Vollis Simpson’s Bicycle Whirligig

A whirligig is a charming contraption frequently used as a decorative garden ornament. It spins when the wind blows, with parts that whiz around, creating a delightful visual and often audible spectacle. Whirligigs are a popular folk art created from rustic hand-carved wood to brightly painted metal designs.

Vollis Simpson’s Whirligigs Always Amuse

The town of Wilson, NC, has created a Whirligig Park to honor these whimsical creations of Vollis Simpson. This place is the heart and soul of Simpson’s legacy, a local legend & folk artist who turned scrap metal and worn-out machinery into works of art – his whirligigs. The New York Times referred to Vollis Simpson as “The Junkyard Poet of whirligigs and windmills.”

My dad told me that at one time Wilson was the largest tobacco market in the world. Even little Williamston had six warehouses. When the tobacco market declined, Wilson embraced a new idea –  a park honoring a local man. The Whirligig Park was born.

As you walk in, you’ll see them – a mighty, colorful forest of metal spinners dancing in the breeze, each one rigged up high to catch the light and the wind. Simpson built these pieces from old machine parts, broken fans, old toasters, and whatever scraps he could get his hands on, piecing them together with an eye for imagination and a whole lot of heart.

He originally had these whirligigs on his farm in Lucama, but as the years went by, he was no longer able to look after them. One day I was peeping in the chain link fence that he had around his shop, thinking he couldn’t see me – well, he did see me, and he invited me to come in. ‘so glad I did.

Whirligigs in Vollis Simpson’s Field in Lucama, NC

He asked me if I had heard the urban legend about why he did this art? Legend was that he built it in honor of his daughter who died. Well, he told me, it just wasn’t true.

When you see the whirligigs, you will see the way they shine with reflective tape when the sun hits or how they glow a little magically under the moon. And let me tell you, in the evening light, this place becomes a sight that sticks with you.

Whirligig Repair in Warehouse

You’ll hear the sounds too—a creak here, a whir there—the hum of these giants as they dance with the breeze. Each whirligig has its own tune, like a metal symphony carried on the Carolina wind. It’s more than just folk art; it’s a whole experience that brings folks together. And if you close your eyes, it’s almost like you can feel Simpson’s spirit in the air – a craftsman who didn’t follow the rule book, but poured himself into each piece.

Restoration of the Whirligigs

So, don’t wait until you happen to be in Wilson – just go to this whirling patch of wonder and color. Snap a few photos, breathe in that Carolina air, and let the whirligigs work their charm. And don’t forget to visit the Whirligig Station, a converted tobacco warehouse that now serves as a visitor center and event space.  And sometimes they are repainting and repairing the whirligigs, so you get to see them close-up.

Vollis Simpson, The Junkyard Poet, in his Shop

BTW – I bought a whirligig that I couldn’t really afford, but I am so glad I did. I bought the helicopter that Vollis Simpson is signing.

You’re not just seeing some sculptures; you’re stepping into the story of a man who saw the beauty in the worn-out and the cast-off. Whirligig Park is a reminder that sometimes the most dazzling things come from the humblest beginnings.

Located at 301 Goldsboro Street South, Wilson, NC, the park is open daily and free to the public.

A  great day-trip from:
Big Mill B&B Extended Stay in Williamston, NC  55 miles
     Raleigh, NC – 49 miles
     Greenville, NC – 36 miles
     Outer Banks – 172 miles

Big Mill Bed & Breakfast Extended Stay 

Quiet rentals for traveling nurses & professionals in eastern North Carolina 252-792-8787

Looking for extended stay lodging in Eastern North Carolina? Big Mill Extended Stay offers quiet, fully furnished rentals ideal for traveling nurses, medical professionals, contractors, and guests relocating to the area. Our accommodations provide comfort, privacy, and Southern hospitality, perfect for short-term and long-term stays. We also have three RV rental spaces.

But if you ever travel in the south, especially in coastal towns, you will often see porch ceilings painted a special robin’s egg light blue color. This is not because we like blue; it is because of our folklore and heritage.

Haints are restless ghosts who haven’t departed from the earthly realm. These spirits linger to haunt the living, often with harmless tricks, but occasionally they have more sinister intentions.

