I have a special guest on the blog today: Maderia from adventures in fiber!
Here, she shares with us how this came to be, the challenges and joys she experiences, as well as some great advice.
Take a moment to get to know Maderia. Iโm sure you will fall in love with her magic.
Whether youโre a budding artist or simply curious or interested to know more, check out the interview to learn more about Maderiaโs work!
1. Could you introduce yourself to all my readers?
My name is Maderia Eoff. I am a fiber artist living in Northern California and am currently in the process of renovating an old cabin on 26 acres with my husband, mom, 2 dogs, and 2 cats.
2. How and where did adventures in fiber begin?
I started Adventures In Fiber approx. 3 years ago, when I was living in LA, working full-time. I needed something portable that I could do to help me deal with stress and anxiety, so I started teaching myself Tunisian Crochet with the help of YouTUBE, and I was hooked. I started the IG account as a way for me to keep track of my progress as I learned because I am very hard on myself when it comes to trying new things, so I thought it would be a fun way to be able to look back and see where I started. A visual diary of sorts, I guess.
3. How did you get to be interested in weaving, and what spurred you to do it full-time?
A few years back, my mom and I took a Rigid Heddle Loom for Beginners workshop at my LYS Alamitos Bay Yarn Co in Long Beach, and we had a blast. My husband and I bought my mom a larger loom for Christmas that year because she really took to it. Then in 2020, my mom moved to N. California to help take care of my husbands’ 97-year-old grandfather, and covid happened. With all the chaos that was 2020 going on, my husband and I realized that we no longer wanted to live and work in LA and wanted a lifestyle change. We had been talking about it for years, but 2020 definitely pushed the plan forward. We bought 26 acres from his granddad that was family land in remote NE California and worked on getting the cabin livable. This week we are finally running power, so I am super excited about that. My mom and I decided to try and sew up project bags with some of the weaving panels that she had made while taking care of Papa, and the response was so positive that we thought maybe it could be an option as a source of income going forward. We have to get creative job-wise since the property is fairly remote. I definitely wonโt complain if my day job is getting to play with yarn!
4. What keeps you going?
I really enjoy all the things you can create with fiber. I know running a small fiber business is a ton of work, but it is so much more fulfilling than the hamster wheel I was on in LA. I can already tell the lifestyle change has helped improve my mental space, and I can breathe a little easier. I know there will be trade-offs, but I am looking forward to seeing where this path leads.
5. Do you manage adventures in fiber alone?
When I started Adventures in Fiber, it was just me documenting my fiber journey. Now that we have turned it into a business, it is definitely a group effort between my mom Anita @weaving_my_way_out & my husband, Boyd @LittleBigValleyRanch. I always joke that my husband is the manager of customer service and the shipping dept.
6. How do you come up with all these new ideas without pause?
This is also a joint effort! The bags were an idea that I floated past my mom since she is the one that has the most experience in sewing, and the final designs are a collaboration of ideas. I had the idea of creating jewelry from the scraps because I hate throwing anything away, especially with the weavings. After all, it takes so much time! Boyd used to be a jeweler, so he went on the hunt to source findings, etc., so thatโs been fun to experiment with. Then the coasters were Boyd’s idea, all of a sudden, we had silicone molds arriving daily in the mail, and he was bringing home bags of cement, and before I knew it, we were making cement coasters with woven inserts. We are still working on fine-tuning all these ideas, but when they come, we go with them and see what sticks!
7. How long does it take for you to produce a new collection?
Oh boy, so right now, everything takes longer than I would like it to. We are trying to balance the property with Adventures in Fiber, and we are constantly behind on both. Since everything we make is handmade, from weaving the panels, dying the canvas to go with the panels, pouring the cement, it is all very labor-intensive. I canโt really say how long a collection takes right now. When we are on the property full-time and have space dedicated to all these ideas, we can get things streamlined and hopefully get a better sense of how long each takes.
8. Do you have a favorite product?
I honestly love them all, mostly because they are such a combination of the 3 of us and our personalities. Not to mention all the ideas we have bouncing around that we have yet to be able to get to. I am looking forward to seeing what else we come up with!
9. Whatโs in store for the next season?
I honestly donโt know right now! My big wish is to be in the cabin full-time by my birthday in early November. So I feel the focus will be trying to get that done, and then when we get settled, we can jump in 100% on getting the business up and running. We also have big plans for the ranch, so stay tuned for updates on that front!
10. Last but not least, any advice for those looking to journey down a similar path?
If you enjoy something, keep playing and experimenting, and be realistic with expectations because trying to start and run a fiber-related business is a lot of work and definitely not a quick plan to make a ton of money. I donโt have any concrete advice because this is all very new to me as well, and right now, it’s all trial and error to see what works and what doesnโt. But doing what I love every day is definitely fulfilling and makes me happier than the hamster wheel I was previously on.
