Heidi Fisher presents "Spizorinkum" at the Cheese House Gallery for April 2009

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. Their vivid colors in unusual combinations cause many to stop and take photos of them.

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 underway in Avery County, Heidi 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 twelve 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 which particularly interested Heidi as she has always had a passion for creating geometric patterns that had many similarities to traditional patchwork designs.  Where she once transmitted her patterns to greeting cards, she says, “It’s amazing to now generate the shapes on a larger scale and have them hanging on old buildings is just incredible.”  Heidi has, in a way, created a Quilt Trail of her own throughout the United States with pieces spreading from Tallahassee, Florida to Ennis, Montana.  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 16th from 5 – 7:00 PM. A project of the Avery County Arts Council, the Cheese House Gallery is located at 630 Shawneehaw Avenue (Hwy. 184) in Banner Elk.  Gallery Hours are 11 AM – 4 PM Monday through Friday, and Saturdays by appointment.