The used wrapping paper in the recycling bin has been carted off, signaling the end of another holiday season. Craft enthusiasts everywhere have set aside their needles and hooks, taking a breather from work on the special gifts they create. Year after year, this labor of love can accumulate a large remnant stock. What happens if these pieces don't match with new projects? They wait, unused, for their day in the sun.
Lisa Cox, an avid quilter and clerk at the Shadle Park Library, however, has a solution.
When vacationing throughout the country, Cox enjoys checking out other local libraries. At one, she discovered a craft exchange stocked with everything a maker could want, from fabric to zippers, and she never forgot the idea.
When she thought more about Spokane Public Library's recently launched "Be Your Best Self" campaign encouraging patrons to learn something new, Cox realized she could put all the miscellany she'd acquired for her own past quilting projects to good use.
Shadle Park Library's yarn and fabric exchange debuted in November 2023, proving so successful that two other branches, Indian Trail and South Hill, have since also made space for free textile supplies.
Knitters, quilters and fabric artisans of all types can access these treasure troves of materials alongside all the crafting books, magazines and sewing machines available for borrowing. Likewise, makers can leave and exchange leftover yarn skeins, fabric squares and various sewing notions. (Sharp objects like crochet hooks and needles, and small items like buttons or beads, however, are not accepted due to the nearby kids' play area.)
The craft exchange complements Spokane Public Library's "Library of Things," which ranges from musical instruments and telescopes to camping and sports equipment that patrons can check out. The main difference is that craft supplies, of course, don't need to be returned. And while donating back to the exchange is encouraged of those who take something, it's not required and leaving supplies at another time is also fine.
The exchange also helps increase access to the often costly materials needed for quilting and other fiber arts. Sharing leftover supplies helps stretch dollars makers have already spent, and it's a great way to participate in sustainable living as odds and ends are used instead of being tossed into the trash. Crafters win all the way around.
Shadle Park's craft exchange is housed in a tall shelving unit with nooks on all four sides brimming with supplies. Skeins of yarn in a plush, caramel brown and narrow sky blue are stacked atop each other. Remnants of patterned fabric and other pieces of leftover materials are sorted and grouped by size.
These materials move fast, but donations to the exchange are also increasing. One day Cox added a new stash of yarn — by the next day more than half had been carried off to new homes.
Patrons often make remarks like, "This is great, now I can work on a project I've been thinking about," or "Thanks for having this available," Cox says.
Cox fell in love with quilting at age 13. At the time, she was raising rabbits for a 4-H project and exhibiting them at the county fair. While roaming the exhibition buildings she found the quilts on display and decided it was a craft she wanted to create. She learned how to quilt without help.
"I was the first one in my family, and my grandmother picked it up later," she says. "When I see a pattern that I like I usually try to make my own spin on it. So, I don't usually follow a pattern, I just go with the flow of 'this color goes here' and how I want to make the quilt."
While the COVID shutdown was in effect, the time Cox spent quilting had a bonus effect.
"I found out that I like to hand quilt, where you sew... designs onto your quilt," she says. "I found that to be very meditative, and so that really helped.
"I just wanted the library to be a meeting place for the community of crafters," she continues, noting that while hobbies can be a great solitary art, crafting with friends adds an extra benefit.
"With the quilting group [Washington State Quilters] that I am a member of, it's nice to have people come together and work on projects," Cox says. "I think it's a great way to build community."
The quilting group Sisters in Stitches meets regularly at the Shadle branch and donated a beautiful quilt to the library. The design features bookshelves loaded with bright books and a few curios, and the Spokane Public Library's framed logo on the top shelf. Adjacent to the exchange shelves, the quilt ties together books and craft supplies.
Kiona Dvorak, a frequent library patron, thinks exchanging craft materials is "pretty amazing." Dvorak likes the idea because when people bring their overabundant materials into the library, everyone can find something they want.
"I hope they [patrons] find projects to work on... supplies that they need," Cox says, smiling as she gestures to a customer eagerly perusing the fabric squares. "It's been fun to watch what they pick out."
Word about the Shadle craft exchange spread quickly, and not just among patrons. Before the end of 2023, the South Hill and Indian Trail libraries also set up craft exchanges with some help from Cox, who shared overflow materials with both.
"It's a nice time to curl up with a hobby and learn something new," Cox says. "Just take that first step. You might fall in love with it." ♦
