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Two striking Quilt Squares on two vintage barns in a meadow
make a scenic welcome to travelers driving into Avery County
from Linville Falls.
One is a traditional pattern and the other an original design,
and their vivid colors in unusual combinations cause many to
stop and take photos of them.
Two of Heidi Fisher’s barn
quilts are on display at the Cheese House Gallery in
Banner Elk. Photo submitted
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Their creator is Heidi Fisher, a transplanted Floridian who
has called Avery home for more than a dozen years. Fisher has
spent a life in art, but her earlier career in Florida was as
a theater teacher. Perhaps it was set design that made her handy
with a brush. Since moving to the mountains, she has taken to
embellishing furniture as a hobby and to sell. When the Quilt
Trail project got under way in Avery County, Fisher tried her
hand at painting the large-scale designs for a friend with two
barns and found a new calling. To date, she has completed 12
commissions for Quilt Squares, a number of which are patterns
she has created.
Fisher’s exhibition at the Cheese House is titled “Spizorinkum,”
which is also the name of what is probably her most widely known
quilt square, one of two mounted on the barns at Stamey Branch
Road.
The Quilt Trail is a story that particularly interested Fisher,
as she has always had a passion for creating geometric patterns
that have many similarities to traditional patchwork designs.
Where she once transmitted her patterns to greeting cards,
she said, “It’s amazing to now generate the shapes
on a larger scale, and having them hanging on old buildings
is just incredible.”
Fisher has, in a way, created a Quilt Trail of her own throughout
the United States with pieces spreading from Tallahassee, Fla.
to Ennis, Mont. Two of her favorite pieces are “Take Flight”
and “Bug Out,” both of which are hanging in the Cheese
House Gallery this month.
“Spizorinkum” is on display April 6-30 at the Cheese
House Gallery. The public is invited to attend the opening reception
on Thursday, April 16, from 5–7 p.m. A project of the Avery
County Arts Council, the Cheese House Gallery is located at
630 Shawneehaw Ave. (N.C. 184) in Banner Elk.
Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday,
and Saturdays by appointment.
For more information, contact the Avery County Arts Council
at (828) 898-4292 or info@averycountyartscouncil.org.
Gallery Times is a weekly feature of the Focus section of
The Mountain Times, featuring short news items submitted by
local galleries.
For more information, contact entertainment editor Frank Ruggiero
at frank@mountaintimes.com or (828) 264-6397.
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