sewing Tag

08 Feb

Posted at 16:56h in Stories: Quilting
This past weekend, instructor Alice Russell taught a Quilting class. She brought some samples of her quilting, including this beautiful quilt she recently created for the Quilts of Valor Foundation​ which provides quilts to heal and comfort our service members and veterans. We think that's pretty awesome! Go Alice! [caption id="attachment_12533" align="aligncenter" width="599"]CP4_6898-AliceRussell-Quilt Julie Johnson and Alice Russell hold up Alice's "Quilt of Valor"[/caption]

25 Nov

Posted at 18:23h in Instructor Voices, Stories: Quilting
I had the pleasure of having my first ever Folk School Quilting class taught by one firecracker of a quilter, Audrey Hiers of Blairsville, GA. This lovely lady has been picked to be featured in McCall's "Quilting” Magazine 6 times and her "Crazy Dazies” designs is a McCall's pick of their top 16 scrap quilts. She is teaching “Appalachian Holiday Quilts" during Holiday in the Mountains Week, December 7-13. I caught up with Audrey about quilting and more. Enjoy our chat! [caption id="attachment_12026" align="aligncenter" width="600"]Detail of "It's Fall, Y'all: Fun Scrappy Autumn Quilt" by Audrey Hiers Detail of "It's Fall, Y'all: Fun Scrappy Autumn Quilt" by Audrey Hiers[/caption] [caption id="attachment_12018" align="alignright" width="227"]Audrey teaches Sara about quilt design in the Folk School Quilting Studio. Audrey teaches Sara about quilt design in the Folk School Quilting Studio.[/caption] CP: How did you get so involved in the quilting world? AH: Probably because of the quilting genes in the family. Both of my grandmothers quilted and although I never saw either of them at the frame, I do believe in heredity! You could say I fell into it, and once I tried it, I got hooked big time. I seriously started quilting in the early 80s and taught my first class in 1987. CP: Has quilting changed since then? Comparing quilting 1980s to now is like the difference between night and day. For the most part we still use fabric and that's about it. CP: What’s your favorite holiday motif? AH: My favorite holiday motif is a sprig of freshly cut pine with holly sprigs mixed in. Alone, it would be a holly leaf. CP: How is Appalachian style quilting different from quilting in other regions? Does it have any distinctive characteristics?

01 Jul

Posted at 15:30h in Stories: Quilting, Student Voices
To have the freedom we had as children: to explore, to try new things, to dabble, to be alright with not being good at it, to immerse ourselves and relinquish all responsibilities for awhile… sound good? Since 1925, John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC has been answering the call of adults who want to have fun learning about music, art, nature, crafts, gardening, cooking, storytelling and writing. [caption id="attachment_11005" align="alignleft" width="268"]Gardens Folk school gardens[/caption] Their history is fascinating. The school’s namesake, John C. Campbell was described by his colleagues at Piedmont College as “the guy from up North that you can get along with” when he was president of the school. In 1903, he and his wife Olive Dame outfitted a covered wagon and set out to explore Appalachia. John interviewed farmers about their agricultural practices and Olive collected traditional ballads and studied the handicrafts. They aspired to improve the quality of education in the region but they were also studying the wonderful crafts, music and tools that mountain people used. Beyond cruel stereotypes, not much was known of this region at the time. The book of ballads Olive eventually published is still the seminal work on the subject.

02 Feb

Posted at 17:17h in Stories: Quilting
[caption id="attachment_9833" align="aligncenter" width="432"]Quilted Landscape by instructor Karen Tunnell Quilted Landscape by instructor Karen Tunnell[/caption]

When I stepped into Karen Tunnell's "Quilted Landscapes" class, every wall had a different window peeking into a beautiful and unique world. The "windows" were the quilts students had been working on all week. Many worked from "near and dear" personal photographs of places that inspired them.

[caption id="attachment_9825" align="alignright" width="313"]Landscape Quilt by Stephanie Wilds Reference photo & landscape quilt by Stephanie Wilds[/caption]

Stephanie Wilds from Black Mountain, NC used a photo she took of the Folk School labyrinth on a previous visit. The result was a gorgeous depiction of the garden rivaling the beauty of the original photo.

Stephanie is an experienced quilter and has taken several classes at the Folk School including Marilyn Wall's "Fabricating Faces" and Julie Sibley's "Design on Paper and Fabric," which she refers to as "life and career changing." She is currently creating the quilt to be displayed at the 2014 Swannanoa Gathering. We can't wait to see what see comes up with! Find out more about Stephanie on her website.