- Come to the John Campbell Folk School and not only eat well in a beautiful setting, but learn every possible craft.

For instance.

- Quilting.

- Blacksmithing.

- Quilting.

- Rug hooker.

- Quilting.

- Basketry.

- Quilting.

- hammered dulcimer.

- Quilting.

- Well, yes, we are a bit biased when it comes to quilting.

Stay tuned and learn how to do the Calico Crossover quilt and the anvil and stars wall hanging.

♪ Could you imagine a more clever object ♪ ♪ Warms the body, ignites the mind ♪ ♪ A child sleeps under mother's creation ♪ ♪ Together forever ♪ ♪ The art of the heart and design of the mind ♪ ♪ Puts you to bed one day at a time ♪ ♪ The art of the heart and design of the mind ♪ - [Advertiser] Lap Quilting with Georgia Bonesteel is made possible in part by grants from Omnigrid, the original patented black and yellow ruler.

By Leisure Arts, publisher and distributor of needlework and craft publications, including an assortment of quilt books and related products.

Additional funding by Fairfield Processing, maker of Poly-fil brand products for the home, sewing, quilt and craft industries.

And by BERNINA, delivering sewing technology and education to sewers worldwide.

[birds chirping] - The Fiber Arts Building houses two crafts this week, the hookers are real busy with their rug design, and in the next room, sewing machines are on full power for our project, two quilts, Calico Crossover and anvil and stars.

Our lesson this week is a quilt entitled Calico Crossover.

I began with the idea of specific placement for each of the 12 sets of scrap fabrics in this quilt.

But I found I liked it better when everything got all mixed up, sort of chop suey style.

So I let serendipity arrange the red, pink, and purple fabrics.

By turning the blocks to align light and dark, the fabrics create an illusion of interlocked squares.

Just take a look at the springboard for this entire quilt.

An old piece of fabric in just red and white, and there's nothing to say that you couldn't do this quilt in red and white.

However, we chose scraps this week, a whole medley of scraps.

I suggested 12 darks and 12 lights, and then put them together into sets, ones that you like together.

Once you've made that selection, I'd like to share with you the lesson or the system for doing your stitching.

What happens is that because we are making four blocks in one, you end up with a 20-inch block, but your square is 10 inches.

It's a four patch with four 10-inch squares.

Now we do have a background fabric and we have a dark and light, a set in each of the 20-inch squares.

You will then choose your background fabric, seven that are cut 2 1/2 inches by 10.

Now the reason we're doing 10 is that if these are two-inch strips, then we're adding our half an inch, a quarter inch on each side, 2 1/2 and 2 1/2, five, and another five.

So each one of these strips will go into our four patch.

With that in mind, you know that you're going to cut out seven background strips, 2 1/2 inches by 10.

Then you're gonna cut out this larger piece, which is 6 1/2 inches by 10 of the background material two.

Go to your light and darks then.

8 1/2 inches by 10 of a dark and light, one each, and then two each of 2 1/2 inches by 10.

Can you find where these end up over here in this block?

This strip, down here, this strip, from this band up here, this strip, right over here, and so forth all the way down.

Once you have those all stitched together with your quarter-inch seam allowance, where the pencil line is every 2 1/2 inches, you're ready to cut apart.

And of course, we turn to our rotary cutter and our good rulers for that.

Every 2 1/2 inches with your fingers coming off the edge of the ruler and gripping the mat, you're ready to slice all of those apart to prepare for sewing your four blocks together.

When I get over to this set over here, I think it's nice to stack these, but alternate so your seam allowances don't ride up on each other.

And if you line this up, then you've got one fell swoop to check your 2 1/2 up here, and scooch this over to get your 2 1/2 down here.

Once these are all cut, I would be ready then to stitch at the sewing machine.

With the strips all cut out, I'm ready to set them in position how they're gonna be sewn.

I'd like to point out that the pressing is the key to putting this block together.

The one strip that has the two dark and light sets in it, press those seam allowances toward the calicos, and then the others press towards the muslin or the background material, whatever you've chosen.

With that in mind, you're ready to do your stitching.

By the way, I wanted to share with you my tip of the day, and that's if you're in a room that has a piano, just grab the piano bench.

It's the perfect height for sewing at the machine.

I have already stitched two of these together, and the ladies in doing this all week have come up with the right way to put this block together.

Start on the outside panels and stitch them all the way down.

Of course, reaching the beginning and the end and making sure they're even.

One thing that I just sowed these together, and look what I did here.

