Six years ago, David and Tess Tappert moved to Post, a remote town about 25 miles east of Prineville.
At the time, Tess worked at Norco, a medical equipment supplier in Bend. Her commute? About an hour and a half one way – on a good day.
“And she was there every single day, even in the winter,” said David, her husband of 30 years.
After three years of that, Tess decided it was time to retire. With newfound free time to spend, she picked up a new hobby: quilting. And she quickly gravitated to a method known as collage quilting, where the maker uses layered fabric to create collage art, then quilts over the fabric to keep the pieces together.
“You can take a picture and recreate it using the fabric as your paint palette,” Tess said. “I just loved that, and I really got into it.”
Tess started making collage quilts of coastal scenes and donating them to the town of Seaside, where her sister is on the city council. Then, a couple years ago, she had the idea to make one that represents Prineville. So she and David drove around town taking photos of different places, including many angles of the iconic Crook County Courthouse.
Eventually, she decided to make a triptych, or three panels to be placed side by side, featuring the courthouse and other recognizable features of Prineville. (The panels are each 20 inches across and 40 inches tall.) Using photos as a guide, David drew a smaller “map” of the quilt to help with construction, while Tess began auditioning different fabrics for use in the piece’s sunset and water elements.
Two years and about 1,300 hours of work later, the piece is complete. The three panels are each 20 inches across and 40 inches tall, quilted by Yvette Thomas of Crooked River Quilting in Prineville and mounted on frames by David Tappert.
The couple has named it “Then and Now,” celebrating the people and the rich history of Prineville and Crook County. Among many others, featured elements include the courthouse, Bowman Museum, Club Pioneer, Barney Prine’s steakhouse, Les Schwab Tire Center, the Pine Theater, Meadow Lakes Golf Course, Parr Lumber, the “War Paint” horse statue, Steins Pillar and several individuals.
When it came time to decide what to do with the piece, the Tapperts didn’t have to think for long before settling on a donation to the annual St. Charles Hospice Christmas Auction, to be held Dec. 3. Presented by St. Charles Foundation, the annual event has a 30-year tradition of raising money for crucial support services for patients of St. Charles Hospice and their families.
It’s a cause that is near and dear to the Tappert’s hearts. In past years, they’ve donated other quilts to the auction, as well as elaborately decorated trees, handmade ornaments and furniture – including a fully outfitted sewing room.
“Hospice was there for my mother before she passed away,” Tess said. “They came out to Post three times weekly from Prineville and they were so good with her. They drove all the way out there and they were incredibly kind every time.”
Ezperanza “Tita” Montero moved to Post to live with Tess and David and lived there for a little over a year before she passed away in 2016 at the age of 97. In the final three months of her life, David was her primary caretaker, and he gets emotional when he talks about the care she received.
“I want to shout out Dr. Michael Knower, specifically, because he is an amazing man, as well as her nurse, Ginger Hearty, who treated her with such kindness and dignity,” David said. “The whole team she had was amazing. They went above and beyond. They really did.”
David had experience with hospice care, having experienced it through his own mother years before. He understands the impact hospice caregivers can have on patients and their families during one of life’s most precious and vulnerable seasons.
“Hospice means a lot to both of us,” he said. “We know there’s a great need for it, so as long as we’re able, we’ll be there to support it.”
