Quilt Helps Spread Awareness of the Value of Wild & Scenic Rivers & Native Fish

Winner of Facebook Naming Contest for Whychus Creek Quilt Announced

Sisters, Oregon (June 4, 2012) – The fiber art formerly known as the Quilt for Two Rivers has a new name.  The completed work, a masterpiece of contemporary American fiber art, has been rechristened Two Rivers Three Sisters following a Facebook naming contest.

The resplendent Two Rivers Three Sisters quilt (formerly the Quilt for Two Rivers)

The winning title, submitted by Teresa Mitchell of Star, Idaho, bested 67 entries from 19 states.  She won a prize package including a discounted stay at FivePine Lodge and $100 cash.

The Two Rivers Three Sisters quilt–now on display in the lobby of the Black Butte Ranch Lodge in Sisters,Oregon–was seven months in the making.  It features the artistic styles of 19 quilters who submitted panels to create a 40-foot, unified piece, plus four additional panels featuring the falls of Whychus.

“What’s truly magical about the quilt is the way it is going to live on in the new stewards we’ve created who care about two very special places here, Whychus Creek and the Metolius River,” says Maret Pajutee, representing project partner U.S. Forest Service.  Adds Lisa Leonard of another partnering organization, the National Forest Foundation, “Through this effort we are bringing a new form of visibility to this treasured landscape, and also highlighting different ways that people can connect with their National Forests.”

“Two Rivers Three Sisters represents the truest traditions of this art form,” notes Ann Richardson of the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, the third project partner.  “The effort has been a modern quilting bee, with many women coming together to create it.  And it tells a story, the story of how important our rivers and fish have been from Native American times to the present.  The theme of native fish returning to home waters is visible in many of the quilt panels.”

The festivities surrounding the new quilt are just getting under way:

• An artists’ reception open to the public will be held in the lobby of Black Butte Ranch Lodge, starting at 5 p.m., June 15.
• A new video celebrating the quilt and its making is posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf7q2En6pfw.
• The Ride for Two Rivers, a related benefit, takes place June 16 in Sisters,Oregon.
• The quilt hits the road for a tour after the mid-July Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show; see the schedule here.

The full 40-foot installation will be gifted for a donation of $20,000.  The four individual waterfall panels will be gifted to donors of $1,500 or more.  Gifts will support restoration efforts on Whychus Creek as part of the National Forest Foundation’s Tale of Two Rivers campaign.  Inquiries: ann@soqs.org

About the Quilt

Two Rivers Three Sisters is a unique collaboration between the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, the National Forest Foundation’s Treasured Landscapes conservation campaign, and the U.S. Forest Service.  It enlisted some of the Central Oregon’s foremost fabric artists in producing a commissioned work featuring scenes from Whychus Creek and the Metolius River to raise awareness of two Wild & Scenic waterways that frame the Sisters Country.  The project partners thank the following sponsors, whose support made this project a reality.

Presenting Sponsor – US Bank

Funders:

• National Forest Foundation
• Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show
• U.S. Forest Service
• Deschutes County Cultural Coalition
• Deschutes County Commissioners Discretionary Fund
• Oregon Arts Commission with support from the National Endowment for the Arts
• Roundhouse Foundation
• Deschutes Land Trust
• Deschutes River Conservancy

We also thank the following who donated a portion of their fees to help publicize the project:

• Merry Ann Moore, Moore Creative
• Kara McGinn, Kara McGinn Films
• Fran Willis
• Gary Miller, Sisters Country Photography

Like the quilt on Facebook

See the YouTube video

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Contacts

• Ann Richardson, Executive Director, Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, Ann@soqs.org
• Maret Pajutee, Ecologist, U.S. Forest Service, Sisters Ranger District, mpajutee@fs.fed.us
• Karly Hedrick, National Forest Foundation, khedrick@nationalforests.org