Growing Greenup : Handcrafted Weekend

Growing Greenup

Handcrafted Weekend

Anne Stephens

For The Ashland Beacon

The Quilt Show at Greenbo Lake State Resort Park is a long-standing tradition. Quilt enthusiasts know that it made a big come-back in 2023, grew into a larger event in 2024, and I am happy to report that it is still the anchor attraction of Handcrafted Weekend 2025. Mark your calendar for April 12 and 13!

Not only is the Quilt Show back and bigger than ever, it has grown into a whole lodge event called Handcrafted Weekend. Make your plans now to travel to Greenbo Lake State Resort Park’s Jesse Stuart Lodge April 12 and 13, 2025. Saturday will begin at 10AM and go all day with a grand finale of a puppet show at 5:00 – 6:00PM by Squallis Puppeteers from Louisville, KY. Sunday will begin at noon and end with live music 2:00 – 3:00 by the Rail City Dulcimer Society. The weekend will be full of experiences that are family friendly, educational, and fun! Admission is FREE.

This is an open to the public, free admission, family friendly event at our very own state park – right here close to home in Greenup County. Sponsors are Greenup County Tourism, UK/KDMC, and the Greenup County Extension Arts Council. While most artisans will have items for sale, the focus of this event is educational. The lodge will be filled with displays and demonstrations. You’ll even find stations with free make-n-take projects and opportunities to try your own hand at something like felting or crochet. You will see items at various stages of the “making” process and get to meet the artisan while watching them work.

2025 demo artists:

Appalachian Soul Hat Company/Christy Harris – custom design embellished hats

April Graf/Old Silo Farm – wooden caddy, farm items

Ashland Area Woodcarvers Club – various hand-carved items including caricatures  

Dave Lovins/The Hammer’s Fall – blacksmithing: knives, jewelry, hooks, etc.

Dave Sterkle/The Grumpy Bavarian – birdhouses

Diana Wireman and Stacy Hanson/Bluegrass Blessings – fiber art, spinning, cross stitch

Greenup County Quilt Guild – quilt show and quilting vendors on the first floor

Jeff Lambert/Dulcimers by Jeff – dulcimer luthier

Jenn Amburgey – painting, sculpture

Jill Robertson/Appalachia’s Daughter – metalworking: jewelry | stained glass

John Ryster – fiddle luthier

Michael Garvin/Kentucky Memories – fiddle repair

Mike Parsons – guitar luthier

Samantha Davis – specialty crochet animals

Shannon Lewis/Bluegrass Brooms – custom brooms

Silver Run Ranch/Kevin Toney and Chris Toney – Representatives from the alpaca and lama herd, sheering, spinning, dying, and weaving custom items 

Teresa Walters/The Goat Lady Farm – soap, macrame, woodburning with gourds

Thea Cline – painting

Tom Hudson/Pigpen Pottery – pottery demo on a wheel

The 2024 event included some classes, and we are expanding that part of the event for 2025 to keep you involved in art-making. If you are a Facebook user, look for links to tickets for classes – some are free and some have fees for supplies. You can register and pay with a credit card via the Eventbrite link on Facebook or in-person at the Extension Office. Call 606-836-0201 to register for the free sessions. Saturday classes begin at 12 noon with a guided hike that will include “special permission” to collect a few items from nature that you will preserve in resin and make your own keepsake ornament/charm.  Afternoon classes include beginning cross stitch, beginning woodcarving, a wooden caddy kit project, sock puppets for kids, cornhusk flowers, and the opportunity to work with Shannon Lewis of Bluegrass Brooms to make your own handmade broom. Please call the Extension Office at 606-836-0201 to register for classes! Space is limited.

Sunday’s classes are an air-dry clay luminary, making your own watercolor painted custom greeting cards, woodcarving, and a very special stained-glass class featuring the cutest little suncatcher mushrooms. All instructors are professionals and have lots of experience. You’ll have a great time and learn something new! Greenbo Lake State Resort Park is offering a lunch and dinner buffet on Saturday and a Sunday along with room specials so that you can make it an entire weekend getaway.   

Contact Anne Stephens, Agent for Community Arts and Development in Greenup County. 606.836.0201anne.stephens@uky.edu 35 Wurtland Avenue, Wurtland, KY 41144 Educational programs of Kentucky Cooperative Extension serve all people regardless of economic or social status and will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnic origin, national origin, creed, religion, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, marital status, genetic information, age, veteran status, or physical or mental disability. University of Kentucky, Kentucky State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Kentucky counties cooperating.