PO Box 986, Burnsville, NC 28714 828-682-7331
www.quilttrailswnc.org
Story Sampler
There are over 200 blocks on the Quilt Trails of
Mitchell and Yancey Counties, each with a story.
There are nine trails and each trail has a Tour Guide
with pictures and the stories. This is a sampler of those
stories - three from each trail. We hope you will ride
the trails and learn the stories. You can purchase maps
and Tour Guides at our Gift shop at One Of A Kind
Gallery in Micaville on Hwy 80S, just off Hwy 19E,
Log Cabin
Location: Bee Log School. Drafted and painted by the 2007 art students
at Mtn. Heritage HS, installed by the Yancey County School
Maintenance team.
The Log Cabin block is the most frequently made quilt
block. The center signifies the hearth and is traditionally
red, the dark side signifies all the bad things that happen to
you in life, and the light side all the good things. It is a
favorite block for quilters because there are numerous ways
to set the block, and all of them look completely different.
This block is on the
Bee Log Trail.
Bee Log school is the smallest school in the state and serves
a very traditional farming community, full of quilters. The
school has a long and rich history, and in the beginning
served grades 1-12. The building was built during the 1930s
along with the schools at Bald Creek, Clearmont and
Micaville by the WPA workforce. Men used to meet beside
an old log near the school which had a bee’s nest in it and
so the area came to be known as Bee Log.
The block is painted in the school colors.
Ohio Star
Location: Home of Chloe Ramsey, Bald Mtn. Road, Bee Log. Drafted by
Barbara Webster and painted by Tina Leskovic and Sharon Denning.
Installed by Ray Greene, Steve Grindstaff and students of Mountain
Heritage HS. Donated by Charles and Becky Gillespie to honor Chloe and
Glenda Ramsey.
Years ago, Chloe Ramsey and her youngest daughter, Glenda,
residents of the Yancey County community of Bee Log, were
hired by Becky Gillespie, a Burnsville quilt shop owner, to
piece and stitch quilts. Chloe and Glenda quilted on a big quilt
frame suspended from the ceiling in their basement,
surrounded by shelves filled with mason jars of food canned
from their big garden.
This block is on the
Bee Log Trail.
Occasionally Becky would take a quilt to Montreat and donate
it to their Gift Shop to help them raise money. One of Chloe
and Glenda’s quilts made for Becky, an Ohio Star pattern, was
purchased at Montreat by Ruth Graham, wife of evangelist
Billy Graham and was subsequently give to Pope John Paul II
by Rev. Billy Graham. That Yancey County quilt continues to
reside at the Vatican.
To honor Chloe and Glenda, Becky and Charles Gillespie had
the Ohio Star block painted in the colors of that original quilt
and the block can now be seen on the Ramsey home in the Bee
Log community on Bald Mountain Rd.
You can buy a replica of the block as an enameled pin at the
Quilt Trails gift shop, proceeds of which benefit the Quilt
Trails project.
Bradford Nine-Patch
Location: Home of Sarah Jane Bradford, Bald Mtn. Road, Yancey County and barn
of Jewel Warrick, 19 Relief Rd. Ext., Mitchell County. Drafted by Barbara Webster,
painted by Cheryl Hughes and Carolyn Bareford, installed by Jeff Phillips.
Story by Betty Wells
One of five siblings, Sarah Jane Bradford was born June 9, 1920 in
her grandparents home in Bald Mountain about five miles up from
Bee Log. She says there are two distinct communities, but when the
Bee Log school was built that somehow became the term of
reference for both areas.
Farming approximately 80 acres made them almost entirely selfsufficient. In addition they had their own animals: horses for the
plowing, pigs, chickens, and both beef and dairy cattle. There were
peach and apple orchards where the spring house was located
providing such refrigeration as they had.
The top pictures show the small
block going up on Sarah
Fender’s shed. The bottom
image is the big block on
daughter Jewel Warrick’s barn
which can be found on the
Green Mountain Trail..
This block is on the Bee
Log and Green Mtn.
Trails.
Everyone had jobs to do. The grandmother had a kitchen garden laid
out in such an orderly fashion that it resembled a quilt pattern itself.
She did the churning and made most of their clothes. On a wood
stove her mother cooked and canned even until she was 86 years old.
She cared for the house, a one-story building with four very large
rooms and a beautiful wrap-around front porch. Everyone worked in
the fields as needed and as able.
Sarah Jane remembers that she had to hoe corn in the summer heat. It
took about two weeks to get it all done and by that time it was ready
to be done again. At age 12, laundry became her responsibility. From
the pump on the back porch she would carry water to the fire pit
where she heated it in a large galvanized tub. Using a washboard and
a flat iron she did the laundry for two households.
There were grist mills along the creek, and her grandfather owned
one as well as a small store. Their corn was ground into meal there
and even though they raised their own wheat, it had to be ground
elsewhere. In the five or six miles from Bald Mountain to Mouth of
the Creek, there were small stores located about a mile apart so that
the 50 or so families in the area wouldn't have such a long walk to do
what shopping they had to do.
Sarah Jane walked the 3/4 mile to a one-room school house where all
grades 1 - 12 attended until the Bee Log School was built. She
remembers her grandfather going with her in first grade until he was
satisfied she was ready to go alone. Sarah Jane graduated second in
her class from Bee Log highschool.
In the summers she loved to play in the creek and to swing in her
swing in the orchard. Her grandfather played banjo and other
relatives played guitar. On Friday evenings after supper they and
friends would gather on the wrap-around porch to pick and sing.
Winter evenings were for quilting, sewing, and reading (Zane Gray
her favorite). S. Jane has quilted most of her life, learning literally at
her “Granny's” knee. They would sit around the fire, S. Jane at
Granny's feet, and Granny would give her small scraps that wouldn't
fit her pattern so she could practice. They used chop (feed) sacks for
their fabric.
At age 21, she married Tilden Zack Bradford and moved to his family farm where her three
children were born. It was a great day when in 1948 electricity arrived. Immediately they
purchased a wringer washing machine.
After marriage she made “punch” (hooked) rugs to supplement income. She would draw her
pattern on brown paper. Using a mixture of soot and kerosene, she would punch through the
paper transferring the pattern to a burlap backing. Dyed sock material was punched in and out
of the burlap to make the rugs. They were usually 2x3 or 3x5 feet in size. She took the finished
products to a Mr. Campbell in Swiss (Bald Creek) who sold them throughout the area.
Later she took a job at a garment factory in Barnardsville sewing. She dearly loved that work
and retired from there.
Jewel Warrick, Sarah Jane’s daughter, says her mother always helped with the farm work,
gardening and cooking large dinners for the work hands. She was in the fields early mornings
working until 11:00 am. then she woudl return to the house to cook dinner for the workers and
return back to hoe corn, set tobacco or whatever needed to be done. Jewel says her mother’s
favorite movie was “Gone With the Wind.”
Sarah Jane is now a widow and is no longer able to quilt after two heart attacks and two strokes.
But she is still an avid reader, preferring Westerns which she also enjoys on TV. She has read all
of Zane Gray and Louis Lamour and may start on Larry McMurtry. She divides her time
between her two daughter's homes, Teresa Burleson in Burnsville and Jewel Warrick in Mitchell
County.
The quilt block on Sarah Jane’s house is a small duplicate of the eight foot block on daughter
Jewel’s barn in Relief. The block was painted to match a quilt square that Sarah Jane made.
Cheryl Hughes hand painted the flowers on the big block to match the fabric. This is the only
duplicate block in the Quilt Trails system.
Cathedral Windows
Location: 151 Church Rd., off Shoal Creek Rd. in the Windom community, Burnsville.
Painted by Katie Webster and Carolyn Bareford. Installed by Jeff Phillips with the
help of Wade Whitson of Whitson Electric.
Story by Ramona Maximillian
This quilt block was painted to match a family quilt owned by Ramona
Maximillian, made by her mother, Beatrice Coone Phillips of Mooresville,
NC and hangs on Ramona's home, the former Shoal Creek Baptist Church.
The former Shoal Creek Baptist Church was reluctantly sold because of an
expanding congregation, requiring more space and parking area. Now the
private residence of Xavier and Ramona Maximillian, it was also bought in
memory of Mrs. Maximillian's beloved parents of Mooresville whose dream
was to someday live in the gorgeous Blue Ridge Mountains. Ramona is now
living their dream for them.
This block is on the
Arbuckle Trail.
Beatrice Coone Phillips, much loved wife and mother of five, liked to quilt,
the Cathedral Windows pattern being her favorite. Every tiny stitch reflected
the devotion of this extremely shy and humble woman to her family. Highly
respected and liked by everyone she came in contact with, she always had a
friendly smile for all.
In the old days, it was customary and necessary for very young people to go to
work, most often in cotton mills throughout the South. Beatrice spent her
entire working career as a weaver at Moore Mills, which was followed by
Burlington Mills, and then Draymore, all in Mooresville.
In the 30s, 40s, and early 50s, times were really tough for just about everyone.
It was necessary for women to make quilts for warmth as most houses only
had one heated room. During the frequent layoffs by the mills, Beatrice, after
household chores, spent time during the long, cold winter nights doing what
she loved to do – quilt for her family and friends. Money was very scarce so
every scrap of material available went into quilts. Only a few people could
afford yards or bolts of material that many of today's quilts require. Instead,
remnants, and old clothes were used. Nothing was wasted.
