Throughout history there’s been a teeter-tottering evolution between generations who value hand-made craft and those who’d rather buy new and dispose of promptly. Probably back in the days of cavemen wielding clubs there was a snotty Cro-Magnon youth who simply couldn’t make due with wearing the same old fur loincloth day after day. Or patiently rubbing two sticks together to get fire.
Millennia later, the pioneers of Western N.C. could hardly stop off at Super Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. If they wanted warm bedding (not to mention socks, pants and overcoats) they had to make it. “Pioneer women ‘made do,’ weaving fabric, quilting, knitting, sewing to clothe their families,” imparts a press release for the upcoming 2nd Annual Patchwork Fabric Festival at the Jackson County Recreational Center in Cullowhee, N.C. “They braided rugs from left over strips of sheep wool to cover the cold floors; they sewed clothing made out of material gleaned from feed sacks and flour sacks.”
Celebrating these handed-down talents, the festival features crafters in period dress showing off their prowess at quilting, loom weaving and rug braiding. Additionally, 25 demonstrators will wow audiences with heritage crafts such as knitting, crocheting, shuttle tatting, needle tatting, cross stitching, machine piecing, rug hooking, embroidery, hand-loomed rugs, soft-sculpture cloth dolls and folk figures.
The Patchwork Fabric Festival runs Saturday, June 2, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Info: 631-4587 or 293-3053.
—Alli Marshall, A&E reporter
