Last post I mentioned Mount Mitchell which is the 6,684 foot mountain in the Blue Ridge. It's the highest mountain east of the Mississippi River. Well, we still haven't seen it, but we have certainly tried to this weekend. We headed north from Asheville to attend the 65th Mount Mitchell Arts and Crafts Show at Burnsville, North Carolina. It's about an hour north of our Asheville house, and about 2000 feet higher. Thus, it was a few degrees cooler.
Now, everyone knows we've attended a ton of craft shows all over the USA. I tend to find a LOT of jewelry, some pottery, and occasionally a painting. The Mount Mitchell show was huge, and the quality was extremely high. We discovered another coven of potters located in this area of NC, and their skills are outstanding. We also found two people crafting things which were unusual.
Meet Lee Miller who produces butterfly jewelry. Yes, from real butterflies.
There's a great story in how he got started. One day his potter girlfriend found a dead butterfly on the windowsill of her studio. She brought it to Lee making the offhand comment that she wished she could keep it. Lee is a surfer, so he got out his surfboard resin and somehow managed to coat the butterfly to preserve it. It worked so well that he started ordering butterfly specimens from a specimen company (who knew this was a thing), and voila' a new craft is born. Here's an example of a 'light catcher' which was my favorite.
The other crafter which fascinated me was Anthony Stockton. I've discovered when you find someone with a passion for creation, they will talk to you endlessly. Meet Anthony:
Anthony handcrafts hunting knives and pocket knives beginning with various grades of steel bars. He doesn't forge his knives; he uses various grades of grinding, then he heats his raw knives in a knife kiln, grinding the edge finer and finer between heatings. Then, there's getting a perfect cutting edge, polishing and setting the knife into the hilt. Anthony's knives are not cheap, but they are so worth the cost for these magnificent tools. Anthony is holding his favorite knife which he plucked from a table of 20 knives he was selling. *FYI - I didn't take a bad picture, he's standing under a red nylon covering which gives him that popular 'sunburned' look!
The star of this crafting show was the quilt show. There were about 70 quilts as well as a display of patriotic quilts which has a unique story.
These ladies, who are part of the Piecemakers, run the mission which honors veterans in a three county area. First, they make about 55 quilts a year with patriotic themes. Then, they GIVE THEM AWAY to the veterans beginning with the oldest vet down to the youngest. They do this every year. The lady on the left has even gotten her husband into the action. I guess he got tired of being a quilt widower. He's started creating and quilting his own quilts for the project. This was my favorite of all the quilts on the stage which are representative of the quilts they are giving away this month. Then, they just start again.
You got to pick out your favorite quilts in various cataegories (challenge, small, medium, large, graphic). Challenge quilts are quilts made respecting set forth rules for the construction. Small, medium, and large - self explanatory. Graphic were garments. Here are the quilts I voted for:
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Challenge quilt choice
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"Small Quilt"
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Medium Quilt
Large Quit
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Graphic category
I also found something in Burnsville, NC that you just don't see everyday. The town has a sundial. Yes, a sundial - not on the ground - hanging on the wall. Here it is:
It's almost 3pm - Eastern Daylight Savings Time
This delighted me as much as the unusual sculpture in front of the town hall meeting place, and the cafe with outdoor patio seating with stream sitting on the town square. As always, I've taken a bunch of pictures of everything including an abandoned church being overtaken by nature. It reminds me of the saying: "Nature always bats last, and she bats 1000."
If you want to see more pictures, click the link.
PS - I also bought material for my granddaughter to have a new dress from leftover material being sold as a fund raiser. You'll see it in the pix.
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