Ramona remembers when it was actually a thrill for women to purchase bags
of flour with all kinds of floral designs. Many Southerners lay their heads
down at night on pillowcases and snuggled beneath quilts made of these
sacks. It was truly amazing how quilters created beautiful patterns from
anything available during those lean years. Even today, the old fashioned
patchwork quilt remains a beloved American treasure and is highly prized by
those who own one or more. The feedsack patterns from the 30s and 40s are
now being reprinted as yardage and can be bought in quilting stores, sparking
a renaissance of feedsack quilts. Those who own quilts made from original
feedsack fabric are lucky, indeed.
The Cathedral Windows quilt pattern is usually made almost entirely by hand.
Colored squares are placed on top of machine-prepared muslin squares. The
muslin is folded over the center square and sewed down by hand. This creates
a set of arcs around the central square, and when the squares are all sewed together the arcs make an
interlocking circular pattern, much like the double wedding ring pattern. The quilt does not usually get
further hand stitching once sewn together, and they are famously heavy. Technically, they are not
considered a true quilt (at least not at formal quilt shows) because they do not have the traditional two
layers of fabric separated by a layer of batting, which are then stitched together…the description of a
quilt. But this pattern was hugely popular among mountain women because it could be made by hand
and in small increments, and because it didn't require large pieces of fabric to make. The end result
was also very warm.
This quilt block was the most complex ever painted by the Quilt Trails painters. The pattern was
developed from photographs of the quilt, enlarged to actual size and then traced onto the block for
painting. Paint colors were chosen to match the quilt so the block is a true replica of the original quilt.
Ramona says a knock on the Fellowship Hall door might get you an invitation to tour the church and
see the original quilt from which the block was derived, and a friendly cup of coffee or tea as well.
You may get invited to see her art collection - a result from 12 years working at American Embassies
around the world. In her career she got to meet Mother Theresa, Howard Hughes, Senators, and
traveled with President Bush (Senior) to Tokyo.
Arbuckle Coffee Pot
Location: 30 Wanna B Lane. Designed by Martin Webster, drafted by Deborah
Palmer and Dot Gibbs, painted by Cheryl Hughes, Carolyn Bareford, Dot
Gibbs, and Katherine Hancock. Installed by Jeff Phillips and Wade Whitson.
Story by Rebecca Warner
E
This block is on the
Arbuckle Trail.
You can go to
Arbucklecoffe.com and order
Arbuckle coffee.
Arbuckle is the first roaster
in Arizona to qualify for
organic certification by the
USDA. They are also a
licensed Fair Trade roaster
by TransFair. They are the
first coffee roaster in the
state of Arizona to be a part
of this program.
dna Boone didn't always live on Arbuckle Road. She lived
about three miles from there, just below the Liberty Hill
Baptist Church, but the man she married lived on Arbuckle Road.
As a homesick bride, Edna didn't like it much in the beginning,
and went to see her mother two to three times a day. However,
she and her husband built a home on Arbuckle Road in the late
1950s, and Edna eventually grew to love it.
Jeff Boone, Edna's son, wanted to give his mother a quilt
block as a birthday gift. Edna had begun noticing the quilt
blocks hanging throughout the area, and she would comment,
“Oh, that's so pretty!” He wanted to give his mother a quilt block
that represented something meaningful to her, and Arbuckle
Road, where she has lived for so many years, seemed ideal.
He also considered that for others in the community, it could
be somewhat of a history lesson. Over the years, he and so many
others were curious about how Arbuckle got its name. Now that
question can be answered--thanks to Jeff's research and the
resulting Arbuckle Coffee Pot quilt square.
Jeff's informal inquiries over the years yielded the same
explanation: Arbuckle Coffee. He went on the internet and found
that the Arbuckle Coffee Company was still in existence.
Searching further, Jeff found a link through the Yancey County
Chamber of Commerce's website, which gave him the
information he sought: “Arbuckle Road was named after Samuel
Howell. Samuel was nicknamed "Arbuckle" because he drank so
much "Arbuckle Coffee". Thus when the road was built and
named after Samuel it became Arbuckle Road.”
Further research uncovered some other interesting Arbuckle
facts. Traveling salesmen came through the western North
Carolina area selling Raleigh products and Stanley products, and
also Arbuckle coffee.
**In 1896, North Carolina granted a charter to the Linville River
Rail Road Company to build and operate a railroad from
Cranberry to some point on the Linville River and from there to
points on the Catawba River and the Watauga River.
The line was surveyed from Cranberry to Saginaw (now
Pineola) North Carolina, home of the small Dolliver and Nagel
sawmill. Like many other small circle mills, it cut mine timbers,
lumber for local use, pulpwood and tanbark. The Camps
acquired timber rights in the area and planned to build a large
sawmill at Saginaw.
Grading for the logging line began in late 1896. During
construction a local bootlegger supplied many of the laborers
moonshine (sic). The cash-strapped workers often bartered
Arbuckle Coffee for illegal whiskey. The bootlegger preferred
this brand because the paper wrappers contained “signatures”, coupons that could be sent to
Arbuckle Brothers in exchange for a variety of merchandise. It was several decades before the
mountain folks stopped referring to the Linville River as the Arbuckle Coffee Line.**
Jeff decided to use Arbuckle Coffee Company's logo in planning the design and colors
to be used for his mother's birthday gift. He forwarded the web site address to Martin Webster,
about whom Jeff says, “He is such a talented artist.” Martin took it from there, coming up with
the unique design for the Arbuckle Coffee Pot.
Jeff is very happy with the resulting quilt block. As he explained, “It resembles a
pinwheel, but once you back off and see the four blocks, you see four coffee pots!”
**Source: The Blue Ridge Stemwinder by John R Waite and Chris Ford
Flower of the Woods
Location: EnergyXchange, 66 EnergyXchange Dr. off Hwy 80N. Drafted
by Barbara Webster, Painted by Heather Dawes, Installed by Randy
McMahan and Sam Vandenberg.
Story by Heather Dawes
Follow Highway 80 North
(exit left off Hwy 19e) to find
the EnergyXchange. The sign
may be hard to spot so keep a
sharp eye for a left turn.
This block is on the
Arbuckle Trail.
Nestled in the Black Mountains of Western North Carolina,
Yancey and Mitchell are two of the state's most rural counties.
The area is rich in cultural, natural, and historic assets
including the legendary Penland School of Craft, Mayland
Community College and Mount Mitchell, the highest peak
east of the Mississippi River.
Residents of Yancey and Mitchell counties are
concerned about conservation and economic prosperity.
When the landfill that served the two counties was closed in
1994, extensive research and a lot of brainstorming generated
a host of ideas for reuse. One board member said, “no idea
was too ridiculous . . . we could have branched out a thousand
different ways.” This flexibility allowed local leaders to create
and customize an appropriate energy reuse for the landfill. As
home to some of America's most creative artists and beautiful
native plants, the Yancey-Mitchell landfill seemed the perfect
place for developing craft incubator studios and greenhouses
to cultivate endangered flora while utilizing the landfill gas.
What is landfill gas? As the municipal solid waste
decomposes beneath the surface of the Yancey-Mitchell
landfill cap, landfill gas is created. Landfill gas consists of
about 50% methane, the primary component of natural gas,
and 50% carbon dioxide, with a small amount of other
compounds. Ordinarily, without a collection system, the
landfill gas moves upward and finds places to escape into the
air. At EnergyXchange the landfill gas is captured and used as
an energy source. This helps reduce local smog and global
climate change.
The idea for EnergyXchange was created through the
partnership of three organizations- Blue Ridge Resource
Conservation and Development Council (BRRC&D),
HandMade in America (HandMade), and Mayland
Community College (MCC) – recognized for their strong
track record for education, community development and
environmental protection in Western North Carolina. The
partners strategically worked to get the EnergyXchange idea
and campus going from 1996 until 2000.
BRRC&D began investigating potential uses of the
landfill gas in 1996. County commissioners sponsored the
project and asked BRRC&D to conduct research,
investigating other locations were landfill gas was used
successfully. Their research led to a new EPA program called
the Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP).
In 1997, MCC began planning the Project Branch Out
initiative that would encompass the horticultural endeavors at EnergyXchange. Additionally, EPALMOP agreed to conduct a feasibility study on the quality and quantity of methane in the gas being
produced by the landfill. Their study determined that the site was commercially viable for energy
development.
In 1998, due to the large volume of gas revealed in the study, HandMade joined the
partnership to implement the craft business incubators involving a clay studio and a glass studio.
That same year, the EPA awarded a $50,000 grant to hire a project manager, and The Community
Foundation of Western North Carolina awarded $10,000 for greenhouse construction. Many
significant grants were awarded after 1998 for the construction of the gas collection system, and
construction of the campus. On Earth Day 1999 the landfill gas system was activated. By 2001, the
campus was complete and the first six artists had begun their residencies.