The lore of haints in the U.S. traces back to the low country, a coastal region spanning 200 miles in South Carolina and Georgia. Here, the Gullah Geechee people – descendants of African slaves – believed in haints. They used these Haint Blue colors to combat “haints” and “boo hags”

Haint Blue is not just for fancy houses in the garden district of Charleston.  You will see these blue ceilings on fishing shacks, tenant houses, row houses – all over the coastal south.

There is no one color that is Haint Blue but paint companies like Benjamin Moore, Sherwin Williams and Behr offer quite a few Haint Blues.

The color was believed to trick these malevolent spirits into thinking they had stumbled into water (which they cannot cross). This is the same idea behind bottle trees – the marauding spirits are lured to the pretty blue bottles and they fly into the bottle. They cannot escape. And, yes, we have a Haint Blue ceiling here at Big Mill Extended Stay B&B.

Big Mill Extended Stay B&B:
Raleigh, NC – 100 miles
Greenville, NC – 27 miles
Outer Banks – 98 miles
Big Mill Bed and Breakfast in Williamston, NC

A fun thing to do with edible flowers is to freeze them in ice cube trays for drinks and punch. You can use these in any season. Here is how to do it – it’s easy as 1-2-3!

HOW TO MAKE EDIBLE FLOWER ICE CUBES:

• Pesticide-free edible flowers like pansies, violas, begonias, nasturtiums
• Large silicone ice cube tray with sections that are 2″ in size
• Distilled water — enough to fill an ice tray

Boil the distilled water and chill it. This removes impurities that might cloud the ice water. Using clean and pesticide-free flowers, place one in each cube slot, pretty flower side down.

Fill tray about 1/4″ full of water and freeze. Add another flower, pretty side up, and and fill each slot with water until full. Freeze.

You can, of course, add more than two flowers if they are small.

Keep frozen until you are ready to use them. The flowers might impart a faint flavor to the beverage. There are many fun things to do with Edible Flowers.

You can purchase these edible flowers from upscale grocery stores or order them online.

Chrysanthemum, pansy, viola, Johnny Jump-Ups are the easiest fall edible flowers to find and to grow. The Violas actually taste good – not so with the pansies. Chrysanthemum petals are good, but not the base of the petal. Chrysanthemums are best to line or accent food. We grow many edible flowers here on the farm at Big Mill.

…or you can just use these pretty flowers to garnish that plain almond vanilla ice cream.

I try to serve an edible flower to all my guests here at Big Mill B&B. My philosophy is simple — Dining should be fun!

Be creative – your guests will love it!

Big Mill Bed & Breakfast  Williamston, NC. 252-792-8787

Old Tobacco Barn at Moratock Park with “Tobacco Times” Quilt block

Quilt trails are popping up everywhere the U.S.A. and Canada. You can see them all over the mountains of North Carolina and now we have a trail here in eastern North Carolina. The first barn quilt in Martin County (part of the Tar-Roanoke River Trail) was on the Pack House barn at Big Mill Bed & Breakfast. We now have 12 quilts installed in our county – and more to come.

Quilt Trail in Martin County – Eastern North Carolina Crossed Canoes, Four Planes, Shoo Fly, Oak Memories, Tobacco Times, Family Memories, Court House Steps, Bow Ties, Oak Leaf, Train, Fish Tales & LaMoyne Star

These quilts are more than just pictures painted on a barn. They each tell a story – who made them, why they were made, how they were made. They were created with love and not just for comfort. They were painstakingly created and each is beautiful in its own way.

The Martin County, NC, Arts Council joined the Franklin County, NC, Arts Council Tar River Quilt Trail and now it is the Quilt Trails of the Tar and Roanoke Rivers. Barney Conway and Martin County Travel and Tourism Authority have been instrumental in making this happen.

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I heard about these Barn Quilts some years ago and knew I had to have one honoring my mother, Chloe. I already had the perfect barn here at Big Mill B&B that my father built in 1935. How fitting: Ops made the barn and Chloe Lavenia made the quilt. She made many quilts, but I picked the one she and her friends made for the Bicentennial in 1976. Of course, it is red, white, and blue. Some of the quilts are painted directly on the barns. The Barn Quilt at Big Mill was painted on wooden squares and then hoisted up onto the barn. You can see the finished quilt on Chloe’s Blog – and, of course, on the barn.

