South Fork of Peachtree Creek with Emmy

 

This quilt is for South Fork Conservancy's "Creek Rising" auction, September 17, 2026.  The quilted water contains a hidden bow to our puppy Emmylou.  She loves our walks but not necessarily my quilting.  Her playfulness won't allow overthinking colors.  

I made this to help raise funds for The South Fork Conservancy, a nonprofit working to improve and keep the Atlanta trails and waterways clean.

South Fork with Emmy, 54x72"

My favorite place in our neighborhood is the network of trails along the banks of this tributary of Peachtree Creek.  Through green areas the water cuts a valley so deep that you can imagine the mountains for a bit.  Forest bathing I've heard this called.

This waterway suffers from being an urban Atlanta oasis, sparkling through the woods but often polluted.  Rain spills are welcome but often wash through the city picking up trash along the way.  I only allow Emmy time in the swimming hole when she's getting a bath back home.

Luckily, there are dedicated neighbors, and South Fork Conservancy, spending time every day to keep this Peachtree Creek watershed clean.  Once a year dedicated volunteers from SF put on "Creek Rising" at Zonolite Park to celebrate the history and culture of the area and raise funds for upkeep.  Archeologists bring stories from pottery and artists paint while musicians serenade an excellent buffet dinner. It's a delight to be a part of this effort. 

Check out the opportunities available at www.southforkconservancy.org

These waters and wooded parks guarantee you'll come out in a better mood than you entered.

Cleo and Emmy watch rockhound grandsons from the swimming hole bridge

Matt and Emmy at Zonolite Park

 Emmy loves the Swimming Hole

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.”  Rainer Maria Rilke - Letters to a Young Poet, 1902-8.

Cotton Ancestry

 I've recently learned that my Grandma Baker's father, Arie T. Avans, earned a certificate in Cotton Classification at the University of Georgia in Athens, July 30, 1927.  He's pictured here with bags of cotton at UGA.  The shirt and tie attire, and photo opportunity, suggests this is graduation day.

Great Grandpa Arie T. Avans is at back, to the left of the door. 

"In Witness Whereof, We have hereunto set our hands this 30th day of July, 1927, at the University, Athens, Georgia."  Arie T. Avans and "Mommy Till" Avans' 2nd daughter Eva Bertrice Avans (12/23/1909-11/25/1986), my Grandma Baker,  once worked in a cotton mill and taught me to quilt. I only use cotton fabrics, feeling a deep connection to this history, before I knew it.

Wad and Jeff Wall, Aunt Betty Baker holding Randy's hand, me and brother Wayne Baker, Mommy Till and Aunt Ruth Avans, Connie Wall, mom Paula Baker and Josie Wall getting ready for a potluck c 1962

Heading for lunch.  I'm in the foreground with Jackie Ramsey and dad Johnny Baker to the right.

I have no recollection of Great Grandpa Avans but fondly remember his wife Mommy Till.  She lived with her daughter Ruth Avans and Gene Chapman in Rossville, GA. Their stone home is up the road from the John Ross House and Duck Pond.  

In winter, Grandma had a floor standing quilt frame set up in her bedroom at 1238 Park City Rd., Rossville.  Her and Grandpa J.O. Baker's sisters and friends would come to quilt and catch up.  I sat on the floor underneath this frame, encircled by knees, listening to them talk about their lives.  In later years Grandma showed me how to stitch a cotton quilt together here. She knew the connection of heart to head to hands. For nearly 65 years, I  stitch as artistic expression, love and therapy.

I took this photo of St. Clare in Assisi, Italy and then printed on cotton fabric.  The iron mount at the bottom I turned into a heart and added stitches for texture.  This stitching is meditative and feels like a prayer.  These prayers bring Grandma and my whole family to mind as the world melts away.  One stitch at a time.

St. Clare of Assisi, stitched to fill an existing frame.

Bluebird Tree of Life, donated to Trees Atlanta for Rootball, May 2026.  The dark green fabric, above the bird, was purchased in Salzburg, Austria. Three vintage yo-yos older than Grandma.

Warp, Weft and Wonder, January 16 thru March 1, 2026

Viewing hours available every Sunday 12:30-2pm thru end of February andSaturday, February 7, 1-4pmThursday Feb 12, 2-5pmThursday, February 19, 2-5pmThursday, February 26, 2-5pmSunday, February 15, 12:30 for PotLuck Eat & Greet

"Just do it, fool! Love, Aretha"  collage 9x12" with Lola by Suze

23" Poppy with Beatles 

Mom with Mariel and Callan, 1990, kitchen window