Yes, it was pressed to the outside and now I've turned it the wrong way because that seam was underneath.

So you need to be careful of that.

I'll have to titch that one.

But when that is done, and let me go ahead and do that because then I can sew this whole thing together.

Once that has been stitched, then I can position that center band in and it would go like this.

And because you have pressed your seams in the correct direction, then I can line these up.

If you feel better about putting a pin there, that sometimes anchors those in place.

And then come down to each end to start your positioning.

And this time when I'm sewing, I'm going to check underneath and make sure that I don't have that happen.

So as I get here, peek and see what's going on.

Same thing here.

Sometimes even needle down to peek.

And a stiletto helps to position that in the right direction.

[sewing machine humming] I'm taking my quarter inch all the way down, especially right here where I have my alternating seam directions and come all the way down.

Once that's done, I'm gonna come.

Check your intersection, and then you're ready to do the same thing over here.

Opposite directions, pin in place.

And of course, if you want, you can do a factory style or kite style and get each seam done from all four blocks as you're going along.

Once this has been stitched, then I know you would enjoy looking around the room and seeing the wonderful array and the selection of fabrics that each of the ladies has chosen this week in the class.

So it's one block times many that you're now gonna get a chance to see.

Nita's featherweight has been busy this week.

Her medley of blues and pinks and rust all come together with a background of stark white, which really brings out the colors.

Right now we're in the dilemma as to what to put on for the border.

When you study Margaret's quilt, you realize that she chose not to do the chop suey mixup.

She has isolated each one of her four patches for a complete story in each 20-inch block.

Barbara is our California quilter and has chosen four colors, and her dark sand lights, a stark white background and a wonderful border to combine both her turquoise and her purple colors.

And for all you quilt lovers who love blue, Betty has made this quilt with as many shades of blue possible.

Jean is part of our Florida contingent that's come up this week to take our class, and you've been stitching away.

I like her idea this time to place a dusty rose border about a three-inch in between each one of the blocks, which will set it off very well.

Annamarie's quilt takes on an entirely new flare with a light gray background.

Quite an exciting combination of colors.

With a selection of reds and blues, the big dilemma here has been the border.

Wouldn't you know Barbara started out with this as her prime concept, and then with a little bit of measuring, found out that we ran out.

So we've put the consensus to the group and they decided on the red.

- We salvaged the stripe from the original fabric.

- That's good.

I'm glad to know that.

And went on out with a paisley.

It's gonna be very handsome.

- Thank you.

- Now, Kay, you better hold onto this.

The taping crew loves this.

And we've gone smaller this time, a one inch to five inch scale.

It's turned out so nice.

- Thank you.

- It really has.

And you put a little ledge all the way around here.

Understand you've named it already.

- Yes, I see the light.

- I see the light.

Very good.

Well, congratulations.

Dana's colors really come to life with the gold and the lavender.

But even more important, Dana feels like this quilt has been an interlocking of all of us coming together in our fellowship and making the quilt in unison this week, which we all think is very special.

In this country, quilters are getting quieter reputation for what they give back to the community.

Maybe we have filled all of our beds, maybe we have given to all of our families, and now we direct our energies back to where we live.

Well, the ultimate has happened.

Right down the mountain here from Brasstown in that sleepy little metropolis of Atlanta, the Georgia quilters have gone all out for the 1996 Olympics.

The quilt makers of Georgia will present a handmade quilt to the flag bearer of each participating country in the 1996 Olympics.

They will also present one to the National Olympic Committee of each country.

Since there will be about 200 countries in the '96 Olympics, this will require the making of over 400 quilts.

City of Gold by Barbara Avale.

The mythological phoenix rising from the ashes is the symbol of Atlanta, referring to the destruction of the city and its rebuilding after the Civil War.

Barbara, a graphic designer and quilt teacher, has interpreted the fiery phoenix with Atlanta skyline in the background.

Sammy Simpson did this next quilt entitled Fine Feathered Friend.

The original design medallion style quilt begins with a trip around the world surrounding a Martha Washington central star.

Spinning to '96 by Mary Ross, she's from Griffin, Georgia.

Mary was one of the first to complete her Olympic quilt.

She was carried away by her enthusiasm for the project and just kept working until she finished.

The Cotton Ball Quilt Guild made when cotton was king, guild member Marilyn Tippmann designed this elaborate medallion style piece.

She began with a cotton ball in the center with boll weevils in the corner.

The spools surrounding this represented tool of our craft.

