The second floor of West Virginia Universitys student union will look more like a trading post Nov. 7-9 as area artisans and quilters exhibit their work as part of Mountaineer Week.

The annual craft fair and quilt showtwo mainstays of Mountaineer Weekwill be 1-9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8, and noon-5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 9. The craft fair will be in the Mountainlair Ballrooms, and the quilt show will be in the in the Mountaineer Room and Ballroom stage.

“The craft fair and quilt show are the centerpieces of the week,”said Sonja Wilson, Mountaineer Week coordinator.”We bring in different people involved in arts, crafts and quilting to illustrate how people made things with their hands before we had machines. We try to revive the lost arts of crafting and quilting. Its kind of a show-and-tell type of event.”

First held in 1972, the craft fair showcases handcrafted items by 59 artisans from West Virginia and neighboring states. Items that will be on display for sale include handwoven baskets, stained glass, pottery, handcrafted jewelry, homemade brooms and wood products.

Anna Brown, owner of Browns Creations in Clay near Morgantown, will be among the participating artisans. She is a native West Virginian who has been creating pottery for 32 years; her studio and shop are in the basement of her home on ancestral property dating back to colonial times.

“Ive always enjoyed working with my hands,”the self-taught potter said.”I used to make mud pies when I was a kid and put daisies on it. Now I do pottery and put plants on it.”

Brown describes herself as a hand-builder, meaning she doesnt use molds or a potters wheel. She molds her clay four ways: pinch pot (pinching out forms with the fingers), slab (shaping the clay with a rolling pin), coil (rolling long ropes of clay by hand) and sculpture.

Her creations include both decorative pieces like animal figurines and more practical items such as dishes and drinking mugs.

She has numerous buyers for her pottery. Besides selling from her shop, she markets to several outlets, including Appalachian Gallery, Lamberts Winery, Tamarack, the Greenbrier, Canaan Trading, Rutgers University Museum Shop, Kathy Yoders Rug Hooking Studio in Lititz, Pa., and Penn Alps in Grantsville, Md. She has even sold a few items to tourists from other countries.

“Someones been watching over me,”Brown said.”Even in hard times, my pottery has always sold. Ive been very successful at it, and its been very satisfying.”

Brown has participated in the Mountaineer Week craft fair off and on since the 1970s.

“I like it,”she said.”We have a lot of really good craftsmen in the state, and it gives us a chance to show off West Virginia. I think any way we can promote our state through our work is good.”

The quilt show dates back to 1977 with the selection of a quilt pattern to add a sense of unity to the weeks activities. This practice continued until 1997, when the current Mountaineer Week pattern became the permanent logo to provide long-term unity and consistency.

Between 40 and 50 quilts and wall hangings will be on display at this years show, which is sponsored by the Country Roads Quilt Guild. Judging will be Sunday, Nov. 9, with Peoples Choice Awards for first, second and third place. This years show will be in memory of Missy Wolfe, the late Morgantown Ronald McDonald House director and supporter of the event.

Carolyn Gibson, president of the guild, will be among those participating. She has entered three pieces: a floating pinwheel baby quilt, an Old St. Nick Christmas wall hanging and a patriotic Sunbonnet Sue wall hanging. Other members of the guild have entered wall hangings based on an underground railroad pattern, and the show will also include quilts from members of the greater Morgantown community.

Guild members will also be demonstrating various quilting techniques throughout the weekend, she added.

Gibson, who is also a member of the Extension Quilt Club in Westover, said she has been quilting for more than 20 years.

“Down through the years Ive done all kinds of handiwork from needlepoint to crocheting,”she said.”I became interested in quilting when my parents celebrated their 50th anniversary and I wanted to make a quilt for them. I started buying quilt magazines and joining quilt guilds in the area.”

She specializes in applique, which involves cutting out pieces of one material and applying them to another material. She also does some piece workcutting out pieces and sewing them together on a machine.

“I enjoy every aspect of quilting, but my first love is applique,”she said.

Gibson has entered several shows and won her fair share of blue ribbons. One of her wall hangings was on display throughout the summer at the Cultural Center in Charleston, and the July-August issue of Country Woman featured a photo of her winning quilt block entry from a contest the magazine sponsored last fall.

The craft fair and quilt show are just two of many events planned during Mountaineer Week. A detailed schedule of events is available on the Web at http://www.wvu.edu/mountaineer_week/scheduleofevents.html .

The Southeast Tourism Society included Mountaineer Week among its top 20 events for October, November and December. The society, which covers 11 states from West Virginia to Florida, has been touting travel to the region since 1983 and publishing its top 20 events since 1985.