Last night's 40th Anniversary Celebration was a wonderful event. It started with the Gee's Bend quilters singing to us all. Here we have Mary Ann Pettway, China Pettway, Lucy Lee Witherspoon, Gloria Hoppins and Stella Mae Pettway.
The evening was a great tribute to Jean Wells who is the founder of the quilt show. In 1975 she hung 12 quilts outside her shop, The Stitchin' Post, one July day. Look what it's turned into! Over 1300 quilts will be hung this Saturday for one of the biggest celebrations ever in the quilting world.
Local artist Kathy Deggendorfer is a great supporter of all arts and culture in Sisters, but especially the quilt show. She was presented with the Golden Quilt Award.
Jean got up on stage with the Gee's Bend quilters for a little Q & A, That was lots of fun!
Later, Jean announced the brand new Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show endowment fund. I'll put a link here when I can find the info.
Lastly was a wonderful original song by Dennis McGregor all about Jean Wells! This was so much fun. For a little video snippet see my Instagram link.
Whew! Today I don't work, but I leave in a few minutes for my class with the Gee's Bend quilters, a couple of artist receptions, dinner with my Undercover Quilter friends and tonight's lecture with Tula Pink! Fun, fun, fun. Things will be crazy busy for the next few days, but I'll be back with more posts when I get a chance!