Quilt Trails Project

New Blocks
Well the year is half over and things are roaring for Quilt Trails. Thanks to our busy painters, we are put up three blocks last week – one on Bank’s Jewelers in Burnsville, one on the Wylie Building in Spruce Pine, and one at Maple Creek Farm on Lickskillet Rd. in Yancey County.

Have you seen the small block at Blue Ridge Properties on Oak Ave. in Spruce Pine? That little gem is called Magic Carpet. There’s another new small block up on the Post Office in Little Switzerland. It was designed by Betty Altman and is called North Carolina Bear Paw. Betty took the traditional Bear Paw block and hinted at the NC Flag behind it. Very appropriate for the Post Office! Little Red Schoolhouse can be seen at 435 River Walk Dr. in Burnsville, and North Carolina State can be seen on the Extension Office in Burnsville on Orchard St. Nearby is another new block – Coathanger Star on Quality Cleaners on W. Main St.

ROAD RALLY WINNERS
Our June Road Rally was a wonderful success. Winners were:
1st place – Jane Green – Bakersville, Jackie Phillips, Charlotte
2nd place - Kevin & Heather Gavagan, Charlotte, Geoff Templeton, Mill Spring
3rd place – Kathy Kiser, Newton, NC and Sharon Smith, Flat Rock
Total participating cars: 21
Total participating people: around 50

Everyone enjoyed a great BBQ at the end of the Rally at The Cove at Celo Mountain, provided by Mountain Lifestyle Communities. I was too slow calculating the winners, but we have a plan to speed that up for the next Rally so hopefully the wait won’t be as long. It’s not too soon to be planning to attend our fall Rally the first Saturday in November – November 6. Mark your calendars now. That Rally will also be limited to the first 35 people to register. Online registration will be required and will begin in September.

We’ve put pictures from the Rally up on our website so you might want to wander over to www.quilttrailswnc.org and take a look.

Prizes were made by John Richards and Joy Bennett, and the first prizes were $75 gift certificates to the TRAC Gallery in Burnsville so some great art went to the winners.

Quilt Show at Bakersville Courthouse
Some of the quilts made of our quilt blocks by Georgia Bonesteel’s students that were in the show at Burnsville Chevrolet can now be seen in the Bakersville Courthouse. We will install it July 7 and the exhibit will be up for the month of July.

Mt. Mitchell Craft Fair August 6 and 7
The Craft Fair is coming up and we don’t have enough volunteers. We need two people to staff the t-shirt painting side of the booth. If you want to help with that, please let us know asap. The fair is Friday and Saturday, August 6 and 7 on the Burnsville Town Square. Our t-shirt painting was VERY popular last year with all ages participating. You can see pictures of last year's fair on our website www.quilttrailswnc.org. We have spray bottles with diluted paint, as well as paint brushes and tubs of paint. You have to make sure people put on a smock, spread out the shirt for them and show them the selection of colors. You also need to keep the spray bottles stocked. It doesn’t take much to get people started. Some put paint on their hands and decorate their shirts with handprints; others use the spray bottles and flip paint with brushes; others paint directly with the brushes. We'll have a few stamps on hand as well. They were all wonderful. If you would like to help with this please call 682-7331 right now!! We need two people for each day. We also need you to help us load up the van the night before with all the supplies. It would be great if you were willing to work both days as continuity really helps with this. But we’ll take any hours you care to give. You’ll get a free t-shirt for volunteering.

Bakersville Creek Walk In September
We also need 2 volunteers to help staff the Bakersville Creek Walk for one Saturday in September. This is a really nice event with a lovely setting. Last year we had time to sit and play Scrabble between groups of people. But the event is growing, so this year it may be a lot busier. It was also raining cats and dogs last year as I recall…This is not as elaborate an event for us at the Mt. Mitchell Craft Fair. We sell Tour Guides, Maps, and T-shirts at this event…maybe a few other things. You can help decide if you sign up to help with this event. Email us (info@quilttrailswnc.org) or call us at 828-682-7331 to sign up. Another free t-shirt if you help!

Southern Highlands Craft Show
We’ll be at Southern Highlands Craft Show with a small educational exhibit starting July 15. Stop by and say howdy.

