Sjoblom has one of the few Statler machines in the state at her business, âOn A Wing and A Prayer Quilting,â and area quilters can take advantage of it by becoming certified on the machine, she said. Sjoblom said she will work one-on-one with quilters who would like to become certified so they may use Elvis at her home. A woman there gave Sjoblom a card about her connection to the Gammill and Statler machine, and that got Sjoblom thinking about buying a Statler. In addition to helping area quilters finish their quilts, Sjoblom advertises in national quilting magazines and has finished quilts for other people across the county. Sjoblom also donates her time and Elvis to finishing quilts for Quilts of Valor, Quilts for Cancer and baby quilts for Falls Memorial Hospital. read more

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That strange concoction is what took the grand prize in the canning division at the Macon County Fair last week, capitalizing on the wild mountain ramp known as a potent cross between garlic and onion. Jean Burton, an agent with the NCSU Cooperative Extension in Haywood County, said judges look at a variety of factors in the canning contest. Autumn Crunkleton, pictured above, and Jeremy Tara, seniors in the Future Farmers of America club at Franklin High School, explained what the judges would look for when the club presented its two steers in the ring. Quilters with the Smoky Mountain Quilters Guild demonstrated their pastime at the Macon County Fair last week. A woodcarver with the Macon County Chips, a woodcarving club, mesmerizes onlookers as he carves images out of raw wood at the Macon County Fair last week. read more

As member Hilda Jane Milbury-Miller explains, the circle of women have been meeting for the past 80 years, sharing stories, a good laugh, and a love of their craft. This story is about the Quilting Bee, the oldest tradition on the Bay Shore, held in Hillsburn every Tuesday by a group of women living in the community. On a given day during the week she would roll up her knitting in a newspaper, tie it with a string, and walk to a neighbourâs house where a group of women would knit for the evening. As some of these gentle souls âAunts and Unclesâ were called home to glory, the next generation of women picked up the cause from the knitting group, and the work they did was later changed from knitting to quilt making. Move ahead now a few years, and youâll find this group of women saying to their sisters, daughters, cousins, nieces, and other young women in the community, âCome join us, learn to quilt. There are still women who respect the past, honour their mothers and grandmothers, meet in the Baptist church each week to perform a task in quilting beautiful handmade tops. read more