It’s been a while and life has been a whirlwind, but I have some new and exciting things to share about Little Free Fibrary and other exciting news!
Maker Faire 2026
The 5th annual Syracuse Maker Faire is coming up next Saturday, May 2! Little Free Fibrary will once again represent and we hope that you will join us. Stop by our booth (it’s registered under my name, Rachel Ivy Clarke) to see collaborative quilts from previous years and help create the 2026 quilt.
Syracuse Maker Faire
Saturday, May 2, 2026
10am – 5pm
New York State Fairgrounds
This year’s theme is hexagons, and we’ll be demonstrating a clever way to fold and stitch the shape. Not only can you add your hexagon to our Maker Faire quilt, you’ll get the first access to this year’s Little Free Fibrary project. Instead of making and mailing in individual quilt blocks, this year we will do a scavenger hunt-style activity. Participants will travel across Onondaga County and collect a unique fabric at each participating Little Free Library to use to make a hexagon. As you collect and make your hexagons, you will stitch them together to make your own individual textile art piece. We are finalizing the list of participating Little Free Libraries and the info will be posted on the website as soon as it’s finished. We’ll also announce it on Instagram, so make sure to follow @littlefreefibrary for news!
First Place Award – Fantastic Fibers 2026
Fantastic Fibers is an annual textile art exhibit at Yeiser Art Center in Paducah, Kentucky. It takes place concurrently with AQS QuiltWeek, one of the largest quilt shows in the U.S. This year, one of my quilts won 1st Place!
When There Are 100 is a patchwork quilt visualizing every person who served in the US Senate since it first convened in 1789. Each person is represented by a 1” wide strip, cut to the length of their service at the scale of 1 inch = 1 year (of 234 years total): blue strips for men and red for women, then quilted with lines at 1” intervals. As of October 2024, a total of 2,003 persons have served in the senate; only 60 of them (yes, you read that right) have been women. This quilt would not have been possible without community members like you who contributed to the 1,940+ blue fabrics needed to make this vision a reality. Thank you!
Mark your calendars!
In addition to the events above, you can see the products of these and other projects at the following current and upcoming events:
- Women’s Work, Matilda Joslyn Gage Center, Fayetteville, New York. Opening June 10
- More info coming soon–be sure to follow @rachelivyclarke on Instagram for details!
- Syracuse Arts & Crafts Festival, Downtown Syracuse, New York, July 24-26
As always, thank you for your interest and participation! Have a great spring and happy quilting!