By Nora Worthen
And the winner is: Carole Garner of Southern Pines for the quilt block “Formal Garden.”
McDowell Quilt Trail members Mike and Jill Lucas, Cathy Green and Nora Worthen gathered at McDowell Arts Council Association (MACA) on Thursday, December 15, 2011 for the drawing of the winning raffle ticket, which was drawn by Susan Pyatt-Baker, Executive Director of MACA. 
Upon making the telephone call to the lucky winner, Mike Lucas was informed that Carole Garner lived out of town, but Mary Garner, whose telephone number was on the ticket, is Carole’s daughter, and Mary made arrangements to pick up the block later that same afternoon. Upon her arrival at MACA, along with her son Sully Davis, age 10, and boyfriend John Blue, a story unfolded:
During the summer, Carole was in Marion visiting with Mary, and noticed the quilt blocks around town. They stopped in at Scoops and More on 221 North to cool off and have some ice cream. While there, they picked up a McDowell Quilt Trail rack card giving information about the quilt trail. Mary says, “We had seen the blocks around town and fell in love with them.”
On Carole’s next visit just before Thanksgiving, while waiting for Mary to complete an errand, Carol decided to stop by MACA for a visit and find out more about the quilt trail. While shopping in the gift shop, she saw the “Formal Garden” quilt block and decided to purchase raffle tickets, placing her name on five and Mary’s name on five. As typically happens, both Mary and Carole forgot about the raffle and the tickets until the telephone call from Mike.
Upon receiving the call from Mike Lucas, Mary called her mother, who was waiting in a pharmacy for a prescription to be filled. Mary says, “It just made her day. She was estatic.”
Carole is self-employed, working out of her home in Southern Pines doing medical billings for a local physician. She collects miniature Amish quilter figurines made by a company in Ohio, and knows exactly where she will hang the block when it is delivered to her. Carole is from New York, but has lived in North Carolina since 1989, and says both her daughters were born in North Carolina.
Mary moved to McDowell County in June to complete a ten-week internship as a propagator at a local nursery for a degree in landscape gardening from Sandhills Community College in Pinehurst, North Carolina. After completing the internship, she decided to stay in Marion, and will begin employment in January at Banner Greenhouses in Nebo.
To kick off the third year of the McDowell Quilt Trail, the McDowell County Heritage Quilt Trail is a new project the committee is working on and is nearing completion. The proceeds from the raffle will be used for quilt blocks for the Heritage Trail. More information on the Heritage Trail will be forthcoming.
You are invited to visit the quilt trail website at www.mcdowellquilttrail.org where you can see pictures of quilt blocks, read the stories behind the blocks, and if interested, download an application for your own quilt block. There are many quilt trail items for sale at the MACA gift shop, where you can also pick up copies of trail maps.
There are a few more days left for shopping at the Blue Ridge Artisan Show at MACA for anyone who is still looking for unique gifts for someone for Christmas. To learn MACA’s hours of operation, go to www.mcdowellarts.org or call 828-652-8610.
0 Responses to “And The Winner Is. . . Carole Garner!”