Island’s fiber artists rally, host benefit trunk show

A Vashon fiber arts trunk show will raise money for Vashon Community Care on Saturday.

A Vashon fiber arts trunk show will raise money for Vashon Community Care on Saturday.

The show, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Land Trust Building, will offer more than 100 one-of-a-kind fiber pieces by approximately 40 Island artists. Scarves, shawls, hats, jewelry, kids’ clothes, towels, bags, purses, quilts, beaded pieces and many other examples of fiber art will be for sale. All of the proceeds will go to VCC.

The show was organized by Islander Judith Henderson, who is passionate about both fiber arts and the care center.

Henderson, who moved to Vashon in 1996, is a spinner, knitter, weaver, crocheter and natural dyer, and she’s well connected to the broader fiber arts community here.

Finding artists to contribute a piece for the trunk show, she said, was easy.

“I emailed members of five different fiber groups on the Island and got an immediate positive response,” she said.

Some of the many artists who agreed to participate in the trunk sale include Judith Henderson, Marcy McCarthy, Alison Bucklin, Edna Dam, Sue Willingham, Nancy van Roessel and many other members of the knitters, spinners, weaving and quilting groups on the Island.

It’s all for a great cause, Henderson said.

VCC is in need of support, since a large percentage of its residents are on Medicaid, a government subsidized plan that doesn’t fully cover the costs of long-term care. What’s more, the agency will soon undertake a major fundraising campaign in an effort to raise enough money to refinance its mortgage, a move that will help to sustain the organization over the long-term.

“It’s such an incredible community treasure, and many of us wind up living out our lives there,” Henderson said. “We want it to be around.”