Upper Valley Fiber Festival

While in Ohio, I drove to Troy, about 20 minutes north of Dayton to attend the Upper Valley Fiber Festival being held on the same weekend. While the show was a small one--about 40 vendors--but I found the quality of the vendors to be excellent. There were a number of wool felting artists present--more than I think I see around my local shows--and I especially enjoyed the work of Morning View Farms. Their wool "paintings" were extraordinary.




I also visited the Paper Alice booth where Alison (aka. Paper Alice) demonstrated the art of papermaking, using a blender, a mold, and a handful of shredded junk mail. In just a few minutes, we watched as she created beautiful papers--the kind I've often purchased in art stores--using a McDonald's bag, a pinch of grass, some parsley, and a fresh dandelion. Her stall was filled with wonderful handmade books, notes and cards that she'd constructed using exactly what she was making there in front of us. It left me anxious to go home and try it out myself, especially since I just happened to have an unused paper mold at home with my rubber stamp collection!


The very best part of the show was that I got the chance to spend the day with one of my favorite people, Robin H., whom I originally met when I attended her rug hooking camps in Virginia. She and her husband recently relocated to Ohio and, when I discovered this fact, we immediately made plans to get together. Robin is one of those people who make you feel comfortable the minute you meet her and, even though we haven't seen each other for 4 or 5 years, it was like we'd been together last week. Robin brought along a new friend, Sue, a beginning spinner and the two of us had a terrific time "enabling" her.