Artisans lend a helping stitch to MS patients

Those who make things often pitch in to make things better for others, which might explain why so many creative people have lined up to take part in the Autumn Gold Artisan Fair, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, at the Maine Grind Coffee Bar, Main Street, Ellsworth.

The event will raise money for the Patricia Raynes Jackson Fund at Mount Desert Island Hospital. A $2 donation to attend the fair will benefit the fund established by Jackson’s family and her daughter, Jenifer Trevett, after her mother’s death from multiple sclerosis in 2003. Despite her illness, Jackson, a nurse, raised her family and wrote and distributed a newsletter to aid others who also lived with the realities of MS, fair organizers said.

The goal of the fund, said Jenifer Trevett, is to raise $50,000 to establish at the hospital a nursing station, which will be named for Patricia Jackson. Another $5,000 remains to be raised by spring.

The fair, featuring 20 juried artists and artisans from Maine, will be held in conjunction with Ellsworth’s Autumn Gold Weekend.

Among the artists taking part in the fair are Bill Chamberlain, Kendra Haskell, Karl Rau, Linda Pierce, JE Lockhart, Akemi and Russell Wray, Susan Merrill, Sheila Price, Christina Heiniger, Dede Schmidt and Cathy Hart. Shoppers will find handcrafted items such as jewelry, knits, blown glass, fine art, children’s clothing, wooden toys, pottery, folk art, photography, soaps, bath products, stained-glass mirrors, pressed flowers and bags.

A silent auction at the fair will feature work donated by artisans in the show, including a clock made by Trevett’s father, Edward Jackson. And if the weather is pleasant, Trevett’s daughters, Morgan and Caroline, will preside over a lemonade stand to do their bit to raise money for the fund that will establish a nursing station in honor of their grandmother.

To learn more about the show, call Christina Heidiger at 664-2404.

Information about the Patricia Raynes Jackson Fund is available by calling Jenifer Trevett at 781-729-4088.

Two charitable projects sponsored by the missions committee and the KnitWits Group at the First Church in Belfast received blessings at Sunday morning worship several weeks ago.

The committee held a workshop to make blankets to be given to Project Linus for distribution to children in Maine who are experiencing life crises of various sorts. The workshop produced 23 blankets.

The KnitWits also hand-knit more than 1,000 “pocket prayers” to be given to military chaplains passing through Bangor International Airport. The chaplains will offer the pocket prayers to deploying U.S. military troops.

At the Sunday morning blessing service, the Rev. Dr. Kate Winters, co-pastor of First Church, offered prayers for those who stitched and knit for the two projects.

Maine Fiberarts invites the public to its grand reopening celebration 2-5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 30, at 13 Main St. in Topsham. The organization has expanded its networking center and gallery space. Art quilts by Gayle Fraas and Duncan Slade of Edgecomb will be on display. Fraas and Slade, a husband-and-wife team, have worked together for more than 30 years. Their work has been exhibited internationally.

Demonstrations and examples of fiber art also will be featured at the grand opening.

The quilt exhibit will be in place through October. The gallery is open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays.

There is no cost to attend the grand opening or the quilt exhibit. For information, call 721-0678 or visit www.mainefiberarts.org.

Snippets

Experienced spinners are invited to participate in Living History Days 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 6-7, at Leonard’s Mills in Bradley. Bring your own spinning wheels and hand spindles, and wear period dress if you wish. Call 581-2871 if you plan to attend as a spinner so enough chairs will be available.

The public is invited to attend the Maine State Button Society meeting and sale 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, at the Belfast United Methodist Church, 23 Mill Lane in Belfast. The event is sponsored by the Tri-County Button Club. Admission is free.

Celebrate National Spinning and Weaving Week at a spin-in noon-3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 30, at the Page Farm and Home Museum, University of Maine, Orono. Spinners and fiber artists are invited to join the celebration.

After a hiatus of a few years, the Page Farm and Home Museum fiber arts group (yet to be named) has been revived. The group meets 1-3 p.m. Fridays at the museum. So far the group consists mostly of spinners, but weavers, knitters and stitchers of all types are invited to attend. Novices and drop-ins are encouraged to join in.

For information, call Mary Bird at 866-2578 or e-mail marybird7@yahoo.com.

Put a little history into your meal with Lunchtime Lectures on the fiber arts with Michele Goldman 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. the last Thursday of each month at Fiberphilia in Orono. Bring a bag lunch. Tea and coffee are provided.

Or sip a glass of wine and test-drive a new yarn 5-6:30 p.m. the last Thursday of each month, also at Fiberphilia. Bring knitting needles. A free ball of yarn will be provided. For information, call Goldman at 866-3423.

Call Ardeana Hamlin at 990-8153, or e-mail ahamlin@bangordailynews.net.