Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show 2012 - part 4 - Where the Boys Are

This year the organizers of the show decided to highlight men who quilt by giving them their own area.  I think it was called Man-Land or something like that... I can't remember.

I have mixed feelings about this.  On the one hand, it's a bit silly to divide up quilters by sex or whatever.  All quilters do basically the same thing, we use the tools and techniques of the craft to express our personalities & inspiration.  There's as much variety among men who quilt (and among women who quilt) as there is between the two groups.

On the other hand, in general men and women do have different perspectives and different interests.... and this is reflected in their quilting.  Then there is the fact that quilting is a predominantly female-dominated craft, so I support any move that may encourage men to pick up some fabric and spend some time with a sewing machine. 

In any case, here are some of the phenomenal quilts that were made by men.

This quilt was particularly striking, given the location.  As we drove to Sisters we passed acres and acres of forest that had been burned in a forest fire years ago.  Every year I like looking out and seeing how the land is healing.   I think this quilt perfectly captures the sadness of the burnt trees, but the hope contained in the grassy meadows.

This quilt combined some features from other quilts that I really enjoyed- the interesting geometric effects of a stack & whack quilt, the dark borders and the gorgeous cool blues & greens.

This one was just so cool and tranquil.  And for the record - this was the color-value effect I was going for in my yellow quilt.  I think he did a much better job of it!!!

These I thought were interesting just for the use of colors.  I think a lot of women stick to the 'lovely' colors, pastels and jewel tones... it was nice to see the browns and greys used so beautifully.   Nice work guys!!

I haven't really shared much of the adventure-story that came with the show this year.  For one thing, I overslept and had to jet out of my apartment without breakfast or a shower, speeding on my little bike down to the the Max station.  Fortunately I caught the Max and arrived at Fabric Depot in time to board the bus.

But it did mean that by the time I got to the show, after 3 hours on the bus, I was starving!  So I stopped and got an early lunch shortly after we arrived.  Sisters is absolutely overrun during the quilt show, so I know it's unrealistic to expect quick service in the restaurants.  I ate as quickly as I could... but still ended up spending more time in the restaurant than I wanted.

Excited, and anxious to see as much as I could, I fairly sprinted down the the main road, snapping pictures left and right.  Adding to my anxiety was the weather report I had seen earlier that morning.... 30% chance of thunderstorms.  As the day wore on, the white puffy clouds turned darker and darker.

Sure enough, as I was looking at the quilts in Man-Land I felt a few sprinkles of rain on my arms.   At this point I'd only gone down three of the streets... and had only seen about half of the outdoor quilts.  I knew that the teacher's tent was not to be missed... so I headed over there as quickly as I could, hoping to see them before everything got taken down.

I'll save you the suspense and let you know that I did get to see those quilts - I'll share the pictures in my next post.