FORKS — “Let It Rain, Let It Pour” is the annual theme of Forks’ Rainfest, which will celebrate its trademark weather with quilts, art, music and an umbrella parade this weekend.
The Rainfest, which celebrates the rainy weather of Forks — a town that gets more than 120 inches of rain annually — will begin Friday and run through Sunday.
West End quilters, from Joyce and all points west, may take their quilts to the Forks High School Auxiliary Gym at 191 Spartan Ave. between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. today to show them off during the Fabric of the Forest Quilt Show, said organizer Marcia Yanish.
People who have participated in past Rainfest workshops also may enter finished quilts, even if they are not from the West End.
The quilt show will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. Admission will be by donation.
This year’s Rainfest will feature the needlework of quilter Kim Diehl, who will teach classes Friday and Saturday nights as well as show her talents at a trunk show Friday, Yanish said.
Diehl, who hails from Idaho, has been featured in American Patchwork and Quilting magazine and has recently published her fifth book on quilting, Simple Graces.
She’s known for her “tradition with a twist” designs, Yanish said.
Both Friday and Saturday’s classes — which are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Department of Natural Resources Conference Center, 411 Tillicum Lane — will focus on applique work. Each costs $50.
Friday’s Cottage Garden Table Runner Class was filled by Wednesday, but a few spaces remain in Saturday’s Gathering Garden Class.
To sign up for the class, phone Yanish at 360-327-3770 or email marcia@centurytel.net.
Those who wish to hear Diehl speak about her work can attend the truck show lecture, scheduled from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Friday at the Department of Natural Resources Conference Center, for $15 per person.
Diehl will offer some quilts for sale.
No registration is needed. Admission will be taken at the door.
“We usually have 45 or so people come, but we could easily hold 100, and it would be nice of people to take advantage of the fact that she is here because she is so good and she has become so famous in the quilting world,” Yanish said.
Vendors at the Fabric of the Forest Quilt Show will include Chinook Pharmacy, Bear Paw Quilts, Island Quilter, Friends of Forks Animals, Quilt Harbor Too, Scentsy Candles, The Applique Society of Forks, Jeanne Buttons in Forks and the Sleepy Valley Quilt Co.
Karen’s Sewing Center in Sequim will offer machine cleaning and scissor sharpening.
Kate Dihm of Aberdeen will have quilted items available.
“It is really delightful that she will have items available because there are many people who come who enjoy quilts but don’t necessarily do it themselves,” Yanish said.
“So it is nice to have some ready-made items available.”
In addition to the quilting events, the festival will also celebrate the rain by parading through town Saturday with decorated umbrellas.
Decorating will commence at 10 a.m. at the Forks branch of Peninsula College at 71 S. Forks Ave., followed by the Rainfest Parade at noon down Forks Avenue.
Art show and more
The Far West Art League Art Show will be at Bank of America, 481 S. Forks Ave., from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.
Other scheduled events are:
■ A Forks Community Orchestra performance at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 250 N. Blackberry Ave., at 7 p.m. Friday.
■ A Relay For Life Baked Potato Sale at the Bank of America, 418 S. Forks Ave., from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
■ Rainfest Archery Competitions, with the youth shoot beginning at 12:30 p.m. and the adult shoot beginning at 1 p.m., at the Old Mill Archery Range, 100 LaPush Road.
Registration will begin at noon. Competitors pay $5 for the youth shoot and $10 for the adult shoot.
For more information, phone 360-374-4090.
■ Lecture on the wreck of the Nikoli at 6:30 p.m. Saturday by Chris Cook at JT’s Sweet Stuffs, 120 S. Forks Ave.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