EnergyXchange has become one of the nation's model energy recovery projects and is used
internationally as an example of successful small landfill gas projects. For example, the EPA
Methane to Markets Program included the EnergyXchange project in a 2008 landfill gas workshop
in Poland. Methane gas from the decomposing trash powers ovens for glass blowers, a pottery kiln,
and supplies radiant heat for the studios and greenhouse. It is estimated to save $1 million in energy
costs over the landfill's 20-year reuse cycle. By burning the methane it combines with oxygen to
form carbon dioxide. Methane is a 'greenhouse gas' that is 21 times more effective at holding heat
than carbon dioxide. According to the EPA's feasibility study, the environmental impact of the
Yancey-Mitchell County landfill Reuse Project is equivalent to planting 14,000 acres of trees or
taking 21,000 cars off the road in North Carolina each year.
The nonprofit corporation, EnergyXchange, was formed September 13, 1999 and received its
tax exempt status in 2000. The EnergyXchange complex includes four greenhouses, three cold
frames, a retail craft gallery, visitor center, clay studio and glass studio. EnergyXchange is run by a
15-member Board of Directors, comprised of public officials, business and civic leaders, and
representatives of the area. The mission of EnergyXchange is to apply the use of renewable
resources and practices for educational opportunities and economic development in the fields of art
and horticulture. The “three Es” of EnergyXchange's local impact are: Environment, Education, and
Economics. The programs that facilitate this local impact are the craft business incubator program,
project branch out, and the landfill gas system itself. Many school groups, civic organizations,
governmental agencies, and individuals interested in alternate energy come to EnergyXchange for a
guided tour. These tours provide information on landfill gas, wind energy, and solar energy, as well
as, horticulture and aquaculture.
The craft incubator program supports entrepreneurs in starting, managing and operating new
businesses in the crafts of glass blowing and pottery. Craft residencies are available to potters and
glass blowers who are competitively selected by media-specific juries for the opportunity to work in
group studios on the site at a nominal cost. Participants in the program may stay as long as three
years and receive training in business practices from MCC Small Business Center. The artists while
at EnergyXchange perfect their craft, develop their businesses, and live in our community. The
program supports 2 glass artists and 4 clay artists. The clay kiln and glass furnaces are fired with
landfill gas at no additional cost to the residents. In the creation of their pieces of art, the
EnergyXchange artists are also helping the environment and the local economy.
Project Branch Out began with the strategy to nurture small agricultural activities in rural
western North Carolina. The Appalachian Mountains offer an unequaled array of native ornamentals.
Project Branch Out helps diversify local crops and propagates endangered species. While the area
has a rich agricultural history found in burley tobacco, Christmas trees, woody and herbaceous
ornamentals, beef cattle and vegetable production, these two counties have experienced declining
availability of indigenous plants – such as rhododendron and native azaleas – that are a cash crop for
local nurseries and export. At EnergyXchange we grow several varieties of evergreen
rhododendrons and deciduous azaleas from seeds that have been collected locally, and sell them in
containers to local growers. The best selling and best known native plant grown at
EnergyXchange is the Flame Azalea. The quilt block at EnergyXchange is titled “Flower of
the Woods” and is meant to depict the range of colors possible in the flower of the Flame.
Now a new project is being developed to put the Yancey Star Park at the
EnergyXchange. This will be a state-of-the-art telescope, available to the public and will be
handicap accessible. Yancey County is blessed with dark skies, so the stargazing here is
magnificent. The EnergyXchange has a perfect spot for star watching, so the new Star Park is
now being developed.
What Floats Your Boat
Location: Loafer’s Glory Rafting, 2637 Hwy 226N, Bakersville. Designed by
Martin Webster, Drafted by Barbara Wester, painted by Deborah Palmer, installed
by Anthony Wilson.
Story by Holly Walker
The name Loafers Glory was reputedly coined by the women of the
community who took a dim view of the men's habit of "lollygagging"
on the porch of the community store rather than working, thus
making the community a real "loafer's glory.”
Our outfitter store is the old Loafers Glory general store described
above. The white building next to the store still has what we believe
to be the original sign for Loafers Glory, NC. We did repaint the
green letters on the sign. That building currently serves as storage
for our rafting equipment.
You can book a rafting trip as
part of your quilt trails
experience. Just call ahead to
make arrangements.
828-688-9290. Or email
info@ncrafting.com.
This block is on the
Bakersville Trail
The Commemorative Edition of “North Carolina Is My Home” by
Charles Kuralt and Loomis McGlohon includes a picture of the
white building and the Loafers Glory, NC sign. We believe the
people in the picture to be the Garlands, the original owners.
Anthony did meet Mrs. Garland briefly. She has promised to return
with stories, memories and perhaps old photos. In the book are the
following lines of the song “Backroads & Byways”, with the lyrics
written and spoken by Charles Kuralt:
“I know a crossroads named Loafers Glory
Oh how I'd love to know that story!
To have met the loafers, to have known their faces,
To know all the stories of the Tar Heel places…”
Awesome Education Puzzle
Location: Gouge Elementary School, 134 Laurel St., Bakersville.
Designed by Destiny Bello, 4th grader at Gouge Elementary, Painted
by Kathy Rose, Barbara Webster, Carole Pearson, Cynthia Blood,
Matthew Mims, Carole Doswell Moore, and Sylvia Everett, installed by
Keith Beam.
In the fourth garde at Gouge Elementary school we study
the state of North Carolina. We are very fortunate to be able
to work with Penland School to create an ABC book all
about North Carolina. While creating our books we needed
to find something to learn about that would go with the
letter Q. While researching, we discovered the Quilt Trails
of Western North Carolina. We learned that it was the
second largest quilt trail in the nation. We studied quilts and
their history. The whole school became excited about the
quilt squares seen throughout our community. That is when
we decided that Gouge Elementary needed a quilt square
too.
Destiny Bello submitted a
design for the quilt block
which we modified only
slightly to have it conform to
the rules. The school colors
are in the background
triangles. The pencils at either
side and the rulers at top and
bottom along with the apple in
the middle all clearly say
SCHOOL! Her clever use of a
hexagon to make the apple
was very quilty. We
congratulate Destiny on her
thoughtful design and the
terrific name she gave her
block and are pleased to add it
to the Quilt Trails of Western
North Carolina.
This block is on the
Bakersville Trail
Plans were made and fund raisers organized. Our school is
a big part of our town and we are very proud of it. Our
mascot is the eagle. We needed to design a square that
would represent our school. The art teacher had the third,
fourth and fifth grade students all design a square, and the
hallways of the school were lined with the results. The
teachers judged them and chose Destiny Bello’s square as
the one that represented our school best.
Gouge school was built in 1955 starting with just seven
rooms that housed grades first through third. In 1959, five
more rooms were added. The school at the time was named
Little Bowman. The school is named after Dr. and Mrs.
A.E. Gouge. They are the family the property was
purchased from on which to build the school.
Dahlia
Location: 1562 Hwy 261, Bakersville. Drafted by Linda Sharpless,
painted by Bridget Van Remortel, Anita Langan, Deborah Palmer, Estela
Shakelford, Hazel Yahn, Barbara Webster, Fayma Childs, and Cora
Meares, installed by Jeff Phillips.
Look to the right to see this
block. It is truly spectacular. It
took an army of us to paint it.
This block is on the
Bakersville Trail
This beautiful traditional quilt block was chosen by Bridget
Van Remortel for her barn because “I liked the way it looks.”
Good enough reason - especially when you see this
spectacular block which has no straight lines. The drafting of
it was done with a huge compass which Linda Sharpless
fashioned just for the job, which was not easy considering the
block is made up of four 4-foot squares which all had to meet
at the edges. Linda and Bridget are both members of the
Mountain Piecemaker’s Quilt Guild, as are Estela
Shakelford, Cora Meares and Barbara Webster. This block
was a labor of love by all who worked on it and worth the
drive to see. It is on the way to Roan Mountain.
Bridget is a baker, and you can sample her goodies at the
Farmer’s Market in Bakersville, held on Saturdays during the
season.
Farmer’s Wife Star
Location: 1409 Coxes Creek Rd. Drafted by Barbara Webster, painted by
Dot Dantzler, Fayma Childs, Susan Crutchfield, Dot Gibbs, Katherine Hancock,
Cheryl Hughes, Barbara Webster, Caitley Symons, and Deborah Palmer. Installed
by Billy Shade with help from Wade Whitson of Whitson Electric and Edward
Silvers.
Story by Barbara Webster
“I’m going to live there one day. I’m going to have a house on that
hill.” So said Wendell Wilson to his wife, Brenda as they drove on
Coxe’s Creek looking for a place to build a house and raise children.
At the time they were living on Jack’s Creek in a trailer on her
parent’s land.
If you want to be REALLY
adventurous, you can start this
trail by going out the Cane
River Rd. (Hwy 19w) and
turning RIGHT onto Coxe’s
Creek. That will put this barn
on your right. Coxe’s Creek will
take you over to Jack’s Creek
where you can turn LEFT to
find the Indian Mat block. This
route follows the Cane River.
Also, if you have started out on
the Bee Log Trail, when you get
to the end of Bald Mtn. Rd. and
are facing the river, turn left
across the bridge to find Coxe’s
Creek. This is an adventurous
way to see the mountains and
go from one quilt trail to the
next.
This block is on the
Green Mountain Trail
The land Wendell had his eye on belonged to Kenneth Honeycutt
who ran a big dairy farm on Coxe’s Creek. For two years they tried
to get Kenneth to sell the land to them and for two years Kenneth
wasn’t interested. All their friends told them Kenneth would never
sell it. But Brenda decided to give it one last shot and called him
again to ask if he would sell to them. That time he told her “Let me
think about it.” The next day he called her back and not only offered
to sell, but offered owner-financing as well. And so Brenda and
Wendell bought their dream farm, built a house and raised their
three children.
