The Folk Art Center’s celebration of textile arts takes place Saturday & Sunday, May 9 & 10, 2015.

Throughout the weekend, craftspeople will be sharing their inspiration and expertise as the Southern Highland Craft Guild hosts Fiber Weekend 2015. Educational craft demonstrations on Saturday will include natural dyeing, sheep shearing, weaving on a loom, tapestry weaving, knitting, crochet, batik, and surface design. Southern Highland Craft Guild member Sandra Rowland will host activities designed for all ages.

One new demonstration this year is pulp painting by member Chery Cratty. Using tools such as a South African porcupine quill, she will show how to create realistic paintings by manipulating and molding wet pulp. “Paper begins as wet, gooey pulp – and I get to paint with it!” Cratty says. Also, current members Elynn Bernstein, Lorraine Cathey and Lisa Klakulak will demonstrate different approaches to felting.

Textile arts have always created a wonderful sense of community from spinning groups and quilting bees, to yarn circles. To celebrate this community, combined with a love of craft and crafting, the Guild invites visitors to Fiber Weekend to bring their own handwork, whether it be knitting, embroidery or hand sewing. Weather permitting we would like to fill the hill behind the Folk Art Center auditorium with people engaged in fiber arts. Bring a blanket and enjoy a spring afternoon of craft.

On Sunday, the Folk Art Center’s auditorium will be transformed into a runway for the Sixteenth Annual Fashion Show of Wearable Art. Fiber artist Liz Spear will emcee the event. Styles showcased will range from contemporary to traditional, from funky to classic, made by members of the Southern Highland Craft Guild and other regional artists. Throughout the fashion show, Liz will explore many fiber art processes, and focus on the various schools and studios in the area which offer classes in textiles to everyone from the beginner to the experienced fiber artist.

There will be two separate showings of the Fashion Show, at 1 and 3 p.m. In between these shows, at 2 p.m., guest speaker and weaver Norma Smayda Staley will discuss The Weaving Roses of Rhode Island.

The Southern Highland Craft Guild is a non-profit, educational organization established in 1930 to bring together the crafts and craftspeople of the Southern Highlands for the benefit of shared resources, education, marketing and conservation. The Southern Highland Craft Guild is an authorized concessioner of the National Park Service, Department of the Interior.

Fiber Weekend is free and takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 9, and 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 10, 2015. Two fashion shows will be held on Sunday, May 10 at 1 and 3 p.m.

The Folk Art Center is located on the Blue Ridge Parkway in east Asheville. For more information, call (828) 298-7928 or visit www.craftguild.org.