Illinois Fiber Festival

05/04/2026

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May the fourth be with you!! 🤣🧶

03/16/2026

Many of our vendors paused for a photo! You can find all of us on Wool and Fiber Arts page for monthly on line shows. Go give it a follow!! Next weekend show is Friday-Sunday (March 19-22).

03/09/2026

It's a Post Fest Introduction!!

Back story: our needle felting instructor cancelled on us a week before the fest… what would you do? Cancel the class?? Not us!!

Meet Elizabeth Kegebein, art teacher and needle felter extraordinaire!!

Liz and I used to teach together, and none other than the fabulous Natasha from Esther’s place taught Liz how to felt a several years ago at an art teachers’ conference!! Liz teaches felting to people of all ages, and thankfully, she was able to fill in and help us out!! Thank you, thank you, Liz! Check out her students’ beautiful projects! The students gave rave reviews of the class!

03/09/2026

03/08/2026

A big "THANK YOU" to Anne Sammons of Leaf Livestock! When I proposed this wild idea four years ago she was 💯 on board. She's my wing man...in a fiber way (I'm still single). She is the social media guru and the friendly face of the festival. She handles all of our vendor apps, teacher apps and posts. This thing would not happen with her. Give her a big thanks! She's the wind beneath my wings.

03/08/2026

Thank you to all 646 people who attended the festival today! You made it worth our vendors time and commitment to the festival. We appreciate all of our volunteers so much. We can't say thanks enough. Mark your calendars for Saturday, March 6th 2027. We're already planning.

03/06/2026

Hey, Hay, the vendors are setting up and getting ready for you!! If you missed out on ordering merch, you get a second chance!! Use this QR!! See you tomorrow!

03/05/2026

The last day for vendor intros, cuz the fest is in two sleeps away. Get excited for Cyndy Jubilee Farms!!

Hello! Meet Cyndy of Jubilee Farms, the nudge, the accountant, and the coordination expert behind the Illinois Fiber Festival. She is also the brains and mostly the brawn for Jubilee Farm. Her farm is a dream that has come into fruition from lots of sweat and tears. The “our” to the farm consists of Cyndy and four little “helpers”, along with two adult children who help from afar. While financial sustainability matters, Jubilee Farm is so much more. The farm is its own little ecosystem, and Cyndy is proud to farm in a way that will leave the land better for generations to come than she found it.

The farm is in the heart of Illinois, and is home to about forty head of fiber sheep: Merino, Leicester Longwool, and crosses of the two. There are also three generations of Huacaya alpacas in the mix. Jubilee Farm’s herd is sheared annually, and the fiber is processed locally. It returns to the farm for finishing touches before going out to valued customers.

Jubilee Farms is proud to produce the finest wool in the Midwest! From our super fine Merino wool to the luscious locks from our Leicester Longwool. Yarn, artisan fiber batts, and roving are some of the final products made on the farm. Custom dying requests are accepted as well! Check out her Facebook, Jubilee Farms, Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jubileefarmsucc/, and website: https://jubileefarmsclinton.com/

Thank you for following along our journey of year #3 of the Illinois Fiber Festival!! AND thank you for supporting the fest and all of our vendors. There will be no update or vendor posts tomorrow, as we will be setting up for the fest. Please message the Illinois Fiber Festival FB page if you have any questions; we will do our best to reply!! See you soon!!

The Illinois Fiber Festival is held on March 7, 2026, from 9:00-4:00, at the McLean Co Fairgrounds, Mini Expo building, 1106 Interstate Drive – Bloomington, IL 61705

03/05/2026

Last day for vendor intros!! Leaf Livestock Wool Co, yup, it's my turn for a vendor intro!!

Hey, it’s me, Anne of Leaf Livestock Wool Co, a co-coordinator of the Illinois Fiber Festival!! Leaf Livestock Wool Co. grew out of a love for my sheep’s wool. Our family (The Shepherd, 5 sons, and 2 daughters-in-law) has raised sheep for almost 30 years for breeding stock and lambs for market under the name Sammons Polypay and Leaf Livestock. We’ve raised national champions and bottle lambs and a couple of thousand sheep in between.

Harvesting our wool to create one-of-a-kind woven art began during our shearing day approximately nine years ago. I became fascinated by the crimp, the lanolin, and the super soft wool. The wool, still warm from the animal’s body, was comforting. I became mesmerized by our wool and motivated to learn how to spin it into yarn. An Illinois fiber artist, Natasha, from Esther’s Place in Big Rock, Illinois, encouraged me to attend her class, and I’ll never regret that moment. It took me a year of practicing nightly to spin yarn! I was in love with the process and the final results!

Over the next several years, I learned to weave (again, taught by Natasha) and started having all of our wool processed into fun spinning fiber blends and yarn. We raise about 125 total head of Polypays, Merinos, Natural Colored Rambouillet x Columbia crosses, and a couple of Targhees and Targhee x Merino crosses. I’ve had the privilege of traveling across the Midwest, teaching rigid heddle weaving classes and selling our lovely wool products at fiber festivals, meeting so many fabulous people along the way!!

Recently, I was honored by Enjoy Illinois (Illinois Department of Tourism) with an Illinois Made distinction. Illinois Made is an award given to Illinois businesses that use Illinois products and Illinois services.

I would love for everybody to enjoy the finest spinning fiber and yarn I am privileged to grow and use for creating. The physical and emotional rewards that accompany raising lovely, sustainable wool go far beyond the beauty of the final product. Please stop by my booth to see our Merino yarn, Merino x Targhee + Rambouillet x Columbia roving, core-spun yarn, Sammons Socks, and several finished woven items. You can meet my sister in the morning because I am teaching a weaving class, and I’ll be in the booth in the afternoon. Check out our website: https://www.leaflivestock.com/, tagged above, Facebook, and my Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/leaflivestockwoolco/ for cute lambs, yarn, and all of my woven creations!

Thank you for following along our journey of year #3 of the Illinois Fiber Festival!! AND for supporting the fest and all of our vendors. There will be no update or vendor posts tomorrow, as Cyndy and I will be setting up for the fest. Please message the Illinois Fiber Festival FB page if you have any questions; we will do our best to reply!! See you soon!!

The Illinois Fiber Festival is held on March 7, 2026, from 9:00-4:00, at the McLean Co Fairgrounds, Mini Expo building, 1106 Interstate Drive – Bloomington, IL 61705