Spin yarn and swap stories with the Valley Fiber Arts Guild at their free Sit and Stitch meetups, held every first and third Saturday of the month from 10 a.m. to noon at Community Library Sedona. Fiber artists of all experience levels are welcome.

“It’s really important for creative people to have a community,” member Annie Emerson said. “Especially having communities of like-minded souls, creative people [because] it gives us a place to relax and connect. … There’s a history of women gathering together to quilt together, to knit together, to embroider together … it’s an ancient tradition.”

The group works with all fiber arts including knitting, crocheting, spinning, weaving, quilting, embroidery to even paper craft. Members bring supplies to share, and experienced members are at the ready to teach beginners or to even help troubleshoot tricky patterns.

“I’m on the board of the library here, so the thing is, the library is moving away from being a book warehouse to being a hub of the community,” Emerson said. “This is just another way for people to interact with the community, connect with the library, spend time together and learn new things and grow our community. We have new people here today and every day we have more.”

The guild also holds its regular meeting on the third Thursday of each month at the Church of the Red Rocks, 54 Bowstring Drive, from 9:30 a.m. to noon. During the meeting, members conduct regular business and hear from a featured speaker. At the January meeting, Candiss Cole spoke about her family’s work in the textile industry, tracing it back to her ancestors at the Lockport and Newfane Felt Mills in upstate New York.

The Verde Valley Fiber Artisans has been meeting since 1973, though longtime locals may remember the group by its former name, the Verde Valley Weavers and Spinners Guild.

“We want to get more members, because people will see that it’s the Weavers and Spinners and they go, ‘Well, I don’t weave and I don’t spin, but I do crochet, I do knit,’” Membership Director Carol Conlin said. “We’re now looking forward to expanding our members by doing different fabric art. … This is one of the ways that we’re trying to get new members and bring in new blood and new ideas and make it into the 21st century.”

For more information about Sit and Stitch, email anne@thepassionatejourney.com or visit verdevalleyweaversguild.com.

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