Fiesta in Albuquerque

Yesterday at a stitch-in called Cloth and Canvas there were six of us talking about a wide range of subjects. It was election day and that topic always hovered on our minds--about what directions our personal lives were heading because of this unprecedented national election. But we also spoke of more mundane topics including the upcoming Albuquerque Fiber Art Fiesta in May 2009.

For those of you not in the know the AFAF is a biannual event put on by the Albuquerque Fiber Arts Council at the state fairgrounds. It goes on for three days on the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday just before Memorial Day. All of the fiber arts guilds in NM have banded together to form the Council, so we are a large group of weavers, spinners, quilters, knitters, both by hand and machine, crocheters, doll makers, beaders, silk painters, finer hand sewers, smockers, mixed media, (have I forgotten anyone?) and of course embroiderers. Each type of fiber art gets a booth and an exhibit space. Then there are many vendors who come to Albuquerque for the event and who sell everything from sheep's wool, to fabric, kimono, beads, threads, hoops, and trinkets. It is definitely a Wow! to step inside the building.

The embroiderers' booth contains the two EGA chapters in ABQ, Sandia Mountains and Turquoise Trail, and the Smocking Guild. Smocking is a type of embroidery. We put on a good-sized exhibit with several categories shown. The exhibit is juried, judged, and ribbons are awarded. Jurying is usually done by the EGA people. This process is not to keep entries out, but to screen them for cleanliness, if they are finished and ready to hang, and for whether or not the entry arrived at the booth on time. We like to have lots of entries, but we like the entries to be of a high standard of tidiness.

We hire an EGA certified judge. We have had judges from as far away as Ohio, but we are lucky to have master judges living here in New Mexico and in Colorado. We award ribbons and bragging rights for the next two years. Next May's judge is Charlene Wells from Albuquerque and a member of Sandia Mountains.

Check out the website for the next Fiesta at www.fiberartsfiesta.org. I just checked out this site myself and I was pleased that one of my works is presented on the home page. Wowser!

Anyone can enter--you don't have to be a member of any of the guilds. All you have to be is a fiber artist, a sister (or maybe a brother) in fiber.