Paint Volunteer Training
Do you want to learn how to paint the quilt blocks? We are holding a paint workshop Saturday, July 17 from 10-12 at our Paint Studio. Call to reserve your spot: 828-682-7331 or 828-675-5768. We need about 5 new painters and we especially need you this winter. We keep our paint teams small so everyone has something to do each time they come to paint. If you get really good at it you may get to take blocks home to paint. Painters have a great time and the work is really pleasant in a great atmosphere. Our Paint Studio is truly fabulous…air conditioning, utility sink, bathrooms, great light and snacks!

Raffle Block
Tickets are now on sale for our Raffle Block. This year it is a 32” block painted in purples and golds – a pattern called Latticed Star. Tickets are $3 ea. or 2 for $5. You can buy tickets at Mountain Lifestyle Communities on the square, at our Gift Shop, or at Carolina First Bank. You can also buy them at any Yancey or Mitchell County library. Proceeds get plowed back into the project to help pay for maps, tour guides, block installations and more. Of course we will also be selling tickets at the Mt. Mitchell Craft Fair. We will pull the winning ticket on Saturday at the Fair.

Gift Shop
Our new t-shirts are in! Come early to get the size you want. One shirt features artwork by Rolf Holmquist, the other features our Game Poster. And come by the Gift Shop to see the fabulous new ornaments Estela Shakelford has made – one is of B.B. Wilson’s Store with the Baseball block (Pensacola trail), another is the weaving shed at Penland with the Cat Tracks and Snail’s Trails block. She also did a new one of the Arbuckle Coffee Pot barn, and she has really cute churches with the church blocks. Her ornaments look just like the buildings and are made out of clay. You can order ornaments of YOUR barn or building (or church).

Also new in the Gift Shop are sundial mugs made by Pete McWhirter. We should have those within a week. Remember you can custom order a mug with YOUR block on it. You can also order magnets, pins and fabric Xmas ornaments of your block. You need to get your Christmas orders in at least 2 months early – the earlier the better. We have to get them made!!

Remember the Calendar Contest
Don’t forget to be taking pictures for our Calendar Contest. Deadline is Monday, October 1. You can get details off our website: www.quilttrailswnc.org. With 50 new blocks up, we hope to see some new photos. Remember we need large file size digital photos (at least 2,000 kb).

New Tour Guides and Maps on the way.
It is taking us a while to get the new Tour Guides and Maps done because we are having to totally redesign the maps. But the new maps should be easier to use and will have at least 50 more blocks on them! So we appreciate your patience while we get stories written, locations verified, and maps drawn. We are essentially having to draw almost 200 maps. And while there is some whiz-bang software out there to help us do it, it doesn’t happen overnight. We are still missing some of the pictures we need. If you would like to help us gather in the missing pictures, give us a call and we’ll give you a photo assignment. 828-682-7331. And if you can help us write some of the missing stories, please call us for that as well.

Who Will be #200?
And speaking of “almost 200” we are rapidly approaching block # 200. When that happens, we will have a big party and we hope all of you who already have a quilt block will come and help us celebrate. We will let you know when and where. We don’t know ourselves which will be # 200.

Spruce Pine
Do you live in Spruce Pine? We sure would like to get more blocks up in Spruce Pine. If you know of a business with a great location, take them a Quilt Block application. This project is doing wonders for bringing visitors to our area, and many are coming back over and over again to check out new quilt blocks. Each time they come they buy gas, they eat, they buy souvenirs, and sometimes they spend the night. This is good for all of us. And the more blocks we have up, the more interesting we can make the Road Rallies. Businesses benefit from being on the Road Rally, and it’s a great way to show off our beautiful mountains. And the history we can capture from the great stories behind the buildings, the people and the land is priceless. Remember you can pay for your block in monthly installments. Maybe YOU want a block. Blocks can go on your garage, house, barn or business. All you have to do is download an application form and fill it out and send it in. It's easy! Click here for an application: http://quilttrailswnc.org/host.html

A BIG THANK YOU to Mountain Lifestyle Communities for sponsoring our Road Rally BBQ and to Carole Pearson who has contributed of her time and talents enormously both as Paint Captain and as major supporter of the Road Rally. BIG THANK YOU also to Jake and Cynthia Blood, Steve Hardesty, Norm Rabek, June Pearson and Estela Shakelford for helping with the Road Rally.