Wendell was raised in Bee Log and Brenda was raised on Jack’s
Creek. They went to school together, but it wasn’t until they both
worked together at Bi-Lo that they started “talking to each other” as
Brenda put it.
Before they bought the Honeycutt farm, they were raising tobacco
on leased land. After they bought the farm, they continued raising
tobacco on their own land until they were bought out in 2006. Now
they are raising boxwoods.
Wendell also raises cattle on land he leases with Nelson Silvers in
Buncombe County.
When they first married, Wendell was working at Baxter’s and
Brenda worked at Bi-Lo. Wendell is now the plant manager at Glen
Raven and Brenda is the receptionist at Cane River Middle School.
The Farmer’s Wife block is frequently requested and Ann Myers
was the lucky person who asked for it first. You can see the original
traditional Farmer’s Wife block on her small shed on Jack’s Creek.
When Brenda Wilson also wanted the block we had to get creative.
We took the original block and placed it inside a star and created a
new block—Farmer’s Wife Star.
Star of Relief
Location: Old Relief Post Office and Country Store, Relief, NC. Designed and
drafted by Barbara Webster, painted by Carol Bareford and Cheryl Hughes,
installed by Jeff Phillips with the help of Wade Whitson of Whitson Electric.
Story by Julia Deyton
Nestled in a valley of the Appalachian Mountains in Mitchell County,
North Carolina, is a small rural community called Relief. During the
early 1800s, this community was thriving with settlers, a general
store, a lumberyard, and a boarding house. This small community
even had its own country doctor, Dr. Isaac Bradshaw. He traveled
miles on horseback to tend the sick.
The community known as Relief received its name in a most unusual
manner. A few years after the Civil War, a country emporium (store)
run by Squire John Peterson was opened. This store provided the
settlers in the Toe River Community with essentials like sugar, salt,
flour, oatmeal, and “specialty” medicines. At this time there were
several brands of patent medicine, most of which contained fair
amounts of alcohol.
When you get to the end of
the road where this block
is, turn around and head
back out keeping the river
on your left. Do not cross
the bridge but instead
follow the railroad tracks.
You will come to a T
intersection. This is where
you make a decision to go
to Red Hill via. 197 or to
go see the four blocks that
are out Sam’s Branch. You
will have to backtrack if
you go on to Sam’s Branch
but we recommend it. It
isn’t far.
Mountain folks traveled for miles either by horseback or wagon to
stock up on supplies at the country emporium. Many of these same
people purchased some of the vast tonics, pills, ointments, liniments
and dry-herb mixtures carried by the store. One medicine, Hart’s
Relief, became the most popular elixir in the area. It was proclaimed
to cure anything and everything. Squire Peterson could not keep this
“miracle” medicine on the shelves.
If you want to see the
blocks on Sam’s Branch,
instead of turning right
onto 197, turn left at the
intersection and go under
the railroad tracks. This
will parallel the river. If
you want to skip those four
blocks, turn right onto 197.
As word gets around quickly in small rural communities, Relief
became the name used when referring to the location of Peterson’s
store. Very soon everyone in the community began calling the
community Relief.
This block is on the
Green Mountain Trail
As the story goes, one day a couple of mountain men met on the road
and exchanged greetings. One inquired of the destination of the other,
and was told he was on his way to Squire Peterson’s store to pick up
Hart’s Relief. The other traveler was poor of hearing and all he
understood was store and Relief. On arriving home he told his wife
about a fellow traveler he met going to Peterson’s Store at Relief.
On May 19, 1888, the Relief post office was opened according to the
records in the postal service archives in Washington, D.C. When the
government decided to place a post office in the community, a lady by
the name of Bailey was asked to name the post office and since
everyone called the community Relief, she replied that should be the
name of the post office. According to official records, the first
postmaster was a Mr. Robert G. Griffith.
The country emporium opened by Squire Peterson was destroyed during the flood of 1901
when the Toe River raged out of its banks and consumed a large portion of the river
communities. The country store that had been opened a few years after the Civil War was
gone.
In 1913, J.D. Bradshaw purchased a store that had been built close to the original location
of Peterson’s Emporium. Mr. Bradshaw also carried Hart’s Relief until it was taken off the
market. Many loyal users were dismayed and frustrated with that decision.
The location of the post office near the river and the railroad tracks helped to develop the
area into an important link. During this time, mail was dropped off by the trains, one going
north and the other going south. The train would drop off 25 to 50 bags of mail with each
stop. There was always a lot of parcel post for the existing 14 merchants in the area.
When passenger trains became popular, Relief became a star route for passengers from
Johnson City, Tennessee and Asheville, North Carolina. Anyone needing to go across the
mountain to Johnson City, Tennessee would meet the train at the Relief depot.
Mr. J.D. Bradshaw ran the store and the Relief post office from 1913 until 1942. Upon his
retirement, his son, John W. Bradshaw, took over the store and the post office. John
Bradshaw closed the store in 1963. John Bradshaw remained postmaster until the
government closed the post office on June 23, 1973. For 85 years, the Relief post office was
an important mail center for 60 years the postmasters were John Bradshaw and his father.
Times have changed and life has gone on, but the Relief post office still stands, a tribute to
the early settlers in this area. Today, Julia Deyton, John Bradshaw’s daughter, owns the old
post office building.
Relief is marked by one sign, but is no longer a hub of commerce marked with the arrival of
passengers for the train, or farmers loading their produce, or even lumber companies
hauling their timber to market. There are still many of the original families living in Relief,
but they must travel several miles to get to a grocery store, any business, or place of
employment.
The beautify of Relief is still there...the flowing Toe River, the banks lined with trees, and
the woods filled with wildlife. Life goes on, but luckily some things never change!
SPECK-TROUTCULAR
Location: 10516 Highway 226, Bakersville. Designed by Martin Webster, painted
by Carolyn Bareford, installed by Keith Beam. Photo by Calla Gouge.
Story by Calla B. Gouge
This block is on the
Green Mountain Trail
Originating on the slopes of magnificent Roan Mountain, multiple small
streams of some of the coldest, most crystal clear waters flow. Eventually
the waters of these pristine streams meander and wind their way down to
the beautiful, picturesque, valley of Buladean, N.C. Here they join together
to form one of the area’s largest and most bountiful trout streams …Big
Rock Creek.
It is in these small feeder streams and other bubbling brooks that
form the coves and hollows beneath towering Roan Mountain that the
native brook trout of spectacular effervescing beauty resides and
reproduces. Natives know it as the “Speckled Trout.”
As a boy growing up in this theater of natural, unsurpassed beauty,
Dr. Roger Jenkins developed a lifelong love and admiration for this native
species. At times, his career as a businessman and an educator would take
him far away from his native homeland, across international waters and into
foreign countries, but his heart never ventured far from the beloved creek
banks of his childhood.
Out of this love grew a passionate hobby we know as the art of flyfishing. Roger always enjoys a challenge in any endeavor he is pursuing
and in this he finds the elusive, tantalizing speckled trout a worthy
adversary.
In recent years, Roger was motivated and inspired to purchase
properties in and around the community of Buladean, where most of his
family still resides. This would allow him to spend time with family, have
access to the streams where the trout fishing would be available to him on
his own properties, and where some rental homes would provide some
rental income during his and his wife Basia’s retirement years. This led to
the development of BuladeanRentals.com.
In his travels around the world, Dr. Jenkins has seen and
experienced many beautiful things, but none more breathtaking than that of
the speckled trout. Akin to the magic, mystery, and magnificence of the
hummingbird, the speckled trout has a beauty that is simply unsurpassed.
This is why he chose to honor the speckled trout with a quilt block aptly
named “Speck-Troutcular”.
If you would like to join Drs. Roger and Basia Jenkins for some
time fly-fishing or just relaxing amidst the beautiful scenery of the Western
North Carolina Mountains, contact them at the website
www.BuladeanRentals.com to make your reservation today!
Cat Tracks and Snail Trails
Location: Penland School of Crafts Weaving Cabin
Designed by Martin Webster, Drafted by Barbara Webster, painted by Carolyn
Bareford, installed by Ray Bell and Nick Briggs, Penland School of Crafts.
History written by: Michelle Francis,
Penland School of Crafts
This drafting pattern for
painting yields the result
below which was based on
the weaving pattern seen at
bottom.
This block is on the
Spruce Pine Trail
In 1920, western North Carolina native, Lucy Calista Morgan (18891991) arrived in Mitchell County to teach at the Appalachian School,
an Episcopal mission school located near Penland, NC. Soon after
moving to the Penland area, Morgan met Susan Phillips then in her
90s and a resident of the Wing community. Aunt Susan, as she
affectionately was known, had been an accomplished weaver in her
younger years. Lucy Morgan wrote about her visit to Susan Phillips in
her memoir, Gift from the Hills. She mentions that most of Aunt
Susan's coverlets were woven in the Cat's Track and Snail's Trail
pattern in either blue and white, or rose madder, blue and white.
Inspired by Aunt Susan's beautiful coverlets and LindseyWoolsey yardage, Lucy Morgan established the Fireside Industries in
1923. The community craft cooperative was renamed the Penland
Weavers and Potters in 1928 and in 1929 the fledging craft school was
established. Penland School of Handicrafts, as it was then known,
incorporated in 1938.
