Join Me at the Alabama Fiber Arts Festival This Weekend!

When I was in the fourth grade, my entire class took a field trip to Old Alabama Town.  It’s an historic district in the center of downtown Montgomery where nearly 100 buildings from the 1800s and 1900s have been transplanted, creating a village of history.  There are frequent events there featuring costumed historic interpreters, and most days are a day in 1862.  I think it’s dreamy.

Restored cotton gin at Old Alabama Town.  There are also historic looms that the public are allowed to try, and they’ll mail you your section of completed weaving!

This weekend, Old Alabama Town is being taken over by the Festival of Alabama Fiber Arts, and I’m going to be there!  I’ve been invited as an instructor in the Society of Alabama Fiber Enthusiasts’ event, their first annual festival dedicated to establishing a central, yearly forum for celebrating all the fiber arts.  There is a juried fiber arts competition, as well as noted speakers from across the nation, all gifted stitchers and knitters.  They’ve planned a fiber market, so we can all indulge in a little touching and oogling and purchasing while we’re there.  They’ll have vendors and presenters who are experts in knitting, weaving, spinning, quilting, sewing and dyeing–and I am very flattered to have been included.  (They didn’t even know I was an Alabama native when they asked me, so that’s nice!)

Ginned cotton at Old Alabama Town; image from this fantastic set of Old Alabama Town images over on Flickr.

The Festival takes place Friday and Saturday; my live machine quilting demonstration is on Saturday at 9 am and I’ll be teaching an applique tote bag workshop on Saturday afternoon at 1 pm.  The demo is totally FREE, as are many of the presentations and events this weekend.  Use the links to RSVP so I can bring you goodies and treats!  Montgomery is a short drive from Atlanta (just two hours! great riverfront entertainment and yummy food! activities for the kids in Old Alabama Town!), and I’d love to see some familiar faces!  If I haven’t had the chance to meet you before, this would be such a fun chance to connect.  See all the information on the Society’s page, and make time for classes and workshops!