Fiber artists collaborating on the Quilt for Two Rivers are blogging about their quilt panels for the 40-foot masterpiece-in-progress which honors Sisters, Oregon’s Treasured Landscapes. Featured this week:

“BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE”  – PANEL 5

When the invitation to join with a group of quilters to do this quilt came to me, I was eager to join in the project. I’ve followed the Whychus Creek restoration project in the news, and I would love to see fish swimming through Sisters!

Since moving here seven years ago, I’ve liked the pedestrian bridge over Whychus as it flows through Creekside Park. It is a landmark of Sisters.  I always know I’m home when I drive past the bridge.

Jan and her quilt panel; photo collage by Sarah Peery

It was a slow start for my quilt. I took many pictures in all weather, trying to get a view of the bridge that pleased and inspired me. I walked the park, sometimes shivering in the cold, studying the area around the bridge, its construction, and the way the water flows. I tried to get to know the bridge and the creek in a deeper way. One day was rock study day and I was amazed to see for the first time that some of the rocks in and around the creek are a rusty red.

Finally I decided upon a view of the bridge and finished the basic design. Throughout the project I had help, suggestions and gifts of fabric from friends that encouraged me and made the design better.

I’ve used Susan Carlson’s collage technique to construct the quilt. This method is truly “construction,” an apt term for building a bridge!

As I’ve worked, the bridge has become a visual metaphor for me. The bridge symbolizes what the creek has meant to Sisters in the past.  The presence of water was partly responsible for the birth of Sisters. For the original pioneers who homesteaded here, Whychus pointed to the future. For us, at this time in Sisters history, the bridge stands above the water, reminding us that once again the creek points to the future–a time when salmon and other fish will leap and play in our waters again.  I plan to name my quilt “Bridge to the Future.”

–Jan Hearn