Sisters Outdoors Quilt Show

Everyone will arrive at the Country Inn & Suites - Portland Airport, check in, and help themselves to dinner in the area.  We will have our Get Acquainted Party back at the hotel later that evening.

We’ll have breakfast at the hotel, then, we’re off to tour the scenic Columbia River Gorge. 

First, we will head off to the Hood River Fruit Loop Tour.  The Hood River Valley landscape is pristine with pure glacial streams, abundant in wildlife and history, and rich in lore and farming. While here, we will visit the Lavender Valley Lavender Farm - Oregon’s Premier Lavender Farm, featuring four acres of lavender, 65 different varieties, and over 100 lavender products! Lavender Valley is a mystical and magical place to visit. Purple fragrant scenes with a backdrop of snowcapped mountains border the farm. 

Our next stop will be at The Cascade Alpacas Foothills Yarn & Fiber. While here we will get to see the gentle alpacas and their new babies. These irresistible animals produce irresistible fiber. Alpaca is a hypoallergenic, natural fiber with the softness of cashmere and the strength of modern synthetics. We will also get to touch the alpaca yarn that will inspire our creativity. Next, we will go shopping in their full-service yarn shop which offers a wonderful selection of quality yarns and equipment for knitting, crocheting, weaving, and spinning. They also sell alpaca socks, hats, scarves, blankets, and gifts. 

At lunch, we’ll visit and dine at Multnomah Falls, the second highest year-round waterfall in the United States, plummeting 620 feet from its origins on Larch Mountain. Nearly two million visitors a year come to see this ancient waterfall. The Multnomah Falls Lodge offers an authentic northwestern cuisine, served in a rustic, romantic setting. We’ll enjoy a plate lunch with a variety of sandwiches and dishes - a meal you’re sure to remember for a long time. Oh, and did we mention that part of the movie Twilight was filmed here?  It was!  Really! 

After this beautiful scenery we will surely be ready for...FABRIC!  So it's n to Vancouver, WA where we will stop at Fiddlesticks Quilt Shop. They have diverse selection of over 3000 bolts of fabric, lots of samples, beautiful displays, notions, books, patterns, kits, and lots more. Fiddlesticks was also selected as a "Top Ten"  shop by Quilt Sampler magazine for the Spring 2015 issue.

Now we will head back to Portland. Our first stop in Portland will be Cascade Station where you can have dinner on your own at one of the many restaurants. After dinner and shopping, we will continue on our journey. We know that this has been a long day, and some of you may be ready to call it a night. So we will stop by the hotel before we head on to the largest fabric store in Oregon - The Fabric Depot!  You will be inspired with over 20,000 fabrics in the quilting, home decorating, bridal and fashion departments. They also carry a large selection of quilting supplies, sewing notions, books, patterns, yarn, gifts and specialty foods. 

After we are finished shopping at the Fabric Depot we will return to our hotel.

First stop is at a historic shop.  Greenbaum’s Quilted Forest is a third generation family business that has evolved over time. In 1900, It started as a dry goods store; in 1946 became a fabric store; and finally a quilt shop, in 1988. The shop is in a beautiful historic structure that was built in 1889, and is located in the heart of the downtown historic district in Salem, Oregon.

Greenbaum’s Quilted Forest is known regionally for its innovative classes, and showcasing the newest products and fabrics that compliment its trend-setting personality.  Sylvia Dorney, the current owner and granddaughter of founder Izzy Greenbaum, continues the family tradition of providing excellent customer service and quality merchandise.  In 2003, they were recognized by Better Homes and Gardens’ Quilt Sampler magazine as a “Top Ten Quilt Shop”. 

We'll stop by the Capitol building for some lunch (included) and exploring and then it is off to our next quilt shop.

Next, we’re off to Keizer, Oregon, to visit The Cotton Patch Quilt Shop, where we will find a warm, inviting shop full of quilting atmosphere.  Diane opened this great new store in 2009 and it is bright, welcoming, and growing daily with a large collection of fabrics.

Then it's off to the Pine Needle Quilt Shop, owned by Geri Grasvik. Pine Needle Quilt Shop was a Top Ten shop in 1999! It offers over 4,500 square feet of fabric and has over 50 quilts hanging.  Along with the retail store almost bursting with color and prints, they bring together the newest fabrics with the freshest patterns, offering “quilting inspiration, and kits.”

We’re off to Bend this morning to visit BJ’s Quilt Basket. With a 5,600 square-foot store, housing over 4,000 bolts of fine fabric and notions, books and magazines, they are Central Oregon's largest quilting and sewing supply store.  Lunch will be at BJ's Quilt Basket today.

That afternoon, we’ll arrive at the Stitchin’ Post in Sisters, the shop where it all began!  We’ll enjoy a look around, visit with owners Jean and Valori Wells, and take it all in.  The fabrics, the kits! It may all be a blur, but a beautiful blur, no less. Finally, we’ll dine at the annual Quilter’s Picnic hosted by The Stitchin’ Post, and stay for the Lecture that evening.  Visit their website at www.stitchinpost.com

That night, we’ll sleep locally, in Bend, and be rested for the big day ahead!

Be ready to be amazed, because today we’ll be up at sunrise and off to the Annual Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show!  The Beauty! The glamour! The Quilts! It’s truly something to be admired. You’re free to walk at your own pace while you enjoy the immense size and simple wonder of this grand event. 

The Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show began when the founder, Jean Wells Keenan, hung a dozen quilts made by her students outside her quilt shop, Stitchin' Post, on a warm summer day in July. A few more ladies brought their quilts to show, then a few more and a few more. she had no idea the legacy she was embarking upon. Fourty years later, the annual Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show has grown to showcase over 1,300 quilts blanketing the small town of Sisters, Oregon, population: 1,925. Every July the population swells to nearly seven times that amount as quilt-enthusiasts from around the globe travel to scenic Central Oregon to view quilts from prominent, accomplished artists and instructors right alongside those of their neighbors, friends and family members.

Each year, the Quilt show offers an array of exhibits and contests, and feature different quilters, teachers, upcoming quilters, and influential people in the quilting community.  And we’re sure you won’t be let down! Just like a quilter’s fabric stash, it seems to just continue getting bigger and better with each passing year.

All good things must come to an end, so at 5pm when the Quilt Show is over, we will board the bus and head to the FivePine Lodge and Conference Center. We will indulge in a first-class buffet meal, included in the cost of your tour! While you are at Five Pine Lodge, you will want to be sure that you take a few minutes to take in the beautiful ladscape around. The Peterson Ridge trail is only steps away and has the Three Sisters Mountains in the backdrop. 

We’ll check out of the hotel, board the bus, and arrive at the Portland Airport by 12:30 to drop off any passengers taking a flight out. We’ll then return to the Holiday Inn Express, to drop off any remaining passengers, if needed.

All flights home should be scheduled after 2:00 p.m.