May Musings

April was a fun kickoff to spring with several interesting events taking place after a long, sometimes boring winter.

I completed a Daisy Wheel pattern tablecloth restoration in early April, which brought back some fun memories from long ago. Decades ago, my mother-in-law made several Daisy Wheel pieces for friends and relatives, never deviating from the original pattern. So this was an enjoyable trip down memory lane.

Daisy Wheel Tablecloth: before and after restoration

A few days later I received a request to restore a large tear in an unusual orangy/pumpkin colored Queen size acrylic Afghan. Here the largest challenge was to match the color and I tasked the owner of the blanket with locating a perfect color match, since she needed the blanket with her to succeed. I tried to match the shade by sending her several images of yarn in my inventory but we agreed that exact color matches are difficult to do online. In the case of the hole in this solid colored Afghan, it has to be a perfect match to get the desired results. Maybe the color is still available. We shall see!

April 18 was a super busy day. Many Guild members congregated at the Folk Art Center for our annual meeting. It’s always fun, not just to receive updates and committee reports, but to see friends from the entire region who make the trip to enjoy the reunion with other artists. This year’s meeting was special, because large sections of the Parkway are now open after major reconstruction caused by Hurricane Helene. Our NC section is now open from Mt. Pisgah to Mt. Mitchell. This makes it much easier for visitors to enjoy the Parkway and stop at the Folk Art Center.

The evening of the annual meeting was also the benefit auction I told you about in last month’s Musings. I donated a lace on canvas piece, called Ripple Effect, which was auctioned off, along with 59 other 12 x 12 canvas pieces. The festivities took place at Marked Tree Winery in Flat Rock, which is close to Hendersonville, NC. It was fun to dress up for this special evening and to enjoy the spectacular venue, which is surrounded by acres of grapevines. A real winery, where the grapes are grown and processed in house. Thanks to their lovely hospitality, the auction raised a nice sum of funds to distribute right here in Henderson County. I can’t wait to go back to the winery some nice summer evening.

After a time out to do my taxes and plan my new demo set-up, April 23^rd arrived and I was very excited to demonstrate at the Folk Art Center once again. Our number of visitors picked up nicely with the opening of more sections of the Parkway and I welcomed visitors from Europe, Canada and all over the US. I always look forward to seeing my favorite local customers as well and get family updates.

The Guild just juried in a new member to the fiber category who is from Lithuania and some of her work is similar to mine, mostly thread lace, which is what we grew up learning. We met at the annual meeting, and she came to my demo to check out my set-up, labels and tools. She will most likely be able to demonstrate and participate in the Summer and Fall Fair at the Cherokee Center in Asheville by next year. We always help each other, especially getting new members started on their journey as members of the Southern Highland Guild. I can’t wait to see more of her work!

We now have High School student groups come back to the Folk Art Center for lectures and demonstrations with the artists. We give input on their elective subjects and encourage lively interactions! My first group was in an Appalachian Culture Elective Class and my talk was about the influence of European immigrants on the Appalachian culture. Some of the students referred to family traditions and asked interesting questions. Several of the young ladies were fascinated by my tools and took information about my master classes on Udemy.com about Heritage Lace.

My co-demonstrator was a broom maker, using all local materials to fashion the most interesting brooms. From antlers to branches broken by the hurricane, he has a broom handle for you. On the second day, we had an Early College Hispanic group. They contributed to lively conversation and asked to see my tools in action. So they watched how Broomstick, Hairpin and Tunisian lace are worked with the proper tools and how tiny metal hooks create Irish and thread lace, which most of them were familiar with. Some of the students are planning to return on Fiber Day or to one of my summer demonstration dates.

Looking ahead, I am very excited about our upcoming annual Fiber Day celebration on May 9^th. This is the day before Mother’s Day, and we often have mother/daughter duos coming in to enjoy the day. If we have dry conditions, there will be sheep shearing, llamas, rabbits and goats on our hill behind the auditorium. The weather forecast calls for cool, crisp conditions with only a slight chance of passing showers. A perfect day to come out and participate in our fiber celebration.

Fiber Day 2026: May 9^th at the Folk Art Center

I am enjoying all the spring flowers on the Parkway and at the Biltmore Estate, tulips, azaleas, Mountain Laurel and Rhododendron and some spectacular wildflowers in every shade under the sun. Let all the colors inspire you to create some pretty accessories for summer.

Enjoy your springtime!