They Set the Rooster, Yeah; 1895 Crazy Quilt to steal the Show on April 26 in TD

This little guy has been atop a steeple watching The Dalles every move since 1898.

The Dalles, Ore., April 18, 2025 — This years Cherry Festival Quilt show harkens back to 1895 and a little rooster who feels pretty vane.

The feature quilt in this year’s show is from the Sandoz family of Sandoz Farm.

And it’s crazy.

It’s supposed to be.

It’s irregularly shaped fabric pieces and elaborate embellishments is what makes it “crazy.”  

But it gets a lot crazier than that and it’s something to crow about.

Here's the story from Mary Sandoz:

Here is a little throwback in history: Dan Sandoz and Mary Sandoz Leighton back in the day. We are still farming on the same farm as our forefathers. The farm has been in the family since 1880. Courtesy the Sandoz Farm Facebook Page.

Mary Sandoz, Agricultural Achievement Award at The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Citizens Awards Gala in 2023

The red crazy quilts was made by Laura (Heroux) Sandoz, my great grandmother in 1895. She happened to be the daughter of Docite Heroux the contractor who built old St. Peters Landmark Church. She was born in 1870. When the rooster was placed on the steeple it was Docite who did the job. He placed the rooster and hollered to the crowd "Cock-a-doodle-do" . His job was complete.

This quilt passed to my grandfather Julius Sandoz and then passed to his daughter Sister Helen Sandoz. Sister Helen gave this quilt to me to find a place to tell its  history. There is an "S" stitched on the quilt for Sandoz and an "L" for Laura and the year 1895.

This years quilt show will be accepting all quilts to show---just deliver to St. Peter's that morning between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. on April 26.

This sampler quilt was made by members of the Cherry City Cut-ups quilt group. It will be raffled at the show at 4 p.m. Tickets are $5. 

The show, which runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. features a quilt raffle with all the proceeds going to St. Peter's Landmark.  The drawing will be at 4 o'clock when the show closes.  Tickets are $5 and will be sold at the quilt show.  The quilt is on display at Sigman's Florist and tickets may be bought there.

In conjunction with the quilt show, there will be quilts for sale in Victor Johnson’s Herbring House courtyard.  These quilts come from the Senior Center.  The Habitat ReStore will have quilting fabric/books/supplies for sale that come from donations to the ReStore.