THANK YOUs also to Barbara Tester and Benjamin Harrison for help with the Volunteer party as well as Carole and June Pearson, Jake and Cynthia Blood and Denise Frederick. Thanks to June’s taste testing team, I am now the proud owner of a first-prize-winning raspberry ice cream recipe! Thanks to Brette Barron for the terrific job she does with our website.

 

Mountain Lifestyle Communities Continues Support

Quilt Trails of Western North Carolina is pleased to announce that Mountain Lifestyle Communities will continue to be our corporate underwriter for another two years. Money from Mountain Lifestyle Communities is used to pay the Executive Director of Quilt Trails.
“We think Quilt Trails is doing an outstanding job of shining the spotlight on Yancey and Mitchell counties which is benefitting all the businesses in the area and the art community as well,” said Randy Frederick, Chief Operating Officer of Mountain Lifestyle Communities.
Since beginning the project in 2006, Quilt Trails has overseen the installation of 170 quilt blocks in Yancey and Mitchell counties, opened a Gift Shop at the Burnsville Chamber of Commerce, and created new revenue streams for several local artists. Nine different trails feature Burnsville, Green Mountain, Pensacola, Celo, Spruce Pine, Bakersville, and Little Switzerland plus other areas of both counties. Five different North Carolina Interstate Welcome Centers carry information about Quilt Trails, leading travelers to Yancey and Mitchell counties. This year, Quilt Trails installed the world’s only quilt block sundial and it is also North Carolina’s largest vertical sundial.
Mountain Lifestyle Communities was established in the Burnsville area in 2005 when the company purchased Mountain Heritage Estates at the end of Baker’s Creek off 19-E at the Cane River Bridge. Then in 2006 Mountain Lifestyle Communities purchased 85 acres off Highway 80 South at Hickory Springs Road which would later become The Cove at Celo Mountain. They also have a third piece that is off the Cane River at Toodies Creek.
Mountain Lifestyle Communities is owned by Bill Ennen and his partners, Sister, Diane Liemandt-Reimann, and her husband, Ron Reimann. Diane, Ron and Bill are interested in preserving local history by telling the stories of the land to honor past owners and protectors. Actually they searched local records to gather the background of the lands they purchased, not only because this information is important to preserve for future generations but also because this information is important to Diane, Ron and Bill. As Diane remarked, “Our families are big on tradition, so knowing the stories behind the property Mountain Lifestyle Communities has purchased in this area is very important to us.” From this focus, it is obvious that the Quilt Trails Project would resonate with Diane and the group. Quilt Blocks now adorn the entrances to both The Cove at Celo Mountain and Mountain Heritage Estates with a third block on a barn that’s part of the Baker’s Creek property.
Diane, Ron and Bill along with all of their employees want to “have a strong presence” in the local communities. Diane said, “Burnsville is such a special place that already offers so much and will have much more to offer as it grows. We are so enthusiastic to be part of the town and the surrounding areas and blessed to be part of the Quilt Trails Project.” The $52,500 gift from Mountain Lifestyle Communities will certainly ensure the continued success of the Quilt Trails Project and help continue to preserve the area’s heritage and aid the local economy.
The Quilt Trails Project can be contacted at 828-682-7331 and at www.quilttrailswnc.org. Mountain Lifestyle Communities has a sales center on the Burnsville Town Square adjacent to the Yancey County Library and may be contacted locally at 828-682-3022 or toll free at 866-378-4769. Their website is www.mlcnc.com


Have a suggestion? You can call one of our Board Members, or our Executive Director.
Board members:
Norm Rabek nrabek@verizon.net 828-675-5413
Shirley Hise shise@mitchell-county.com 828-765-9033
Jake Blood yanceyedc@gmail.com 828-682-7722
Sue Ledford mtnprosue@gmail.com828-778-8111
LouAnn Morehouse info@avercountyartscouncil.org 828-898-4292
Barbara Tester barbara.tester@carolinafirst.com 828-682-7744
Barbara Webster, Ex. Dir. info@quilttrailswnc.org828-682-7331

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This page was last updated on Tuesday, 13 July 2010 12:44 PM