Jun. 8—ELKHART — The first annual Elkhart County Quilt and Fiber Expo wrapped up day one Thursday, with two more days to go.
The three-day event from June 8-10 will provide hands-on half day and full day workshops, presentations, a quilt and fiber show and more than 23 vendors.
The Greater Elkhart Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon cutting for the opening of the ECQFE at the Northern Indiana Event Center Thursday morning, the same place the expo takes place. The chamber recognized the expo as a new and significant community event.
Susan Ginther came up with the idea for the event. She worked in product and design in color development with various companies in the area for almost 50 years, so using quilts and fibers was nothing new to her.
She ran the idea by the Elkhart Visitors Bureau to get support, and the CEO's mother happened to be Judy Huntzberger, a master quilter. The two discussed the idea, and after only 10 months, the expo came to life.
"There is a lot of talent in Elkhart County as far as quilting, knitting, crocheting," Ginther said. "And we thought it made sense to combine it all rather than just do quilts or fabrics like everybody else."
The nonprofit organization set up this expo to inspire creativity, offer educational opportunities and recognize artisan talent in the area. The ECQFE is open to all, hoping to build community among those with the joy of "textiles and fibers." Ginther said working with your hands, like with textiles and fabrics, is beneficial for mindfulness.
Mindfulness, according to the American Psychological Association, is the awareness of one's internal state and surroundings. Mindfulness helps people observe their thoughts, experiences and emotions without judging or reacting to them.
"I think the camaraderie and kindness among the people that work with their hands and do these pastimes is something that we all need in a very turbulent time," Ginther said.
Over 400 people pre-registered for the event, and while that is now closed, walk-up tickets are still available. The ECQFE will be open today, Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The expo brought in vendors from all over the country. Vendors include Yarn Adventure from Arkansas, Heartland Country Sewing from Goshen, Pineapple Press Patterns from Michigan, Martelli Enterprises from Florida and more.
Unlike other vendors, Yarn Adventure can be found in the parking lot with the food trucks. This yarn truck travels across the Midwest selling yarns and fibers from independent dyers and small businesses.
Having been open for a year and a half, Katy Turbeville has already used up 50,000 miles in the van she compared to an ice cream truck with yarn. She originally owned a brick and mortar yarn store in Muncie, but she had to close it when she moved to Berryville, Arkansas.
Tuberville taught knitting classes for a while before wanting to return to her love of selling fibers. She moved too much to open a store in one place, so Ellie, the name of the truck, was a perfect way to do both.
With this event, Turbeville is excited to make connections and build interactions with people. She went inside the main area of the expo and bought some roving for herself. She said adding luxury yarns to quilts and other fiber arts is a great experience.
"My mom is a quilter, and I like that we are combining a lot of these worlds and people are acknowledging that you don't just have to do one or the other," she said, "which is a lot of times what we run into, so this is definitely something we enjoy being a part of."
There are over 100 quilts on display, not including the ones vendors brought to show off and sell. Gentry Clark, co-owner of Grandma-N-Me Quiltin, displayed a few at her booth.
The freshly graduated 18-year-old opened the business with her grandma when she was 13. Clark has been quilting since the age of 5, so when a shop she and her grandma worked at closed, they decided to open one of their own.
Clark enjoys talking to people and helping guests, so she has been going to shows since October. She likes working with colors and has a more modern style. When deciding what to design, she said "the quilt just kind of talks to you."
Clark set up the large booth by herself while her grandma stayed back in Portland to run their store.
"I love that they have all their workshops and stuff even though I'm not able to attend them," she said. "But that's great that they have that."
Along with workshops, there are both judged and exhibition opportunities for participants in the show area. There were over 150 entries for the show, and there are exhibits on upcycling and repurposing. Demonstrations are also being offered at no cost.
All 21,000 square feet is being utilized by the event. The event center hosting the expo is attached to the RV/MH Hall of Fame and Museum, and the theatre there is showing presentations for up to 70 people. Food trucks can also be found in the parking lot.
The mascot for the event is Gracie, a small, white sheep. A selfie station of a quilt with Gracie on it can be found near the entrance to the showroom. The ECQFE encourages attendees to participate with Gracie by sharing the event with friends.
Over 125 volunteers helped bring the expo together in what would usually take about two years. Despite not having much of a budget for publicity, the volunteers went out and spread the word, bringing in guests from California, Missouri, Pennsylvania and other states.
Martha Heidt traveled over 240 miles for the ECQFE. She was sad when the Shipshewana Quilt Festival closed, so she was happy to hear about this event. Heidt only went one day this year, but she was excited to see how many young people attended the event.
"When you get to be my age, you start thinking this revival is going to burn out pretty fast because young people aren't coming into it, but you look around and see how many young people are here, that is encouraging that it'll keep going for a long time," Heidt said.
She plans to return next year, so she can try out workshops and other parts of the expo.
Plans for ECQFE 2024 are already underway. Ginther is excited to see how the current renovations at the Northern Indiana Event Center will play into potentially adding more to next year's expo. The second annual ECQFE will be from June 6-8, next year.
