse themselves, or take select classes — and there’s always a waiting list for favorites.

“Some come for the whole week, some for just a couple of days before Quilt Show,” said Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show Executive Director Dawn Boyd. “Some take classes all week, some just take one.”

The quilters find great value in the opportunity to access a wealth of knowledge and skill all in one location.

“I think one of the most important things for quilters is the opportunity for education and to learn… new techniques,” she said.

This year’s Quilters Affair is not only about quilting. Half-day classes cover subjects like painting with glass, barn quilt painting, and block printing. There are also single  and multi-day classes in fabric dyeing.

Learning from masters is not the only benefit. Boyd noted that quilters love to connect and enjoy the camaraderie of mutual love for the fabric arts.

(Look for the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show program guide in the July 5 edition of The Nugget.)