Map of Martin County’s Barn Quilts

Sad Note: The Fish Tales Quilt that was at the Cypress Grill is no longer there. The wonderful old Cypress Grill Burned in 2018. We lost a real treasure.

FOR MORE INFORMATION about the Tar-Roanoke River Quilt Trail:

Martin County Travel & Tourism Authority, Williamston NC 27892
Phone: 252-792-6605
Big Mill Bed & Breakfast, Williamston, NC 27892 tel. 252-792-8787

Barn Quilt in eastern NC at Big Mill B&B in Williamston

I used to go to Quilting Bees with my mother when I was a child. I would play under the quilt all by myself. There were no other children.

The ladies made such beautiful works of art. Mother would sew the pieces of fabric together and let me help. When it was all pieced together, we put it in the frame along with the backing and the batting. Then Mother’s friends would come for several days until the quilt was quilted. My father used to make cotton and wool batts for his mother to quilt. I wish I had gotten him to show me how.

In 1976, everyone had caught Bicentennial Fever and felt patriotic so Mother (also named Chloe) made a quilt of red, white and blue. Usually she just used scraps – scrap quilts are actually my favorites. But this time, she bought the fabric so that she could have just the right colors.

The Original Patchwork Quilt and pattern for the Barn Quilt at Big Mill
(photo by Martin Brossman)

When I first  read about the American Barn Quilt Trail, I knew a barn quilt would be perfect here on the farm. I have the perfect barn, a Pack House Barn that my father built in 1935 to house the mules and store carts, wagons and corn. Today, it is part of Big Mill Bed & Breakfast and the perfect home for my Barn Quilt.

 Barn Quilts are made of plywood boxes, painted – then mounted on the barn

Barn Quilts and the American Quilt Trail project started in Ohio in 2001 when Donna Sue Graves painted a quilt square on her family’s barn to pay homage to her mother, a quilter. The American Barn Quilt movement has become the fastest growing grassroots public arts project in the USA and Canada in history. When I heard about this project, I assumed I’d have to paint it myself. And it would take me forever.

Then I heard about the Tar River Quilt Trail that is part of the Franklin, NC Arts Council. Charles Powell is a driving force of this project. I had to pick a pattern that no one else on the Trail had. Then the folks at the Arts Council made the boxes for the quilt and Charles drew off  the pattern.

These boards were primed with special paint and sent to Kim Young to paint. So much work goes into these quilts before they are mounted on the barn! All these folks are volunteers and they do an amazing job.

I visited Kim Young to see my quilt being painted. Now, the Big Mill Quilt in Williamston is part of the Tar River Quilt Trail and is the most easterly of the NC Barn Quilts. The Greenville Daily Reflector wrote about it. Be sure to view the photo gallery. Unfortunately, you have to be a paid subscriber to read the whole article, but I was delighted to see interest from the media in this wonderful NC cultural arts and heritage project.

Chloe Tuttle watches as Kim Young paints. That’s Tim Young on the ladder.

Quilts are made up of squares and the quilts on the barns and other buildings across the USA are replicas of these squares. They can be all sizes – the one at Big Mill Bed & Breakfast is 8 feet by 8 feet. It was painted on 4 foot square plywood blocks and then mounted on the barn.

Kim & Tim Young, Don Beach and Pat Noles – The Big Mill B&B Barn Quilt Crew

The American Quilt Trail has spread to 48 states and one of the largest concentration is right here in North Carolina – with most of the barn quilts being in the mountains. So far the quilt at Big Mill B&B in Williamston is the most easterly one in North Carolina.

The Tar River runs through 16 counties and Martin county is one of them. Actually, the Tar River runs all the way to Dare and Hyde Counties in the Outer Banks — I had no clue!

Here are a few of the Quilt patterns you will see along the Tar River Quilt Trail     (Photos by Kim Young)

Folks can get maps of the different Quilt Trails in different states and as they travel, they can detour and see all the quilts and read the stories. What a great way to travel.

Be sure to take Big Mill Road off US Highway 17 and come see Miss Chloe’s LaMoyne Star on the barn at the old home place at Big Mill Bed & Breakfast.