Penland's quilt block, Cat's Tracks and Snail's Trails, is a
design based on the coverlet pattern by the same name. The coverlet
pattern dates back to the early 1800s but the quilt block version of it is
brand new, created just for the Quilt Trails of Western North Carolina,
using a scan of a coverlet woven by Susan Phillips and donated to the
archives of Penland School of Crafts by one of her descendants.
The block is mounted on the front the Weaving Cabin which
was erected in May 1924 during a community log-raising. The
Weaving Cabin was the gathering place for the community weavers.
Every Wednesday they would meet for Weaving Day. Here they would
bring their woven goods and receive new materials and weaving
instruction while exchanging news and sharing in fellowship. The
Weaving Cabin was the center of operations for the Penland Weavers
and Potters until they ceased production in 1967.
Today Penland School of Crafts serves as an education center
dedicated to helping people live creative lives. The school offers one-,
two-, and eight-week adult workshops in books and paper, clay,
drawing and painting, glass, iron, metals, photography, printmaking
and letterpress, textiles, and wood. The school also sponsors artist
residencies, a community education program, and a craft gallery
representing artists affiliated with the school. Each year approximately
1,200 people come to Penland for instruction and another 14,000 pass
through as visitors. For additional information visit the school's
website: www.penland.org
Pick and Shovel
Location: Corner of Oak and Crystal St. in Spruce Pine. Designed by Martin
Webster, Painted by Estela Shakelford, Barbara Webster, Carole Pearson, Violet
Metcalf, Carolyn Raichle, Fayma Childs, Cheryl Hughes, Miriam Savard, Ken
Hoke and Margot Parker. Installed by Jeff Phillips, Michael Higgins, and Daryl
Parks.
Story by Janis Holder
The glowing green in the center of
the block hints at emeralds, while
the pick and shovel are tools used
by miners of the day.
This block is on the
Spruce Pine Trail
The present-day Wylie Building on the lower street in Spruce Pine has its
roots deep in the heart of the community and has experienced several
incarnations during its lifetime. The building, restored by David and Pam
Wylie and Cynthia Nash, currently stands as a prominent symbol of
Spruce Pine's revitalization efforts. The building was erected in 1922 by
one of the state's industrial pioneers, Colonel C. J. Harris (1854-1944),
and began life in 1923 as the Spruce Pine Store Company. Harris and his
brothers had purchased Jackson County's Carolina Clay Company in
1888, renaming it the Harris Clay Company and jump-starting the clay
industry in western North Carolina. The company mined clay, or kaolin,
in Mitchell, Avery, Yancey, Jackson, Swain, and Haywood counties, and
became important in supplying strategic military materials as a result of
Harris's encouragement of scientific research methods. The quilt block
speaks to the building’s mining history.
C. J. Harris incorporated the Spruce Pine Store Company in
1910, when the town boasted about 100 people to support it. Harris
wanted the location to form a natural trading center for an area that was
seriously lacking access to trade goods and merchandise. At the time, the
area's residents had to make a thirty-mile trek over rough dirt roads to
Marion to shop; imagine their relief when they welcomed the business
into its first small concrete block structure in 1917, allowing them to truly
“buy local”. From the beginning, the store formed a gathering place for
locals to buy supplies for their homes and share news with their
neighbors. This remained the case when Harris opened the building at its
new location in 1923.
The Spruce Pine Store Company continued operation in its
prominent corner location for many years. The building was purchased by
the Belk-Broome Company in 1954 and underwent extensive renovations
to support the Southern department store's operations. According to a TriCounty News article of November 3, 1955 (the day of the store's grand
opening), “the walls and roof of the building are all that remain as they
were when the alterations were started last summer.” Although the
building was considered structurally sound before renovation, its
transformation into a large department store required the removal of the
entire front of the first floor to install new display windows and
entrances, as well as lighting recommended by “illumination engineers”.
Tile was laid over the hardwood floors, and the brick walls were covered
with plaster. A dumbwaiter was installed to convey money and sales
receipts to the second floor offices, and a time clock was used to keep
track of employees' hours.
The two-story Belk building boasted 16,000 square feet of space, with
2,700 square feet devoted exclusively to men and boys, making it one of
the largest stores for men and boys in western North Carolina. Ladies and
children's ready-to-wear occupied two-thirds of the first floor, and the second floor included 5,400
square feet “devoted completely to the class of merchandise that is commonly found in the basement
store of a Belk operation”. The Belk Company occupied the building until 1991.
The building remained vacant for ten years, until a Christmas Eve fire in 2001 forced David
Wylie and his tenants out of their own Spruce Pine building. Becoming interested in the vacant
building and its history, Wylie contacted local architect John Pierce Stevens and builder Charles Dowd,
who examined the former Belk building. Once again it was pronounced structurally sound.
Negotiations were finalized on January 15, 2002, with David Wylie and his wife Pam funding the
Wylie Building project in the amount of $450,000 (later joined by partner Cynthia G. Nash). They
began extensive renovations in keeping with the history of the building.
The Southern yellow pine floors and handmade brick walls were restored to their former glory, along
with the 1920s-era windows, which had been made on site. The original support timbers were found to
have been hemlock, hewn by hand, a fact that perhaps contributed to the building's longevity. As
renovations progressed, the pressed tin ceiling received a new coat of paint, the operational sprinkler
system was retained, an elevator was added, and individual offices were created for the new tenants by
adding new walls. Much of the wood trim in the building was recycled from the Belk store's shelving,
including lighting fixtures, door frames and baseboards. Dressing rooms were given new life as closets
and conference rooms, and glass office windows were designed and etched with indigenous flora of the
North Carolina Mountains by local artist Trent Keller. The dumbwaiter and time clock remain as
testaments to the building's history, and as conversation pieces for visiting residents to recall their
shopping days at Belk and the Spruce Pine Store Company.
Now in its third incarnation, the building houses Wylie's accounting firm, attorneys, a stock
broker, a mining consultant, counselors, a lending entity, an insurance agency, and both salesmen and
entrepreneurs. Street level occupants include the Mitchell County Chamber of Commerce, the Mitchell
County Economic Development Commission, the office of U.S. Representative Patrick McHenry, a
specialty coffee shop/café and a gift shop. With its prominent corner location on Spruce Pine's lower
street, the dignified Wylie building embraces its history, and continues to serve as a hub of the
community.
Double Vision
Location: Appalachian Eye Associates, 54 Hill St. Designed by Martin and
Barbara Webster, painted by Edye Rollins, Calla Gouge, Margot Parker, matthew
Mims, Chris Strom, Ken Koke, Cheryl Hughes and Barbara Webster. Installed by
Jeff Phillips with the help of Wade Whitson of Whitson Electric.
Story by Wendy Bell
Businesses display quilt squares on their buildings for many reasons:
some want to complement an architectural feature; others think it
might attract customers; but for Drs. Marvin and Diane Walker “it is
all about the colors.” Both are optometrists whose office,
Appalachian Eye Associates at 54 Hill Street, is highlighted by a
square with a unique pattern -Double Vision
This block is on the
Spruce Pine Trail
When they couldn’t find a traditional pattern they liked, they enlisted
the help of Martin and Barbara Webster who turned to the Walkers’
profession—optometry—for inspiration. The result is the interesting
and colorful pattern that is exclusively theirs.
To assess color recognition, eye specialists frequently use
pseudoisochromatic plates, each composed of a pattern of differently
shaded dots. Within each pattern, a number is present. To a colordeficient person, all the dots in one or more of the plates will appear
similar or the same (isochromatic). To a person without a color
deficiency, some of the dots will appear dissimilar enough from the
other dots to form a distinct figure on each of the plates
(pseudoischromatic).
As their pattern, the Websters used the familiar E symbol on eye
charts in a 9 square configuration of “tumbling E’s”, and Diane
selected the cool colors of teal, light green, and mauve for the
foreground with smaller E’s in a lilac hue as the “hidden” letters
arranged in the shape of a heart. The Websters came up with a result
that is both original and eye catching. Thus, Double Vision becomes
a truly interactive pattern because what is actually seen will depend
totally on the color recognition ability of each viewer.
Like many WNC residents, the Walkers are not natives. Marvin grew
up in Durham but from age four spent every summer in Spruce Pine
where his love of the mountains became ingrained. Diane is an
Alabama native who has come to love the area as much as her
husband does. When Marvin opened his practice in 1983, there were
three locations--Burnsville, Newland, and Spruce Pine, but all were
consolidated into the Spruce Pine location in 1996 when the Hill
Street property became available. They and their three daughters
consider Mitchell County their home and enjoy the outdoors, the
mountain scenery, and the people who live here.
Although their quilt square pattern may have Double Vision, their
own is single—they love living here and intend to remain.
Fishskillet
Location: 2266 Chestnut Mt. Rd.. Designed by Martin Webster. Painted by Kathy
Rose, Jane Greene, Carole Pearson, Margot Parker and Lana Brennan.
Story by Teleia Tollison
Inset story told by Jerry Fairchild
Sometimes it is easy to see the pattern of one's life. The quilt block of
Jerry and Trish Fairchild clearly reflects their pattern from the central
theme of fish in a skillet to the trillium in each corner of the square
for the Fairchilds' four lovely daughters: Bridgett, Shelly, Somer, and
Amber. Jerry and Trish have lived on the family farm off and on
since their marriage, and their block celebrates their history and
heritage.
