Atelier at 1109 to host Fiber Festival of Perry on May 13

Fiber is poised for the spotlight Saturday.

Atelier at 1109 will host the Fiber Festival of Perry from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Fiber Art Fair originally began in 2017 as a way to highlight local artists before shifting to the Fiber Festival of Perry in 2022.

Fiber's versatility will be on full display throughout the celebration.

"I like it's a unique art. When you honestly think of art, probably the first thing that comes to mind is painting," organizer Ashley Anderson said. "The creativity that you can find in fiber or textile is extremely unique, it's versatile, a lot of it can be functional."

Saturday's festival features more than 13 artists with items for sale at the Hotel Pattee and La Poste. Soumas Court will showcase a cane weaving demonstration as well as a yarn bombing installation. Atelier at 1109 will host a trio of kids workshops featuring bookmark weaving, yarn turtles and branch weaving.

The Perry Piecemakers Quilt Guild is displaying quilts as well as additional items at the hotel. Quilt guild members will also be on hand to show off some of the quilts they made for the various themed rooms at the hotel.

Shari Janssen said the Des Moines Weavers and Spinners Guild will showcase items in The Cellar at La Poste. The guild recently finished a Navajo weaving camp and members will have Navajo tapestries on display along with scarves and hand-woven towels.

Carrie Cavanaugh, of Bluesy Daisy Knits, will teach a beginner's knitting class from 9:30-11:30 a.m. or 2:30-4:30 p.m. A Work In Progress Circle will be held at the Hotel Pattee and La Poste for anyone wanting to work on projects or get ideas.

"People can get their new goodies and look at them or work on a project with other like-minded people," Anderson said. "It's going to be a fun gathering of fiber people."

Those looking to learn more about the fiber process can stop by Twisted Sunset Sisters Fiber Mill, 1118 3rd St. The ribbon will be cut with the help of the Perry Chamber of Commerce at 3 p.m. Friday, followed by an in-depth tour of the new mill.

Co-owner Savannah Scheufler said the doors will also be open from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday for self-guided tours. One of the big looms will be rolled out into the mill space for demonstrations.

"We call it the museum tour where we have these yarn-wrapped numbers that walk people through the various stations," Scheufler said. "The machines won't be running but we’ll have it set up beforehand so it looks how it does when fiber is in process."

Organizer Jenny Eklund added how she's thankful Twisted Sunset Sisters Fiber Mill came to Perry and that they’re a part of this year's fiber festival.

"If there's one thing that I’m proud of, it's how we started with a small dream and grew it to this," Eklund said.

The fiber festival has continued to evolve over the years to include various groups, such as the Perry Piecemakers Quilt Guild and the Des Moines Weavers and Spinners Guild, new artists and now a fiber mill.

"I’m sitting here thinking who are we going to get next year, how are we going to top this?" Eklund said. "That's going to be my goal for next year, that we are going to continue to grow and be something here in Perry."

Organizers and artists encourage area residents to head out and view the wide variety of fiber mediums on display throughout Saturday's festival.

"I’m excited for people to come out and say ‘I didn't realize you could make shawls and articles of clothing,’ there's something for almost everyone," said first-time vendor Shawna Meyer, of Wired and Woven. "There's really traditional stuff but there's also really fun things that people wouldn't even consider if there wasn't a fiber celebration like what they’re planning here in Perry."

For more information on the Fiber Festival of Perry, visit the Atelier at 1109 Facebook page.

Allison Ullmann is the editor and reporter for the Perry Chief and Dallas County News. Reach her at [email protected].