SUMNER — A new fiber arts building at A Wrinkle in Thyme Farm opened its doors Friday, thanks to a partnership of state, federal and local efforts.

Christine Macchi, director of Maine Fiber Arts, summed up her feelings of the new Tesseract Building by saying, “This is a perfect example of Maine the way it should be.”

The object of Macchi’s comments, a building that houses a learning center for fiber arts such as needle felting, wet felting, knitting, a dye kitchen and a farm store, marries solar heat with natural crafts.

“This is a story that needs to shine,” said Rose Creps of the Maine Small Business Development Center. “The thing that made this happen is all the partners in Maine that help small business. It’s a common-driven process.”

The cooperation that helped make the solar-heated building possible involved grants from the Maine Department of Agriculture, Maine’s Farms for the Future Program, the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development.

Macchi lauded the work of farm owners Marty Elkin and Mary Ann Haxton, owners of A Wrinkle in Thyme Farm, by saying, “This will be a main draw for Maine as well as other states. This represents dreams made manifest. It connects craftspeople and farms.”

The building’s solar panels heat fluid that is piped through the floor and to a large water tank that supplies hot water for washing and dyeing the wool from the farm’s Angora goats. The facilities are offered to the community through a fiber alliance.

Haxton said the project has four steps: First, a pole barn was built followed, by the solar fiber building. The next phase will be a new sugar house and then, pasture enlargement.

“This is an example of true stewardship of the land,” said USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service District Conservationist Peter Marcinuk said.

That stewardship was evident to another official who visited the farm two years ago.

Stephanie Gilbert, program administrator of Maine Farms for the Future, said the trademark of Haxton and Elkin is to learn, share and mentor.

“When I first visited the farm in 2008, there was wool hanging in the kitchen, in the bathroom and everywhere else they could hang it,” Gilbert said. “The stove was heating water for dyeing wool. Now all of that can be done in this one room.”

About 40 people attended the opening, including representatives from the offices of U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud, D-Maine.

On Saturday, local vendors, including a farmers market and crafters, will be at the farm. Children’s activities will be offered in the afternoon, along with a community potluck dinner and showcase awards, followed by a barn dance from 7 to 10 p.m.