FOR MORE INFORMATION about the Tar River Quilt Trail or to get your own Barn Quilt contact the Franklin County Arts Council.

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DISTANCES from the BIG MILL B&B BARN QUILT:

90 miles east of Raleigh, NC
103 miles south of Norfolk, VA
94 miles west of Nags Head, NC
145 miles north of Wilmington, NC

Kim Young & Chloe Tuttle examine Quilt Block for Big Mill’s Barn Quilt

How did the Big Mill B&B barn quilt idea and project happen? In essence, I read about the American Quilt Trail and I wanted to be part of it. I picked a favorite quilt pattern – one that my mother made. And I joined the Tar River Quilt Trail, it is now the Tar-Roanoke River Quilt Trail.  This pattern is being painted on plywood and will be installed on the side of my Pack House Barn here on the farm.

The Tar River Quilt Trail is part of the Franklin County, NC Arts Council. After I joined the Quilt Trail, they started to work. First, the pattern had to be approved. It has to be one that no one else on the Trail has chosen.

Each color on the blocks is painted separately

My quilt square will be 8′ x 8′. Charles Powell built four 4′ x 4′ blocks and primed them with a special paint and marked off the pattern onto these blocks.

Charles Powell sketches the design for Big Mill’s Barn Quilt

Suzie Parron, who wrote the book Barn Quilts – the American Quilt Trail Movement, describes a Barn Quilt this way:

“You know that quilts are made up of squares? Well, a barn quilt is a replica of one of these squares,  painted on plywood, usually eight-by-eight feet, and hung on a building for passersby to see. Most of them are mounted on barns, so they are called Barn Quilts. There are thousands of them all over the country – currently in thirty states – and in Canada.”

In fact, there are barn quilts in at least 48 states in the U.S. and as far north as Canada. She also says there is usually is a cast of characters, going back many years, who are involved in the production of a Barn Quilt.

My Barn Quilt idea goes back as early as 1976, when the United States celebrated its Bicentennial. Everyone wore Red, White and Blue. My mother Chloe made me an Eight-Point-Star quilt in red, white and blue. Her friends met once a week and quilted it as a work of love.

This is the quilt pattern I chose to put on the wonderful Pack House Barn my dad built in 1935 (2nd picture in the left column). That barn is now part of Big Mill Bed & Breakfast and three of our rooms and suites are actually in this renovated barn. I have since learned that this pattern is called LaMoyne Star and I have named my Barn Quilt Miss Chloe’s LaMoyne Star. To see the finished project check out my blog post Eastern North Carolina Quilt Trail.

Quilt made by Chloe’s mother in 1976 is called LaMoyne Star

I read about the American Quilt Trail Movement many years ago and really wanted to be part of it. At the time, I thought I had to paint a quilt on my barn. Well, I knew I could do it – but I didn’t think I will live long enough to finish it. Then I realized I didn’t have to do this myself. I called the Western North Carolina Quilt Trail folks and they were wonderful; they sent me to the Tar River Quilt Trail folks, part of the Franklin County NC Arts Council.

I joined the Tar River Quilt Trail and after a few months of behind-the-scenes coordinating, my Barn Quilt is almost finished! Thanks to Kim Young, who painted my quilt. Kim is an artist who works in watercolor, oil and acrylics.  And thanks to Charles Powell and the Franklin County Arts Council for all the work behind-the-scenes to bring this vision to life.  These folks are volunteers and they do a great job. Soon they will mount it on the barn for all to see.

The Martin County Arts Council in Williamston, NC is also getting a barn quilt. They have chosen the pattern Crossed Canoes. Hopefully, the Town of Williamston will join us.

Wherever you’re traveling across North Carolina, you are likely to find a map of all the Barn Quilts in each area. That makes it so easy to plan your trip to ride by and look at these wonderful replicas of our heritage. I am so excited to be part of the Tar River Quilt Trail.

You can see Miss Chloe’s LaMoyne Star quilt painted on the barn at Big Mill Bed & Breakfast. It’s time to set your GPS for Big Mill Bed & Breakfast, 1607 Big Mill Road, Williamston, NC 27892. And if you get lost, give me a call – (252) 792-8787.

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