The excitement of folk art, quilts and new friends

Now I rarely share photos of good looking young men but this is the first person I met (at the airport) who was attending at John C. Campbell folk school. This is Brauck from Oklahoma and he just graduated from high school, is lovely on the inside, and cute on the outside and he had to leave our classroom because every woman in there had a girl for him. We later sat together at the end ceremonies. He reminds me of my own sweet son who has good morals and a great heart. This young man's Mother and Dad did a great job. He took blacksmithing and made a fabulous fireplace set and rose in a vase for his girlfriend.

This is Marilyn Wall who is well known in this area (North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia)for her quilting classes and expertise. Her quilts are fabulous! I had the priviledge to stay with she and her husband Kermit at their home in Seneca, South Carolina on the most beautiful lake you have ever seen. It was quiet and wonderful and Marilyn and her husband are two of the nicest people you will ever meet and talented too. In their home was handmade, stain glass windows, clocks that had fabulous wood, wallhangings, water color paintings, awesome quilts, all kinds of wood working things (chairs, pens, wine stoppers, holders, trims and too many to name)....everywhere was their first rate art work-plus mCCoy pottery, old linens and great old figurative pottery holders. Here Marilyn stands in front of her border which is all photos of her Grandchildren, children and their drawings. It is going to be a 50th anniversary quilt. If she teaches in your area, be sure to take a class from her.

This is Mary Lou. What fun to have another Mary lou in class! Mary Lou was a school superintendant and a wonderful addition to the fun and the color of the class. Her husband took woodworking while she took this class. That is the way to do it. Isn't this quilt great? She put flower power blocks in the middle just for fun-she does have a story to go in there.

This is Harriet who has enough energy for all of us. This is her first story quilt and she was alot

of fun and her husband was taking classes all week also. This is really the norm here.

Above is Carol who makes her own wood furniture and I mean awesome stuff anyone would love to buy. She makes clothes, weaves, does stain glass, and about everything else you can think of. Carol is a YOUNG 71 and is a real example of how to be exzuberant and exciting and creative.

Donna on the left of Carol was in the weaving class. I met her on the shuttle going from the airport to JCCampbell's. She dropped in to visit and we ate many meals together.

Above is Cathy who is funny and fun and has a million good stories and she is quick to think of funny things to make us all laugh. Her best friend is below. I am going to tell one of the stories here.

OK, this is Sara who is Cathy's best friend. Sara is hilarious too and she and Cathy met on a cruise to Turkey. They met when they found out they both quilted. Sara and Cathy both lost their husbands. Sara decided one night she had never owned a horse. So, the next day she phoned Cathy and said "I did some impulse shopping today." Cathy said "what did you buy now?" And Sara said "a horse." So that is going to be her quilt story. We all howled over this funny story. NOW THAT is impulse buying for sure!

This is Tina's blocks. I don't have a photo but Tina finished her quilt completely. She put my pattern "Sew Spoiled" into the center of this border and buttonholed it by machine and it is fabulous.

Here is Ann, finishing up her border. Isn't this a wonderful color pallette? Ann is a really experienced and talented quilter. Remember Ann because I am going to do a story about my birthday dinner at her home when I was in South Carolina. Ann's husband took French cooking while she took this class and he made us dinner. Stay tuned......

More borders and blocks for you to look at and enjoy..........








The folk art snake hangs on the wall in the studio-this studio has awesome light........

Here is a typical stash and the directions out of my book for the hoochy mama blocks.

Smiling while they quilt-isn't that great? No grumps.

Here are Ann and Carol who discuss the Hoochy Mama blocks in the book.

Here are the class comediens. I laughed so hard one day my stomach hurt that night. But I was still grinning when I went to bed.

Here is Jan who amazed all of us in many different ways. Jan has a creativity coach. Jan lost over 30 pounds last year. She decided she could barely walk up 2 flights of stairs so she ended up working through this and entered a contest to run 400 flights of stairs. She came in 6th in her age group. Next she decided she wanted to be in a play (which she had never done). She is now in the leading roll. And in one year she made 40 quilts to give away at Christmas....all in different pallettes. Then she took the names of each quilt, wrote a story, had a one woman show and then gave them away. We all had our mouths open when Jan spoke. She is amazing and she is lovely at heart. She is married to her highschool sweetheart who was taking blacksmithing that week. He was a fabulous person. Stay tuned for the heart he made in class, signed and gave me. It was a lovely birthday gift. I hope Jan will send me photos of her finished quilt pallette. She made up her own blocks and we all oh'd and ah'd. I wonder what she will do next. I plan to see her in a movie someday and as a New York Times best seller author.

Below is Silvia who also had a great sense of humor and got us all giggling. Silvia was stretching and learning about choosing her own colors and values. She makes all kinds of quilts and has been a real fan of John C.Campbell for many years.

Above are Silvia's blocks. Her worm was really creative and fun! And she made up her own flower on the top.