At the Almonte Old Town Hall

 Almonte's Fibrefest is hosted by the Mississippi Textile Museum. Almonte's Old Town Hall where I was located, The Museum, located on Ontario's Mississippi River, and at an agricultural hall. Almonte is about 30 minutes to the SE of the edge of Ottawa.  The photo above shows some of the interior of the Town Hall with the tables stacked with  enormous collections of old buttons. This was a very popular stopping place for customers.

 My booth was set up in the usual fashion, taking an hour to bring in the shelves, baskets and supplies for making another basket. The basket I made today is similar to the rib basket on the top shelf in the upper right of the photo. Sales were good today with lots of people stopping by.

The quilt shown here was being raffled off.

Fibrefest 2010: successful or not?

The North Lanark Agricultural Hall was one of two locations for Fibrefest 2010, a celebration of fibre art. Built on 1865, it is a grand building in which to join other fibre artists for an exhibition and sale.





Outside were some animal llama friends to great visitors. These animals are part of the stock of the person in the booth next to me. Her sales of alpaca wool were strong all weekend. And she asked me to take part in her on-farm fibre festival next September during the long weekend. I will be able to demonstrate basket-making as well as offer my baskets for sale.



During the sale, I made a market basket. I am afraid I cannot show you the finished product as it was one of the few sales I made all weekend. If I measure success by sales, this sale was not successful. I made about 1/3rd of the sales I made when I last took part in Fibrefest, and did not cover the cost of renting the space.




I did meet several friends from other art groups I have associated with over the years in Ottawa. One such is Catherine Nutt whose handmade Santa dolls are just incredible to look at and collect. I purchsed two from Catherine in the past as heirloom gifts for my Grand daughter.




Anne was with me for the two full days. This was the booth that was opposite us. I bought Anne a beautiful bag from the owner, Myrna Jack, a couple of years ago. Anne treasures it so much, she bought another one as a gift, and I bought an apron as a gift too. We spent almost as much from Myrna as we took in in sales!

All was not dismal however since I also met two highly rated local basket-makers. Both could be considered master crafts people with particular national and international reputations. One produces videos of basket-making she puts on you-tube where they receive huge numbers of hits and generate thousands of followers. The other's basket-work is known throughout North America. Both were very complimentary about the quality and talent and ability shown in my baskets.

In addition, I was "scouted" to take part, next year, as a demonstrator of the craft for a show in Aylmer, Quebec and another in Spenserville, Ontario. I am certainly interested in taking part in both ventures as well as at the farm mentioned earlier.

Overall, Fibrefest was not a financial windfall by any means, but it may turn out to be a means of introducing my craft to a wider audience.

Setting up for the Fibrefest.

Anne and I arrived at the North Lanark Agricultural Hall yesterday in brilliant sunshine to set up for Fibrefest, a Festival of the Fibre Arts. Our trusty Mazda Protege hauled the two large totes with only one stop on the way as a passing car indicated some trouble with the bungee cords that held the totes somewhat securely to the car. The trunk and back seat were also loaded down with baskets.


The North Lanark Agricultural Hall is a heritage building in the village of Almonte in the Township of Mississippi Mills. The twenty or so artists and artisans who are in Fibrefest are located in this hall as well as the Mississippi Textile Museum a short distance away. The hall has a balcony around it and is a fascinating place in itself. It is situated with nearby barns that hold cattle. There is also a grandstand and paddock. Cattle were being loaded into a cattle truck as we set up yesterday.

Three tables were set aside for my display as I had requested. The floor was marked with masking tape and my area clearly indicated on a floor plan. Anne and I took perhaps 30 minutes to set up, first covering the tables to floor level with an assortment of cloths. Many exhibition and show rules insist that display units be covered to floor level and all supplies be hidden from sight.



In setting up the display, we placed all sewing baskets together, all rib baskets in another area, and market baskets in a third area. Then the "others" were grouped together. We even found space for the Etsy sign.

Anne was quite impressed that the quantity of baskets I selected matched so well the area of display that was allotted us. Experience counts.

Preparing for Fibrefest

My "Studio" is looking like a disaster area as I prepare my baskets to transport them to Almonte on Friday to set up for Fibrefest 2010. I spent two or more hours yesterday adding price tags and an information card to the many new items I made since my last exhibition and sale in December 2009.




Currently, I have almost 90 items listed in my on-line Etsy store as well as many more that are unlisted. As I priced and tagged my items to offer for sale in Almonte, I had to decide which baskets I would take and which I should leave at home. I can only take so much in the two totes that will be tied to the luggage rack on the top of my car. The remaining baskets I take will be placed loose in the trunk and on the back seat of the car. In this photo you can see one tote already packed and closed and the other almost ready for closing.

The display units look bare.








The larger pieces remain at home in preference to smaller, lower priced pieces.


Before Anne and leave for Almonte, I will close my Etsy shop, putting it on "vacation" mode. I will take my camera to Almonte and record which baskets sell. When I return, I will remove these sold items from my Etsy shop. It would not do to sell the same item twice!

Fibrefest 2010

On September 11th from 10 00 am to 5 00 pm and on September 12th from 10 00 am to 4 00 pm I will be in Almonte, Ontario at the Mississippi Mills Textile Museum's Fibrefest 2010. This is a weekend to celebrate the textile heritage of that community and surrounding villages and to celebrate textile arts.

Over 20- textile art vendors, including me with my baskets, will be in Almonte either at the Mississippi Mills Textile Museum or the North Lanark Agricultural Hall. There will be daily demonstrations of weaving and spinning and basket-making as well as the opportunity to purchase fine fibre-art products from the vendors.

In addition, this weekend is "Doors Open" for Almonte, Clayton and Packenham where you can visit local historic sites. As a further attraction, there will be performances of the play, "Quilts from Hell", a Comical Musical Satire of Quilts coming to life. The play is to be held at the textile museum.

Tickets for the play cost $20.00 for Friday nights Gala Opening with wine and cheese, and $15.00 on Saturday and Sunday. Entrance to the Fibrefest is free at both locations.

SEE YOU THERE.