McDowell Quilt Trail

The New Star of North Carolina is now shining over Bruce’s Fabulous Foods on Main Street in Marion. Bruce and Barbara Brown are the hosts of the 20th quilt block that McDowell Quilt Trail has installed on Tuesday morning, January 26, 2010.

Mike Lucas, with the assistance of Richard Turner and three committee members, Jill Lucas, Janet Williams, and Nora Worthen, braved the cold wind on what turned out to be a beautiful sunny day to install the block on the awning over the front door of the eating establishment. The committee received words of encouragement and smiles as folks walked by observing the progress.

McDowell Quilt Trail is an art project operating under the umbrella of the McDowell Arts Council Association (MACA) to bring splashes of color to otherwise plain and unadorned buildings in an effort to beautify the city and county, and tell a story. The placement of quilt blocks on buildings is also a way to honor and preserve the mountain heritage of quilt making when quilts were made for utilitarian purposes as opposed to being an art form or craft.

Bruce Brown learned the art of quilt making when he moved to North Carolina in 1991 to begin his new job in McDowell County. Barbara remained behind to finish up her job and handle final arrangements for selling their house, and Bruce says, “During that time, I got to the point where I was bored at night, so my mother-in-law and two of my wife’s aunts taught me to quilt.” As a result, he has six quilts to his credit, with most of them going back to the family members in Ohio that year for Christmas.

During the New Years holiday, upon traveling to the Cranberry area of Avery County and seeing “quilt squares everywhere,” the Browns were hooked.  Knowing the quilt trail project had just begun in McDowell County, “We were like, “Wow, we want to get in on it.”

So began the selection process. Upon the completing of an application form and paying a deposit, Mike and Jill Lucas, along with another committee member, will visit the prospective host to assist in selecting the perfect quilt block for you. Some folks already know what they want, and others have no idea. They just know they want one.

Brown says, “I’m a very geometric person. I like angles, I like triangles, and I like stars. I got it narrowed down to two different designs.” The final selection was left to Barbara to make. “We’re Buckeyes by birth, but we’re Tar Heels by choice, and as soon as I saw the name, New star of North Carolina, I knew which one she would choose.”

The New Star of North Carolina is made up of angles, and points, and bold colors. Four sunburst yellow blocks that appear in a cross formation, with a combined heritage red and cottage red center, overlays the two-toned red and true blue eight-point star, that rests on a background of triangle spears of white and “Carolina blue” on, what appears as blue quilt backing, which wraps around and envelops the four corners.  It is reported that someone saw the block before it was installed and exclaimed, “That looks exactly like Bruce.”