Crafters sell their wares at Fairfield craft, vendor show

Crafters and vendors from all over the region came to the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center Saturday to sell their wares at the August Craft and Vendor Show.

While many vendors sold products made by companies, there were some crafters selling their own items.

Tim Peitz, owner of Tim’s Woodworking, traveled to Fairfield from West Point to sell his custom-made wooden bowls and cutting boards.

“All the wood comes from Lee and Van Buren counties,” Peitz said. “I don’t have to have top quality wood. I take a piece of firewood and make a bowl out of it for you.”

Peitz said that he cuts the patterns out of the wood, then puts them in a 20-ton press to make sure there are no cracks or lines in them.

Then he puts them on a lathe and begins to turn them to create his pieces.

“I like to turn, and I just start putting stuff together hoping it will look nice,” Peitz said. “It’s like magic when you get it cut, put a finish on it, and all of a sudden, it pops.”

He said one of the rewards of what he does is seeing peoples’ reactions to his work.

“The greatest thing you can do is make people smile,” he said. “Most of the time, people will look at the things I make and smile. That’s as good as you’re going to get.”

Jane Benge, a crafter from Ottumwa, brought a variety of her work to Saturday’s show.

“I do cross stitching, and I make barn quilts,” Benge said. “I also do lighted bottles, coat racks and bottle openers.”

Her coat racks and bottle openers are made mostly from salvaged material.

“The hooks are used, and the boards are used,” Benge said. “They’re usually old fence posts. I also make bottle openers out of those boards.”

Her barn quilts come in various sizes and patterns.

“I’ll put different decorations on them, sports teams, owls, anything,” she said. “There’s a big variety in how you can put things together.”

Having a wide variety of offerings is important, she said.

“I’m just trying to put together a variety of products for my customers,” she said. “People like to have a lot of different things to look at.”