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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (July 10, 2019)
10 Wednesday, July 10, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Quilter Anna Bates takes social media by storm By Jodi Schneider Correspondent Sisters resident Anna Bates really lives the quilting life. She spreads her prolific quilt- ing know-how around the globe through social media. <I love to write and talk about quilting as much as I love to quilt,= Bates said. She has online quilting tutorials, and interacts with quilters every day through Instagram, Facebook and her online blog, <Woolie Mammoth.= Three years ago, Bates and her husband, Greg, began designing videos for their YouTube channel, <Quilt Roadies.= She noted, <I9m sharing what I learned about quilting, and my husband shares about our adventures as we travel around the country camping in our trailer. Our passion is encouraging others in many avenues of creativity.= Bates added, <This is such a blessing because we get the opportunity to see the good in the world, from all over the globe. Greg does all the video editing. He9s also a musician and writes some of the music for our YouTube channel intro.= Their goal is to connect people over and above all their differences. Their videos range from 15 to 40 minutes, and they have up to 14,000 subscribers. Bates began quilting in 1993 in Bend during her 25-year nursing career at St. Charles Medical Center. She noted, <That was the year I needed a hobby, and I took classes in Bend and then later at the Stitchin9 Post in Sisters. All my friends and I, doctors and nurses from the hospital, formed a small quilt- ing group as a stress reliever.= Since that time Bates con- tinues quilting in her eclectic style and has been an instruc- tor at Quilters Affair intermit- tently for years. Quilters Affair is a mix of classes, workshops and events produced by Stichin9 Post that runs Monday through Friday during quilt week in the Sisters High School before Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show (SOQS). <I am a smorgasbord quil- ter,= said Bates. <I like it all and I don9t have just one style, although I probably lean towards traditional.= Eighty percent of her work is hand-stitching or hand- applique work. Two years ago, <The Quilt Show= 4 an online magazine and TV show hosted by Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims, set up an interview with Bates, and their filming crew trav- eled to her home in Sisters. Bates noted, <Jean Wells, SOQS founder, arranged this because a lot of my quilts stay in my home. I live with my quilts. The crew set up a whole scaffolding system to hang my quilts, and a camera- man filmed it.= <I feel like the Kardashian of quilters because I always tend to be in the right place CLEAN YOUR GUTTERS from the ground! Dr. Janet Kenyon Audiologist for over 30 years Custom-built hearing aids Complete In-Canal Receiver In-Canal Behind-The-Ear In-house cleaning, repairs & service Premium hearing aids, aff ordably priced All insurance plans accepted 541-317-1265 1625 NE 2nd St. | Bend Open Mon-Fri 10 a.m.-5 p.m. www.kenyonaudiology.com Gutter Cleaning Kit attaches to any STIHL handheld blower. Extends over 10 feet! RENT OR BUY! 506 N. Pine St. 541-549-9631 Sales • Service Rentals • Accessories www.sistersrental.com at the right time,= Bates said. <I seem to stumble into these wonderful experiences.= The hosts then invited Bates to be a guest on The Quilt Show. Bates now writes a blog, Anna & G on the Road, for The Quilt Show. <My quilting life is open- ing up opportunities for me to experience things in life I would not normally get to do.= This year Bates will be teaching a wool applique class at Quilters Affair and two sit and stitch classes. Bates noted, <The wool applique class is designed by Stacy West of Buttermilk Basin. She9s from Minnesota and I love her designs. She designed a project for me to teach.= West produces about 100 designs a year in various mediums, including cotton, wool, and fiber. Each month she releases seven to 10 at her shop, providing her customers with new designs/kits to pur- chase each month. Bates was also asked to do the Sisters Outdoor Quilt PHOTO BY JODI SCHNEIDER Anna Bates is a major online presence in the quilting world. Show Storyteller9s auction quilt. <It9s called 8Earl9s Truck,9 because my father-in-law, who has since passed away, used to drive his red truck all around Sisters where he lived.= Recently Bates filmed <Sisters Quilt Show Tips,= which is up and ready on Quilt Roadies on YouTube for folks to learn what to do and where to go on quilt show day. There will also be a meet- and-greet with Bates for Quilt Roadies fans at 11:30 a.m. at Fika Sisters Coffee. <One of my quilts is hang- ing in there 4 8Bipes9 House9 4 and we will be meeting people who come from all over the world.= Sisters’ Year-Round Residential & Commercial Window Cleaning DINING & TAKE-OUT until midnight every night Menu at SistersSaloon.net 541-549-RIBS 190 E. Cascade Ave. Insured & Bonded Veteran & Senior Discounts 541-510-7918