Savannah Sails.

This is another quilt contributed by one of the guilds, the Calico Stitchers of Savannah.

They have chosen a sampler to represent motifs from the coast of Georgia.

Peace by Violet Denny.

Violet says of her geometric design with the original dove and borders that she wishes to send a message of peace to the whole world.

Tik Tok by Deidre Greer from Columbus, Georgia.

An original design incorporates two traditional quilt blocks, a mariner's compass in the center and law cabin in the corners.

Now for a lovely quilt done in the Baltimore album style.

It's made by Patricia Fielding from Stone Mountain.

It incorporates nine different applique blocks.

What makes this quilt unusual is that it is entirely done in the machine.

Invisible machine applique and machine quilted.

And now a quilt of leaves.

A design made to symbolize the patchwork of cultures that will come together at the Olympics.

Look for it everywhere.

And now we're gonna switch gears to a very appropriate wall hanging, the anvil and stars wall hanging.

This time, anvil and stars, four blocks combined with nine star bands and a colorful interchange based on a four-inch square.

Kaitha Kabo's husband, John is a blacksmith, so he was instrumental in selecting the fabrics.

They reflect tempering colors, which happen when metal is heated to a certain degree of hardness.

I say, strike when the metal is hot and stitch when the colorful fabric is cut out.

It's a pleasure to feature Kaitha's quilt with a blacksmith theme.

Our friendship goes all the way back right here to the school when she was a student in my class.

We have three anvil and stars wall hangings, and there are three different concepts to put it together.

The first one starts with the anvil block.

Based on a four-inch square.

It's a 4 patch or a 16 patch, in that there are four sections that go each way.

And we go to our quickie piecing to do that.

Light and darks cut out together.

9 3/4 was the size, and we sew on either side of that diagonal line to come up with that square that's pieced to go right inside of the block.

We went ahead and did our twirls at each intersection.

So we have a nice flat block when we get done.

We go from there to the bright stars that interlock and set those together.

And I think Catherine is the champion of doing that.

I'd like to share with you how it's done.

Once they were cut out, we found that one of the secrets was to go ahead and put a pin exactly where that quarter inch is and then line up that pin with the wide end of your triangle.

When it's been aligned down here and here, you know that it's going to go ahead and sew perfectly.

If you look very closely at what Catherine has sewn, she came out perfect, and I think one of the answers, well, she came to us saying she did not like to sew on the sewing machine.

But when we examined her machine, you've got the old-fashioned foot here.

- Yes.

- And I've convinced her that that true quarter inch is on the left side.

So this time she could go ahead and put the bulk of her piece work inside the bed of the machine and use this edge as a guide to sew by.

Can you show off and show us how you did that?

- Oh yes.

- Okay.

- 'Cause I love it now.

- Oh, we've convinced her.

[sewing machine rattling] As she's sowing, then we went ahead and... With all the seam allowances set up, she pressed her seams to the outside.

And then, of course, it really helps to true it up with the ruler.

I saw you doing that, but let's see what happens here.

Just perfect.

And that same quarter inch that you want so nicely from that raw edge, well, you did it again.

Very good.

- Thank you.

- And we look on the left side and we also have Edna's quilt with as many different yellows as you've ever seen.

Is there any yellow left in Western North Carolina, or how many trips to the store was that?

- Several, several.

- Several.

Well, maybe that's gonna add to the whole wall hanging, the whole concept.

What she finally had to end up doing was hand dye a new kind of, with some texture in it?

- Yes, a new muslin.

- A new muslin.

So I know it's gonna be perfect when you get done.

- Thank you.

- Our third wall hanging is with purple and green.

Many flying geese complete the border.

To find out how that's done, we're gonna go talk to Carol and see her flying geese in progress.

The final touch for this wall hanging are the flying geese segments that go all the way around the outside.

Unfortunately, it's the part that takes the longest, right, Carol?

- Right.

- You [indistinct] for that.

Well, she's doing that four in one system and it seems to be going very well.

It's where we take one large print square, which will be the flying geese and cut it out.

And then our smaller squares become the sky.

And once you've cut that little nose off or that right angle, you're able to machine-stitch on either side of that straight line.

Then Carol's been trying where she puts the next set on, which would be, let's see, be these?

- Mm-hmm.

- All right.

And rather than making it a two step process, you just stitch all the way across, and then what?

Leave a dangling thread there.

Come on and all the way across.

Lift up and come back.

And then now how are you cutting those apart?

