National Cornbread Festival, you say? South Pittsburg, TN (near Chattanooga) is a small town of 3200 people with a big foundry. Lodge Foundry was founded in 1896 and made cast iron cookware in the same location for over 120 years. Apparently they intend to keep doing it for the next 120 years because they are building a new 127,000 SF foundry set to open in the fall. Twenty one years ago the city decided they needed a way to attract tourists, make money for civic projects and showcase the foundry. Cornbread is made in iron skillets, and the best festivals feature food so why not? This is the 21st year, and they were expecting 40,000 attendees over two days. I'd say it's a success!!
So why did we go? Well it does fit my theme of crazy and unusual things, but the main reason was because of a quilt exhibit. In order to celebrate the 100th birthday of the National Parks, author and quilter Donna DeSoto issued a challenge to quilters to make an art quilt illustrating something about a park. She wanted 3 quilts for each park - an animal, a plant and a scene. The resulting 177 quilts were pubished in a book (see Thursday's blog entry) and those quilts have been traveling around the country for 2 years to quilt shows, museums and national parks. This weekend they traveled to the National Cornbread Festival. Why? Who knows? But it was likely my only opportunity to see the quilts in person.
While trying to decide what park I should do, I decided I wanted to do an animal. I started researching the various parks, when I came upon a Gunnison Sage Grouse from the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Once I stopped laughing I knew this was what I had to do. He is endangered, so as I was designing and making the quilt, I thought of him out there dancing his little heart out, trying to attract a lady grouse so they could make little grouses so maybe they wouldn't be endangered any more, and all I could hear in my head was the BeeGees singing 'oh oh oh oh stayin' alive' -- that's why there is a disco ball hanging from the tree.
To see the bird dance, go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLnbiTkj1TQ
Donna's next challenge was "Inspired by Elvis". The book is due out in the spring of 2018. Sorry but I can't show pictures of my entries until the book is published. We're hoping Graceland will host an exhibit once the quilts start to travel.
First we walked around the festival which is held right in the main street of this beautiful little town.
Then we met up with four of my friends, Origiinally we were to get home from Ireland on Wednesday and then I was to drive here on Friday with them. But when Ireland was cancelled, I planned our road trip to end up here today. Here are my friends and their quilts.Then us trying to be silly. Then all 5 of us - just before this photo was taken we nearly knocked down two display walls - you can't take us anywhere nice!! Etta McFarland's quilt was a scene from Arches National Park. Charla Viehe's quilt was the Western Aster which grows in Lassen Volcanic National Park. Armando looked at the quilts and then sat patiently in the entryway playing with his phone pretending he didn't know us while we took silly photos and tried to knock down the walls.
Some of the other quilts:
After the quilts, my friends went off to have a tour of the town, and we left for home. Going out of town, the line of cars going to the festival stretched nearly a mile and a half to the interstate!!
Almost home!!
One Very Happy Cat!!
And, Romy and Louie Schaaf are the best next door neighbors in the whole wide world. Here is what we came home to:
Plus homemade pizza and salad and dressing for dinner an, milk, oj and overnight oats w/homemade granola for breakfast.
National Cornbread Festival
Saturday, April 29, 2017
South Pittsburg, Tennessee, United States
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Comments

2025-02-16
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Tim Geske
2017-04-30
How fun to have a "gaggle" of my real girl friends meeting like this! Best part of the blog!
Etta Covey McFarland
2017-05-01
What a fun ending to a wonderful trip! I'm so happy we could be a part of it. Thanks for sharing your vacation!