THE HUB STATION, OF HUDSON, NC (Cheri)

I headed out in the fog/steam yesterday morning for a day of travel through the western edge of North Carolina's Piedmont region.

Image Credit:  https://www.blueridgeheritage.com

My first destination was The Hub Station, a collection of artists' studios, galleries, an auditorium, and a coffee house, established in an old elementary school in the town of Hudson, population 3,777.

The Veterans Memorial on the front lawn:

I had come for a quilt show and what I thought would be a joint appearance of the author Jan Karon and a pioneer of mid-20th Century quilting, Georgia Bonesteel.

The quilt show itself was very small, but did feature a live presentation by Becky Henderson, discussing about 20 of her quilts.  She has made over 200 quilts, and she seems to be incapable of making simple ones!  It seems she makes quilts mainly to give away, but she still has many that she has been unable to part with.

You can see Mrs. Henderson here, with a quilt made by either her grandmother or great-aunt:

I had never seen a block like that, which combines precise piecing of triangles and some applique’.

A couple of my favorites from her own work:

This is a “North Carolina” pattern, which she said reminds her of the Dinah Shore lyric “Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina.”  Note the Kitty Hawk block in the middle.

And this one was a “Quilt of Valor,” for her veteran husband:

Here is a detail photo of another quilt, to show you the complexity of her quilts:

There were works by other artists in the halls of the building and the store:

including many etchings by Matt Strawn:

I actually purchased on of Strawn's smaller works, as well as a painting of a country picnic that is so reminiscent of North Carolina life.  (Unfortunately I can't share that one, as it will be a Christmas gift for Mark.)

How many places can you learn how to play the dulcimer?

I had planned to talk about visiting the Jan Karon library, and my unexpected trip to Love Valley, but this is going long, so tomorrow . . .