Our Quilting Journey was a success with quilters from eleven states and two countries. The quilting ambassadors experienced nine days packed with activities.
The Welcome Dinner was at St. Paul Mountain Vineyard in Hendersonville. The next day the quilters were treated to three hours at the home of Georgia Bonesteel, our local and famous quilter. Over 150 quilts were viewed and Georgia demonstrated a technique for binding and sewing, using her lap quilt method. Home hosts then took the quilters to view our local barn quilts, visit Oriole Mills in Hendersonville and a quilt shop. Quilters from the Western North Carolina Quilt Guild joined us for dinner and showed many quilts that they had made.
Highlights of the remainder of the Journey included: demonstrations by the Greenville Modern Quilt Guild, dinner at the homes of our Friendship Force members, a demonstration for creating a table runner, an afternoon of using flowers and pounding them into fabric (which would later be transformed into artistic quilts), experiencing the music of our area at Feed N’ Seed, visits to the Blue Ridge Mountain Visitors Center and the Folk Art Museum, a picnic at the Holmes Educational Center and viewing the “high falls” area at DuPont Forest, a trip to the NC Arboretum, a day sewing at a quilt shop, where a demonstration of a technique called paper piecing was shown, as well as a demo on making clothing, a tour of The Warm and Natural Batting Company, and a trip to the NC Quilting Symposium in Asheville.
Each of the ambassadors was asked to create a quilt block using a pattern that was sent to them. They could use any color fabric they chose to create the mountain-like block. The blocks were then sewn together with sashing and borders attached. The top of the quilt was then placed on batting and a backing fabric. The group met at a long arm quilting shop and each of them helped to quilt the quilt. The binding was then sewn on the quilt and it was completed. The quilt is the size of a twin bed. The quilt is being donated to Elizabeth House, a hospice facility in Hendersonville. The picture is of the ambassadors and the finished quilt.
This journey would not have been possible without the support of our home hosts, dinner hosts, day hosts, and the many volunteers who demonstrated techniques, showed quilts and helped to complete the sewing of the quilt and all of the locations that offered their facilities to us.
–Joan Manfre and Becky Reid, Journey Coordinators
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