Misty Mountain Quilters’ Guild Tag

I had the pleasure of having my first ever Folk School Quilting class taught by one firecracker of a quilter, Audrey Hiers of Blairsville, GA. This lovely lady has been picked to be featured in McCall's "Quilting” Magazine 6 times and her "Crazy Dazies” designs is a McCall's pick of their top 16 scrap quilts. She is teaching “Appalachian Holiday Quilts" during Holiday in the Mountains Week, December 7-13. I caught up with Audrey about quilting and more. Enjoy our chat! [caption id="attachment_12026" align="aligncenter" width="600"]Detail of "It's Fall, Y'all: Fun Scrappy Autumn Quilt" by Audrey Hiers Detail of "It's Fall, Y'all: Fun Scrappy Autumn Quilt" by Audrey Hiers[/caption] [caption id="attachment_12018" align="alignright" width="227"]Audrey teaches Sara about quilt design in the Folk School Quilting Studio. Audrey teaches Sara about quilt design in the Folk School Quilting Studio.[/caption] CP: How did you get so involved in the quilting world? AH: Probably because of the quilting genes in the family. Both of my grandmothers quilted and although I never saw either of them at the frame, I do believe in heredity! You could say I fell into it, and once I tried it, I got hooked big time. I seriously started quilting in the early 80s and taught my first class in 1987. CP: Has quilting changed since then? Comparing quilting 1980s to now is like the difference between night and day. For the most part we still use fabric and that's about it. CP: What’s your favorite holiday motif? AH: My favorite holiday motif is a sprig of freshly cut pine with holly sprigs mixed in. Alone, it would be a holly leaf. CP: How is Appalachian style quilting different from quilting in other regions? Does it have any distinctive characteristics?