This block is on the
Celo Trail
Jerry remembers:
“Murphy Creek is a small stream near where my Grandma and
Grandpa lived as far back as I can remember. It has been over 50
years since my grandmother Mary Sant Fairchild took her cane
fishing pole in the early morning and walked from the front porch of
their old two-room cabin down a winding dirt trail to one of our
special fishing holes to catch me a mess of fresh rainbow trout for
breakfast. Grandma knew that I liked to have fresh trout, scrambled
eggs, and her homemade buttered biscuits during the times I visited
her in my spring breaks from grade school down in Burke County in
the 1950's and early 1960's. Most of the time she would quietly leave
the cabin with pole in hand at the break of dawn, just so she could
return to have me waking with the smell of those wonderful aromas
coming from the food cooking on the old wood stove. Sometimes, I
pause outside our mountain home today, close my eyes, and can still
almost hear and smell those fish frying.
“The family would all awaken to the sweet smell of breakfast
cooking on the old wood stove that my grandma had tended through
the night to make sure that the fire didn't go cold. Four trout would
just fit into Grandma's iron skillet—one for Grandma, one for
Grandpa (Joseph Fairchild), one for my Uncle Raymond Fairchild,
and yes, a special one fried crisp, just for me.
“Sometimes, when I visited in the winter, I recall actually seeing
snow blow through some of the cracks in the old house. Grandpa and
Uncle Raymond would cram newspapers in the cracks to keep out the
snow and ice. Quilts would be piled so high on the bed at night that it
was hard to roll over because they were so heavy.
“Back in the 1960's when my grandparents first moved into the home
where Trish and I live today, I remember Grandpa grumbling about
all the traffic on the gravel lane in front of the house. (It was Seven
Mile Ridge Road back then, but now it is Chestnut Mountain Road.) On a busy day, two or
three vehicles would pass. In the old house, however, about a mile or so down the river, a car
would pass by only on rare occasions. There really were no roads for cars at the old house,
only walking trails in and out of the cabin. It still remains that way.
“Trish and I have built a small beach in front of our home on the Murphy Creek bank where
our grandchildren often come to fish, play, swim, and roast hot dogs and marshmallows over
an open campfire. Our grandchildren, who are old enough, love to fish as much as my
grandma and I did back in my boyhood days. I sure wish that I had developed her special
techniques and skills in catching trout. She could get a fish to bite when no one else could. I
would pass the 'wand' to all my grandchildren. Even without my grandmother's magical skills,
I often take our grandchildren to the same spots to fish and talk about all the good times I had
back then growing up as a boy in these mountains as well as the good times I still have today
with my family around.
“Currently, the old family house belongs to FUI professor, historian and author Mr. Darden
Pyron from south Florida, a neighbor who is not only a gentleman but also a scholar. Trish and
I enjoy mountain life in my grandparents' new home, where the quilt square hangs to celebrate
at least five generations of Fairchilds.”
Jerry has been employed by Fluor Daniels for over 35 years and has had an opportunity to
work in more than 20 states. He was recently on assignment in Trinidad, West Indies, for over
three years and is currently working in Texas. His next site will be Carabobo, Venezuela. Trish
has quite literally been a homemaker, following Jerry around and raising their daughters in
numerous countries, including the three glorious years in Trinidad.
For 20 of their married years, they “left the lights on” in the home place but talked about
selling; then one day, it dawned on them just how much they loved their Murphy Creek home.
Now, they wouldn't part with it. Not only do they want to save the homestead for the next
generation of Fairchilds (seven grandchildren to date), but Trish also affirms that their land
provides a safe haven from an uncertain world with the cleanest air of any place they have
ever lived. The spring, which supplies the water for two homes on the property, has never run
dry and contains the sweetest tasting water she has ever drunk. Neither Trish nor Jerry ever got
over their love of the Blue Ridge Mountains and now consider it their duty to preserve their
heritage through the story of their quilt block and the nurturing of the land.
Books and Coffee Cups
Dream Ship
Books and Coffee Cups designed by Martin Webster, painted by Carolyn Bareford,
installed by Rick Gougeon.
Dream Ship, a traditional quilt block, painted by Carole Pearson and Karen King,
installed by Rick Gougeon.
The Little Switzerland Book Store has the current distinction of being the
only site on the trails with two quilt blocks.
Little Switzerland Book Store was originally opened in 1987 by Dr. Curtis
Johnson and was called the Grassy Mountain Bookstore. The café next
door was already open and being run by Jake Messner at that time. In 2006
Dr. Johnson sold the bookstore to Thomas Wright who then sold it to Rick
Gougeon in June 2010.
Books and Coffee Cups
Dream Ship
These blocks are
on the Celo Trail
in Little Switzerland off
the Blue Ridge Parkway.
When it started it was just two rooms. Now it is about 5000 sq. ft. and
occupies three floors. They carry primarily used books, and will happily
take YOUR used books and give you a store credit which you can use to
buy more books. There is an art gallery in the third floor space which
contains all local arts and crafts for sale. There are 17 artists represented in
the gallery. All local artists are welcome to participate as long as their art
isn't duplicating something already in the gallery. The gallery doesn't
charge the artists to be in the space, but does take a 20% commission on all
sales. In addition to the art for sale, the bookstore also carries puppets,
Christmas ornaments, bookends, book stands and lots of other specialty
items.
Additionally, there is a coffee shop inside the bookstore, complete with an
Espresso machine and regular coffee, pastries, candy, and deli-sandwiches.
You can get a cup of coffee and sit in the reading room in big antique
leather chairs or on a black velvet couch in front of a cozy fireplace and
read as long as you like. It's a wonderful cozy environment perfect for the
book lover, or aspiring writer. It is this combination of books and coffee
that inspired the Books and Coffee Cups quilt block which adorns the front
of the bookstore.
But there is ANOTHER quilt block on the side of the building called
Dream Ship. And that quilt block speaks to Rick Gougeons' real passion
which is making boats. Couture Boatworks can be found in one of the back
rooms of the building where Rick builds model boats, wood canoes, kayaks
and small wooden sailboats. Rick is from northern Michigan. He moved to
Charlotte to manage Coble Dairy. Soon he gravitated into real estate in
Charlotte. He got interested in the contracting end of real estate so he took
a contracting course to get his license. He then opened a home building
business called Craftsman Homes and Realty. He started building vacation
homes and second homes in Mitchell, Avery and Yancey Counties, but
predominately in Little Switzerland and Spruce Pine. But when he isn't
building homes, you will find him at Couture Boatworks building boats.
Rick's daughter, Moira Hutchings runs the bookstore. She went to UNCA where she obtained a
Bachelors Degree in Biology. Her husband teaches Special Education at Bowman Middle School in
Bakersville.
The bookstore is open 8-5 7 days a week from April to mid December. Closed January-end of March.
(828)765-9070 www.lsbooksandbeans.webs.com
Slave Chain
Location: Hannah Branch Rd.. Drafted by Barbara Webster, painted by Avril
Wilson, Barbara Webster and Deborah Palmer. Installed by Richard Kennedy.
Becky Gray’s pottery studio is located on Hannah Branch Rd. in
the Celo community. The quilt block, Slave Chain, was chosen by
Becky to honor the slave Hannah for whom the road is named.
Becky’s studio is a stucco barn located on land that was once a
plantation of Col. James McDowell. The stream that flows by the
shop, Hannah Branch, is named after Hannah, one of the
McDowell slaves.
After you’ve found the three
blocks up Seven Mile Ridge
Rd., come back down and
instead of turning right to
cross the river, go straight
onto a gravel road and look
for Hannah Branch. This is
the Celo Community
compound. After you find
this block you might want to
go on up the road and find
Arthur Morgan School.
This block is on the
Celo Trail
In 1969, by chance Becky took a course with Tom Suomalainen at
Penland. Becky said he does “Amazing, mystical clay
sculptures.” Becky said when she saw his sculpture it took her
back to her childhood when she was fascinated with archeology,
and she would make tombs and elaborate things out of clay as a
game. As she got older she forgot about it. Tom’s work took her
back to that space, only on an adult level. That was when she
realized she could do this thing she loved the most as a child. “It’s
never stopped being magical ever since.”
Becky met her husband, Richard, a builder and a photographer,
when he came to her first gallery opening at the New Morning
Gallery in 1975. They got married in 1982 and Becky then moved
to Celo.
You can see Becky’s interest in the mystical in her sculpture. Her
distinctive style is immediately recognizable once you become
familiar with her work.
While her studio is not open to the public, her work can be seen
and purchased at Toe River Crafts on Highway 80, the TRAC
Gallerys in Burnsville and Spruce Pine, The Design Gallery in
Burnsville, and the New Morning Gallery (in Asheville). Her
studio is open for the Studio Tour which the Toe River Arts
Council sponsors twice a year.
If you go to her studio to see her block, we ask that you not
disturb the working artist. If you want to meet her and talk with
her, visit her studio during the Studio Tour the first weekend in
December or the spring tour in May.
Fish
Location: 4125 State Hwy 197 S (Pensacola Rd.) Drafted by Barbara
Webster, Painted by Fayma Childs, Cheryl Hughes, Dot Gibbs, Carolyn
Bareford, Edye Rollins, Barbara Webster, and Deborah Palmer.
