Lovely Afternoon July 3rd at the 7th Annual Fiber Arts Stroll & Quilt Walk

A favorite event of mine is the Fiber Arts Stroll and Quilt Walk that happens the weekend before the GIANT Quilt Show in Sisters, Oregon. The Fiber Arts Stroll has a more mellow feel than the quilt show itself, and it allows more viewing of art in the participating shops and businesses. Saturday, July 3rd, the day of the Arts Stroll was a near perfect summer day for me.... In the morning, watched the Tour de France while getting ready for my own bike ride with the Bend Bella Cyclists. After an invigorating ride through the back roads offering up views of our beloved snow-covered Cascade mountains against bright blue skies, I was ready to be inspired to view art created by other Central Oregon artists!
Once arriving in Sisters, a lovely 40 minute drive from Bend, I grabbed a map, and quickly navigated my way to destination shops and galleries. I adore the work of Tonye Belinda Phillips, who was displaying at Clearwater Gallery and chatted with her about her creative process between all her other admirers. I told her that I am experimenting with paper collage, which are similar to the whimsy of her work. We chatted a bit on the joys of paper and fabric, her lovely hometown of Camp Sherman, and venues of displaying artwork in which we talked a bit about etsy, and I was able to mention my site to her! Gotta keep up the promoting, huh, wherever I find it! I gave Tonye my business card.... the last one in my wallet (note to self ...RESTOCK!). Later, as I moved along to Sisters ArtWorks, I delighted in seeing Kathy Deggendorf, who is Tonye's frequent collaborator. Kathy was there at her work space, showcasing it for their studio sale. Also in the building was one of my favorite shows of the day, the Wish Upon A Card show, in which artists created fabric postcards, which were on sale as a silent auction. Check out last year's submissions and you can see why I love this kind of show! I love the small scale, and within this limitation, the COLOR! the WHIMSY! the CRAFTSMANSHIP! the VISION! the JOY! the Since I was in Sisters, I also had to go to the Stichin' Post to revel in the explosion of color and patterns in this fabric/quilt shop. Even though I bought fabric exactly a year ago for throw pillows, already, I am mulling a change.... However, I held off on making any fabric decisions, continuing simply to ooh and aahh over the showcased art and quilts.