Valley Girls quilt show, fiber arts on tap Oct. 16, 17
From our weekly issue dated September 09, 2009
The Valley Girls Quilt Show Committee, Southern Oregon Guild and Picket Fence Fabrics are collaborating to bring a new Fiber Arts Festival to Illinois Valley on Oct. 16 and 17.
The event will showcase the amazing array of fiber artists and artisans here and provide a new opportunity for the public to purchase beautiful handmade work as well as material for their own creations.
When Southern Oregon Guild was looking for a date to hold a sale of an exquisite recently donated collection of yarn and fabric, Celia Lettis, who belongs to the Guild and the Valley Girls Quilt Show Committee, suggested that having two major fiber arts events at the same time could potentially draw a larger crowd by making a trip to the valley from the broader southern Oregon region more attractive.
Gabrielle Hampton added to the idea, suggesting that the Guild broaden the sale to a full Fiber Arts Show & Sale at Rogue Community College’s Kerby Belt Bldg., site of the Guild’s Gallery & Artists’ Center.
The Valley Girls already had planned their second annual Valley Girls Quilt Show for Oct. 16 and 17. Their event will include an extensive show of never-publicly-displayed quilts as well as a raffle, silent auction and available lunch. Featured quilter will be Joani Sanford.
Carol Dickson, Valley Girls Quilt Show Committee president, was enthusiastic about the idea of another event that same weekend, and the Valley Girls accepted the idea to work in conjunction.
Carol Ronan, who produces and spins prize-winning fiber and yarn at her ranch in Selma, and Iris Chinook, whose hand-spinning and knitting are well known in the valley, also were enthusiastic about the idea. They joined with additional Guild members Nancy Hall and Joyce Abrams to design the Fiber Arts Show and Sale, now also slated for Oct. 16 and 17.
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The event will feature the hand-made arts and fine crafts of artisans producing finished functional and decorative arts from animal and plant fibers. This includes hand-spun yarns, knitted, felted and woven goods, hand-sewn work such as cloth dolls and clothing, and multimedia art, hand-made papers and basketry.
Such a wide spectrum of fiber arts, all of which are practiced in our valley, will be a dramatic testimony to the artistic talent and skill here.
The show and sale also will offer materials for producing everything from hand-spun yarn and knitted, felted, crocheted and woven work to sewn garments or other projects. Locally hand-made beads and buttons as well as plant fibers, if available, also will be welcome.
A special feature of the sale will be the exquisite collection of yarn and fabric recently donated to the Guild, offering sale prices on beautiful goods. Demonstrations are planned for both days.
Six-foot indoor vendor tables are available.
Registration forms for the fiber show are available at the Guild Gallery in RCC’s Kerby Belt Building, which is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Forms for both events are available at Picket Fence Fabrics on Caves Hwy., which also will be open during the festival.
For more information, phone Dickson at 592-8521, Abrams at 659-3858 or Hampton at 592-2800.
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