Installed by Jeff Phillips and Wade Whitson.
Story by Susan Crutchfield
This block will be on your left if
you are coming from Hwy 19. It is
hidden back off the road so you
have to keep a keen eye out for it.
The 200th block is on the
Bakersville Trail.
The Fish block on the barn of Allen and Bevo Peterson is
the 100th block that was installed by Quilt Trails of Western
North Carolina, a real milestone. A community-wide
celebration was held to honor the many volunteers who
worked on the first one hundred blocks. County
Commissioners honored Barbara Webster, the Executive
Director of Quilt Trails of Western North Carolina, by
naming that Saturday Barbara Webster Day.
The Fish quilt pattern was an easy choice for the
Petersons. Allen has been a fisherman since his childhood
days in Los Alamos, New Mexico. While living in Charlotte
prior to coming to Burnsville, he would hear friends making
plans to spend the weekend in various activities at the
country club. He, on the other hand, was dreaming of rod in
hand and landing a beautiful rainbow trout. He asked that
the quilt block be painted to look like Brook Trout and
Rainbow Trout.
Bevo, a seminary graduate, loved the pattern because of
the Christian symbolism it evoked. The block is only one
attraction of the property. The beautiful home the Petersons
bought in 1989 was originally built by Mac Thompson and
his wife in 1945. Mac owned a lumberyard and held back
all the special wood that came through to put in his own
house. Each room is made from a different type of wood
which covers both floors and walls. The spectacular rock
work on the exterior of the house is evidence of more fine
craftsmanship.
The rocks were brought from Pisgah National Forest
which required special permission that Mac somehow
obtained. The huge barn was built for many purposes, but
one very important reason was to accommodate Mac’s love
of hunting. He put heavy, thick wire on the outside of the
barn for a very good reason—to keep animals out. This was
necessary because inside he was cooking and also curing
the many animals he brought home from his hunting trips.
Bevo recalls bearpaws nailed all around the interior of the
barn when she first saw it!
Hunting was not all Mac did. He was a beloved member
of the community as evidenced by a story told to Allen by
the owner of the dry cleaning store at that time. The man
wanted to build a house for his family but didn’t have
enough money to do so. Mac asked him if he needed
lumber. The answer was yes but not until he had enough to
pay for it. This didn’t stop Mac. He delivered the entire
amount needed for the home to the shocked man’s doorstep. “But, Mac. I told you I
couldn’t pay you! Did you misunderstand me?” Mac informed him that he had understood
perfectly and that he could pay him back when and if he could.
Those of us who know the Petersons also know that Mac would be thrilled to see his
beautiful home in such good hands. The love and care Allen and Bevo show for their
surroundings is beautifully reflected in the circle of fishes that now hang above the barn’s
great door.
Mighty Mouse Bridge
Location: 315 Tennis Court Rd. Designed by Barbara Webster, Painted by Carolyn
Bareford, Installed by Keith Beam
Story by Patience Plumer Flick
My parents, Mary and Richard Plumer, came to Cattail in 1956,
purchased a lot from Percy Threadgill and promptly started clearing it
every day with all four of us kids in tow. Then Percy built us one of
his unique cottages and we’ve enjoyed Cattail for many years as a
family, but oftentimes when we’d come up, we’d learn the bridge had
been washed out once again. Every time the creek would have a flash
flood or other storm it seems that the bridge would wash away. Hence
it was named the “Mickey Mouse bridge”.
This block is on the
Pensacola Trail
So about 25 years ago my parents set upon the idea of building a
“real” bridge that would last a lifetime. First they tried to get the state
to help but to no avail, so they started asking the folks of Cattail who
used the bridge if they would contribute to the building of a new one.
Mom wrote hundreds of letters cajoling people to pitch in and
collected from many families and ultimately made up the rest with
another generous contribution of their own.
It took a few years to get it done, but now we have a good strong
bridge going across Tennis Court Road and it’s been christened the
“Mighty Mouse bridge”. That so represents who Mary and Dick
Plumer are—always looking out for the next person who’s coming
along.
After my sister Penny died in 1968 they joined with Percy Threadgill
and built a park with a tennis court to commemorate her and to
provide a place for everyone to play tennis. The tennis court has since
been replaced with children’s play equipment and a place for cookouts
but the road Penny Park is on was named Tennis Court Road and
continues to be. I’m sure people have wondered why!
My dad, who died in 1990, was best known in the Cattail community
for his baseball playing. He was a third baseman at Princeton
University and played in the first game ever put on television. He
loved coming to Cattail and joining Brooks Wilson (see the story of
the Baseball block) and others in an afternoon of ball playing.
We never would have had the wonderful experience of a home here in
Yancey County had it not been for my mother’s persistence and my
father’s willingness to go along and fund the projects. We’re forever
indebted to them.
Blue Ridge Apple Tree
Location:12041 State Rd. 197 South. Designed by Martin Webster, drafted by
Barbara Webster, painted by Christy Edwards, installed by Jeff Phillips and
Wade Whitson of Whitson Electric.
Story told to Barbara Webster by Bill Wilson
The Apple Haus was built by Denver Wilson, Bill Wilson’s father,
in 1940. At that time just “the old section” of the house was built.
It was originally built to store apples. It was capable of holding
about 10,000 bushels, grown on the surrounding land. It served
until 1955 when the orchard expanded and increased the size of
the house. The second addition increased capacity to approx.
30,000 bushels. Bill acquired it the orchard in 1964 when his
mother died. He operated it until 1969 for apple storage. He shut
it down in 1969 because it was no longer profitable to operate.
This is the only structure with two
quilt blocks. These are matching
blocks but the apples are a different
color on each block.
In 1973 Bill sold it to Buck Riddle, the current owner. He turned it
into a residence. The bottom portion is the same as it was when
apples were stored there. The second floor is now a residence with
six bedrooms and a bunk room. The center section is a great room,
doubling as a kitchen, living room and dining room.
blockPensacola
is on theused
Pensacola
Trail
Bill says they sold apples This
to truckers.
to be a big
apple producing community. Probably the last one in the county to
operate. At that time there were 10-12 commercial orchards in the
area.
Bill had 65 acres in commercial apple trees. Rome Beauties,
Stayman Winesaps, Red and Golden Delicious were their main
apples.
Bill says they didn’t do any advertising. The truckers found them
“mostly by word of mouth.” The orchard was started back in the
30s - probably early to mid 30s. Most everybody local knew about
it and truckers found out about it from the locals. In later years
the apple growers formed a co-op headquartered in Bakersville
called Mt. Mitchell Apple Co-op. There was a packing house in
Bakersville.
Bill grew up on the land. He was born there and is still sleeping in
the same bedroom he had as a child. Bill says the orchard was
operated primarily as a family endeavor. They employed local
people to harvest the apples. He says his parents raised 7 children
with the orchard - they didn’t get rich but they didn’t starve either.
In the 60s it was no longer profitable to work the orchard. Up till
then, they usually hired about 4 year-round, and during harvest
they would hire 20 people to harvest the apples—mostly locals.
Lot of people farmed in the community. Apple picking happened
when it was a slack time in farming—between the harvest of
tobacco and other crops and getting tobacco to market. Marketing
of the tobacco was a source of income for the locals. Bill says they usually started harvesting
the apples around the first of Sept. and finished mid to late October. For about 6-7 weeks
“we used everybody we could get.”
After shutting down the orchard, Bill worked in Asheville for the next 32.5 years in the
mobile home repair business - primarily on RVs. He did collision damage repairs. Bill
retired about 5 years ago and turned his attention to his hobby of growing Christmas trees,
which he has been doing for about 20 years. His Christmas Tree operation is a choose and
cut and he sells from his house, directly across the road from the Apple Haus. People come
from Asheville and 3 or 4 different states to buy Christmas trees from him. Bill says, “We
have horses, cats and goats that the children enjoy. My wife makes wreathes and various
other table ornaments to sell at that time. We enjoy it.”
Buck Riddle, the current owner of the Apple Haus, requested two quilt squares for the
structure and wanted them to be apple blocks. The Apple Tree block was already on the
Orchard at Altapass, so Martin Webster designed a new block for the Riddles. This is the
only structure in the trail system to contain two blocks.
Witch’s Star
Location: 480 Bukeridge Rd. at the end of Aunt Effies Rd.(off Green
Mtn. Rd. near the Parkway Playhouse). Drafted by Barbara Webster,
painted by Dottie Buker and Ken Hoke. Installed by Mike Orr and Ken
Hoke
Dottie Buker is the proud owner of the Witch’s Star. She
says that her barn has a witch weather vane on the roof.
“My deceased husband used to call me the wicked witch (as
a term of endearment).”
The property used to be a dairy farm in the 40s. The small
house used to be the milking barn, but Dottie and her
husband built the larger barn to house their motor coach.
And Dottie says “The cow has never been in it!”
This block is on the
Burnsville Trail
The property is not far from the Parkway Playhouse,
(maybe 2 minutes) and worth a trip up the side road to find,
as the setting is quite delightful with a great view of the
mountains...a real Kodak spot!
Dottie’s husband had the weather vane made for her at her
request and the quilt square is to honor his memory.
