FORKS — Two weekends of RainFest celebration begin today in Forks.
The first weekend of RainFest focuses on the arts, with the Fabric of the Forest Quilt Show at the Forks High School auxiliary gym at 261 Spartan Ave.; the Far West Art League show at the Rainforest Arts Center, 35 N. Forks Ave.; a visit from the state poet laureate at the Forks Library, 171 S. Forks Ave.; and other activities throughout Forks.
The quilt show, which is presented by the Piecemakers Quilt Club, will showcase more than 140 quilts from noon to 6 p.m. today, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free; donations are welcome.
Vendors’ products will include wool kits, wool fabric and patterns, stained glass quilt patterns, machine cleaning and scissors sharpening, and a variety of fabric items and kits.
Demos will be done throughout the three days.
“Peace Cottage” is the striking 66-inch-by-81-inch raffle quilt designed by Lynn Lister. It was pieced by Vicki Lanham and Karla Lewis and machine quilted by Esther Alward. The pattern is from McCall’s Quilting magazine, January-June 2014.
Raffle tickets are $1 each and the drawing will be held at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. The winner does not need to be present.
The featured quilter this year is Pearl Krush, who has been involved in the craft, sewing and quilting industries since 1985. She has designed and produced more than 800 patterns for the quilt market; written several crafting, embroidery and quilting books; and been featured in many quilting magazines.
More information is available at www.pearllouise designs.com or www.thimble cottage.com.
Major focuses of the quilt show are two workshops and a trunk show that Krush is conducting.
During “On the Go Summer” from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today, participants will learn how to layer, stitch and finish a wool, wool felt, flannel and cotton 8-foot-by-12-inch banner.
Make a quilt
At “Sew Sweet Sampler” from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, attendees will create a 41-inch-by-41-inch pieced and appliquéd wall quilt, a Pearl Louise design.
At 7:30 tonight, Krush will present the “Quilting at the Cottage” Trunk Show, featuring decades of tiny to large quilted projects, basics of designing fabric from the initial concept to market merchandising, books and magazine samples, plus provide a free pattern to all attendees.
The workshops are $50 each, and class sizes are limited on a first-come, first-served basis.
In the conference room
The Trunk Show is $20. All three events are held at the DNR Conference Room on Tillicum Lane.
An order form and more information are available at www.piecemakersquiltclub.org/rainfest.htm.
The second weekend of RainFest will focus on the natural environment.
Film festival
The River and Ocean Film Festival, which is from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. April 29 at the Rainforest Arts Center, is on the same day as the regional Washington Coast Cleanup, in which volunteers clean beaches of the winter’s trash.
Also that Saturday will be the Undersea and Umbrella Parade from noon to 1 p.m. on Spartan Avenue.
