Indoor Artisans’ Market To Take Place At Mattatuck Museum Arts And History Center

WATERBURY — A special program, “Sheep to Shawl: An Indoor Artisans’ Market,” will take place on Saturday, March 22, from 1 to 4 pm at the Mattatuck Museum. The program is being held in conjunction with the museum’s exhibit, “Cover Stories: Quilts & Bed Coverings from Regional Collections,” which due to its overwhelming popularity has been extended to Sunday, March 30.

The event promises fun for the entire family, featuring farm animals, demonstrations, and handmade crafts.

Stunning black Border Leicester sheep will immediately catch attention. Prized by spinners for their strong lustrous fleece, the sheep will be shown “in wool,” meaning not sheared, courtesy of Ginni and Jon Dodd of Evening Star Farm in Woodbury.  Chickens will also be in the courtyard – a reminder that eggs come from hens, not grocery stores.

Indoors, Liz Tapester of Southbury and Rose Garbien of Roxbury will teach how wool is carded and spun while demonstrating hand spinning. Barbara Cover from Roxbury will show how yarn is woven into cloth. She will also display braided and hooked rugs, and explain how they are made. Doug Schlicher, a metalsmith from Woodbury, will create chamber sticks used in earlier years to hold candles and light the path to bedrooms.

The first floor of the museum will become an Indoors Artisans’ Market, showcasing a wide variety of handmade crafts. Roaming fiddlers will add to the festivities, as will the unveiling of the Waterbury Community Quilt made of squares contributed by local residents.

Participants will enjoy a bygone era when most everything was produced in the home. Admission to “Sheep to Shawl,” a celebration of a bygone era when most everything was produced in the home, is free with museum admission.

The Mattatuck Museum Arts and History Center, at 144 West Main Street, is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm, and Sunday from noon to 5 pm. Convenient, free parking is located directly behind the museum on Park Place.

For more information about this program, the museum’s collections, and other programs, call 203-753-0381 extension 10 or visit MattatuckMuseum.org.