Sneakers
Location: The Old Burnsville Gym on School Circle. Designed and drafted by
Barbara Webster, Painted by Carolyn Bareford, Deborah Palmer, Christine
Strom and Barbara Webster. Installed by Jeff Phillips and Billie Shade with
the help of Edward Silvers and Wade Whitson of Whitson Electric.
Story by Barbara Webster
The Burnsville Gym is the only indoor recreation facility free for
public use in Yancey county. Originally it was the gym for
Burnsville High School. Before the gym was built, students
played ball in the scenery shop behind Parkway Playhouse and
to this day there is a basketball goal in the scenery shop.
As years went by a leak developed in the West wall and
ultimately destroyed the floor, causing the County to close the
gym for safety reasons. In 2007, Colby Martin wrote a grant to
bring in funds to restore the gym. In September that year, work
began on the refurbishing with mostly volunteer labor.
The gym reopened in July, 2008 and now contains a new level
concrete subfloor with a bounceback tile overlay flooring on top
of that. New bathrooms and new paint round out the
refurbishing, which took 9 months. The gym has been a source
of pride for the community since the 1950s and is once again full
of lively games and is much used and appreciated by the
community.
This unique quilt block was
designed specifically for this
building using a sneaker as the
main design element. If you look
closely you can see the sneaker
that makes the star.
The line drawing makes perfect
symmetry, but in reality, when
color is added, the star is slightly
off because each sneaker must be
below the previous one and one
has to be on top. Can you see
which one is on top?
This block is on the
Burnsville Trail
McIntosh Star
Location: McIntosh barn at the West edge of town on Hwy. 19. Drafted and
Painted by Art students from Mtn. Heritage High School. Installed by David,
Evan, and R.L. McIntosh and Arle Honeycutt.
This McIntosh Star is from Judy
Martin’s book, The Block Book.
Mountain Heritage High School
students drafted and painted the
block using the McIntosh Tartan
and if you can look at the block
up close you will see the
background is plaid. The colors
of the entire block are from the
McIntosh tartan.
This block is on the
Burnsville Trail
The McIntosh family has been an integral part of Yancey County for at
least five generations and has lived inside the town limits of Burnsville
during all those generations. For many years, R.L. McIntosh ran Burnsville
Furniture and Hardware. (The building now houses Monkey Business and
Something Special.) David McIntosh, R.L.’s younger brother, owned
David’s Limited clothing store. Their parents had a restaurant which was
originally in what is now the Toe River Arts Council building and they
lived upstairs. They had a grocery store, called the Red Front Grocery
Store where the Hilltop Restaurant is now. They also had the McIntosh
Drug Store in the building where David’s Ltd. is now housed. In later years
Dick McIntosh, son of Troy McIntosh (R.L. and David’s father’s brother)
started the Hilltop Restaurant. David and R.L.’s mother was a Hensley. Her
family was from the Pensacola area and also goes back at least 5
generations. David McIntosh has served as Chair of County
Commissioners and as alderman on the Town Board and he is currently a
partner of Heritage Lumber Company. R.L. McIntosh is retired but still
active in the community, especially with theatre.
Old Maid’s Ramble
Location: Bill Buckner’s barn at Hwy 19 and Price’s Creek. Drafted by
Barbara Webster, Painted by Ulrike Poppeliers and Barbara Webster,
Installed by Jeff Phillips with help from Ron Chandler’s bucket truck.
This block was the very first quilt block to go up in the county. It
was chosen for its eye catching graphics and before we realized the
blocks could become history triggers. It appears in a book called
Civil War Diary under the chapter, Soldiers Ladies Aid Society and
for a while that was what we thought was the name of the block. But
more research showed us it is a variation of a block called Old
Maid’s Ramble, and another name for the block is Odd Fellow’s
Chain.
This block is on the
Lickskillet Trail
The origin of the blocks and their names is always interesting and
sometimes bemusing. We are extremely grateful to Mr. Buckner for
having the courage to be the first person with a quilt block on his
barn in the county. After his block went up, interest in the project
more than quadrupled, proving that a picture is worth a thousand
words.
Garden Beauty
Location: Carolina Native Nursery, 1126 Price’s Creek Rd. Drafted by Deborah
Palmer. Painted by Carolyn Bareford, Dot Dantzler, Cheryl Hughes, Dot Gibbs,
and Katherine Hancock.
Story by Rebecca Warner
The only straight lines this quilt
block contains are the lines down
the centers of the big leaves. The
entire block, other than that seam, is
curves and thus would have to be
hand or machine appliqued or fused
in order to create it. Careful study of
all the quilt blocks we have installed
will reveal very few that have to be
appliqued. We have tried hard to put
up traditional blocks that can be
made on a sewing machine, and if
they are new blocks, we have tried to
design them to look like traditional
blocks so they can be sewn on a
machine.
This block is on the
Lickskillet Trail
Bill Jones, owner of Carolina Native Nursery, is a man who
subscribes to the notion that nature is meant to be tended and
preserved.
Carolina Native Nursery is the only wholesale nursery that
specializes in native shrubs. It caters to the Mid-Atlantic region of
the country, from Florida to Maryland. Before starting this particular
business almost seven years ago, Bill owned an organic lawn and
shrub care company in Charlotte, North Carolina.
He and his wife of thirteen years, Jill, a Certified Public
Accountant, fell in love with the Asheville area and felt it would be a
great place to raise their children. They sold their thriving company
in Charlotte and comfortably segued into the wholesale nursery
business. The mission of Carolina Native Nursery is as follows:
“Carolina Native Nursery's commitment is to provide superior
containerized native plant material to the landscape and retail garden
industry with a dedication to honesty, integrity, and responsiveness to
every customer to whom we have the privilege of servicing. We will
warrant our plant material will be of the highest quality and
consistency and arrive insect and disease free.”
That is quite a commitment when a nursery carries 90 different
varieties of plants, as Carolina Native Nursery does.
Bill feels that native plants are going to be an up and coming niche in
the market place. Just as he was ahead of the curve on the organic
aspect of lawn and shrub care in Charlotte, he foresees that the
country will be going through a new green revolution in the next
twenty years.
“So many things have been forced in landscaping,” Bill says, “and
that affects the ecological balance.” He believes that cities and states
will start encouraging people to reinvest in their landscapes and to
try to re-establish what was there, using native plants, from trees
down to ground covers.
Bill is proud that his business also grows the plant material that
will allow them to do their part in establishing native landscapes. He
feels that only through native plants do we have a chance of having
the original wildlife come back.
As he explains it, the food chain starts small. If one plants a
plant that is not from here, eventually the caterpillars, bugs and
insects can have a very difficult time. Native caterpillars will not eat
non-native plant material, then the birds can't eat them, and so the
cycle goes. The food chain starts from the bottom, and that chain
needs flora to exist. If it is replaced with something non-native, then
the dynamics of the food chain are affected.
Also, in a delicate eco system, water is a major factor.
Drought conditions are threatening. Plants native to the environment
have a better chance of survival in drought conditions.
Bill is on committees with state nursery and landscape associations, which
consider what plant material is invasive, with the intent of removing such plant material
from the nursery pallet. They realize that when someone plants something that is not a
native species, that is their choice; but Bill has chosen this niche because he hopes to
help others realize the impact their decisions have on the ecosystem. Also, from a
business standpoint, he feels it is a very strong business decision.
Bill has a huge barn, and he had been thinking about painting something on the
barn himself. Then he saw some of the quilt blocks, and knew that was what he wanted
on his barn. For his design, he of course stressed that he was in the plant business. He
and Jill chose the block called Garden Beauty, because it is overall most representative
of their passion about what they are doing.
He is on the Board of Trustees for the Southern Appalachian Highlands
Conservancy, and is the Chairman of the Asheville Tree Commission. He was
instrumental in re-writing the landscaping ordinance for Asheville. Bill puts his
knowledge and skills to work both in his business and in the interest of restoring native
landscapes to their most natural state.
Bill wants every garden to be beautiful, true. But he also wants it to be the best
it can be in terms of contributing to the health and longevity of plants, insects and
wildlife. This very well might be Western North Carolina's best chance to ensure that
nature is preserved.
Maple Leaf Star
Location: 1641 Lickskillet Rd. Designed by Barbara Webster, Painted by
Cheryl Hughes, Christine Strom and Carole Pearson. Installed by Jeff Phillips
with the help of Wade Whitson.
Story by John Swann
Maple Creek Farm is located on 106 mountainous acres stradling
Lickskillet Creek near the Bald Creek community west of
Burnsville, in Yancey County, NC. We produce Maple Syrup,
pastured pork, grassfed lamb, sorghum syrup, and seasonal
vegetables. We are the southernmost commercial producer of
maple syrup in the country, and the only such producer in NC that
we know of.
Maple Creek Farm
1641 Lickskillet Rd.
Burnsville, NC 28714
(828) 682-0297
This block is on the
Lickskillet Trail
Although we are not certified organic, we use organic methods in
our vegetable and forest production. Our farming methods are
rooted in the philosophy of permaculture and sustainability, and
our animal husbandry practices are humane.
Our products are available at the Asheville City Market and the
Yancey County Tailgate Market in Burnsville. We also sell our
products at the farm (please call ahead).
We are open to the public three times a year for our Maple Syrup
Tour (February), the Family Farm Tour (June) and our Sorghum
Day (October). We can also provide tours for troups of ten or
more by appointment.