Last weekend DH and I made a last minute trip to Oregon for the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. We certainly didn’t over think this trip – we made a hotel reservation the Monday before show and set off with vague plans. The only concrete item on the itinerary was to see the show on Saturday. The Sisters show has long been on my list of shows to see and this year, finally, the second Saturday in July was free and clear.
In my naivety, I thought we’d get to Sisters about 9:00 when the show opened, walk through town seeing the quilts in four-ish hours, grab some lunch, and be on our way to another sight in the area. What a newb.
Sisters is the largest outdoor quilt show in the world. Intellectually I knew this fact; I’d read it on the website. What does “largest” mean? It means approximately 1400 quilts are hung in the open air adorning Sisters, Oregon. Fourteen hundred. I didn’t understand the scope of fourteen hundred quilts until I saw them. Wow.
The Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show is non-juried, non-judged, and open to all quilt genres until the entries are full. I don’t know how the organizers decided which quilt was displayed where but they did an amazing job. Art, antique, traditional, and modern quilts happily coexisted in a celebration of craft and creativity.
Happily we stayed the entire day and found another local hotel room for the night. The next morning we headed back for “Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show Sunday!” and a special exhibit of Tula Pink’s quilts.
Thank you, Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, for a wonderful and unexpectedly thought provoking weekend. I’ll be back another second Saturday in July!
Once a Wingnut...Always a Wingnut 
Very cool! It’s on my bucket list too!
That’s so funny! I assumed most of the quilters in our area had been to Sisters. After driving there, I understand. It is a long way but so worth it. Beautiful area and a great show.
I haven’t attended for a few years, but it is the only show that I’ve been to that you can get absolutely saturated with quilts in the course of a full day of viewing. You were fortunate to find a local hotel at the last minute. Your photos make me want to go again!
You are so right! The Sisters show is all quilts all the time. They’re hanging everywhere – on the buildings, in the buildings, down the alleys – just waiting to be discovered.
Wow. 1400 is a lot! Sounds like a lovely time and the pictures you shared were great. What a fun spur of the moment trip!