- I clipped the threads with the scissors and then cut 'em apart with the rotary cutter.

- Well, it's going very well and I think just keep going and pretty soon you're gonna have all, how many is it?

128 or something?

- 288 I think is- - Oh 288, all right.

Well, I know it's gonna be beautiful when you get done.

And now we'd like to end our show by meeting my assistant this week, Sandy Case.

About those flying geese, Sandy, it just seemed like 200.

Really, it should be 112 plus the corners, I think.

- That's right.

- You have helped us so much bouncing from table to table and assisting the ladies this week.

And finally we get to see some of your work.

Is this a specialty of yours?

- [Sandy] Well, it's not a specialty.

I like to do all kinds of things.

- Well, it is glorious.

And I understand there is an unusual treatment you're gonna do in the corner here.

Maybe you can share that with us.

- Yes, I wanted it to look like a whole cloth.

So while I mitered the corners, I picked out just a couple of pieces that I wanted to lay over, and I only sewed from the corner to the piece and in the middle and so forth.

And then I trimmed and reached in and pulled this over the top, and I'm going to applicate it down.

- What a clever idea.

That's just perfect.

- Thank you.

- It really will.

The idea of coming to the folk school is very easy for you living in the area.

What do you like best about it?

- What I like best is that there are all kinds of people coming.

All ethnic backgrounds, all ages, all bringing their own experience.

And when we get together, no matter what the craft, ideas just fly and spark off the walls.

And you always go home with so many more ideas than you can possibly use, but you'll use them eventually.

- Overstimulated, maybe.

- Right.

- We are now gonna have a chance to meet Jan Davidson and learn more about the folks school down at the Millhouse.

- The school was started in 1925.

Two ladies from up north came here to explore the possibility of having a school in the mountains that would bring people together and that would teach people what they called, not how to make a living, but some skills for living.

And this was an idea from the Danish folks schools.

And when they came here, I think they were a little bit surprised because they talked to the local people and said, would you be interested in having a school here?

And then they went away.

When they came back, the local people had signed pledges of many, many days of work and loads of building materials, farm animals, and 75 acres of land had been pledged toward having the school come to Brasstown.

And they were sort of amazed at the enthusiasm for it.

But it's always been a thing that the school and the community worked together.

- [Georgia] Well, my favorite motto is tied in with that.

Tell me about that.

- The motto of the folk school is I sing behind the plow, and this plow man here has always been the logo of the school.

And I think what that refers to is that there's joy in labor and that there's art in daily life.

Every person is an artist.

We know this because when we start out, our children do art.

And we know from the history of people that primitive people made art.

It comes with us.

And somewhere along the way somebody tells us, well, you're not an artist anymore.

Now you're gonna be something else.

And we believe though that it's as a corrective to that, that everybody's got it in there and let's help them find it, and- - [Georgia] Well, now tell us, how do you do that through the classes here?

Give us an example of what goes on in the class.

- The classes here typically run about a week.

And what we do in those classes is to assume that each person comes with some knowledge and that they're all different.

The classes are small and the instructors can work individually with the people.

This is not kinda one of those an artist colony or craft school or something that just happens to be in a rural area.

This is definitely of Brasstown, North Carolina.

If you come here, you will know you've been to Brasstown, and you'll have met some people from here.

There are locals in almost every class that we do.

And we have a free concert every Friday night and we get hundreds of people come in here, and it's bringing people together.

So they find out about each other and the school.

I mean, all you wanna do is learn how to make a basket or something.

There are plenty of places you can learn to do that.

But what you get here in addition to the information that's conveyed, there's also a feeling and there is something that I think has to do with hope that people can get together and learn about each other and enjoy each other.

[folk music] - [Georgia] An appropriate ending to this show is my favorite quote, "A task easily done leaves little satisfaction."

[folk music continues] [instrumentalists speaking indistinctly and applauding] ♪ Warms the body, ignites the mind ♪ ♪ The art of the heart and design of the mind ♪ ♪ Puts you to bed one day at a time ♪ ♪ The art of the heart and design of the mind ♪ - [Advertiser] Lap quilting with Georgia Bonesteel is made possible in part by grants from Omnigrid, the original patented black and yellow ruler, by Leisure Arts, publisher and distributor of needle work and craft publications, including an assortment of quilt books and related products.

Additional funding by Fairfield Processing, maker of Poly-fil brand products for the home, sewing, quilt, and craft industries.

And by BERNINA, delivering sewing technology and education to sewers worldwide.