Stitching Together an Extraordinary Life

Georgia at home with her latest project.

Georgia Bonesteel has created an extraordinary career woven from a life filled with resilience, determination, and a teacher’s passion to share her experience and knowledge. Given these qualities, it’s no surprise that this Flat Rock resident has fashioned a career as a television personality, prolific author, and been accorded the title of “Grande Dame of American Quilting.”

With her husband Pete and three young children, Georgia first moved to Henderson County in 1972. Nearly 50 years later, she has put down deep roots in the mountains of North Carolina and established herself as a Flat Rock icon. But the relative stability of the last five decades belies an early life that was characterized by seemingly endless transitions and challenges.

Born during the depression in Sioux City, Iowa, Georgia arrived on a blazingly hot July day. “My mother would tell me on every birthday that people were frying eggs on the street the day I was born,” she laughs. Georgia radiates kindness when she talks, and you can see the generosity of her soul twinkling in her eyes. Her charm and warmth make it impossible to not feel like you’ve known her for years and not just a few minutes.

Georgia’s stay in Iowa - like many of her homes over the course of her first 20 years - was short as she and her parents and sister, Jill, embarked on a life of constant transitions from city to city and new home to new home. “My father was a very successful antitrust lawyer,” Georgia explains. He worked for the government, and every time there was a new case that needed to be tried, we would move.” Georgia attended 13 different schools, and the constant relocations made it difficult for Georgia to establish and keep friends. “I’d just get a group of friends and then we'd move and it was very traumatic for me.”  

Although difficult for a young Georgia to accept at the time, upon reflection she can see some silver linings. “It forces you to adapt. To be independent and make your own successes.”  It also instilled in Georgia an appreciation for exploring new places. “I remember at the time I resented all the moves. But now I love seeing new places and traveling.”

When Georgia was young, her mother taught her to sew, and she was quickly fascinated with the opportunities sewing provided to create with fabric and thread. “My mother was like an early Martha Stewart. She could do anything. She could upholster and refinish furniture. She made all of our clothes. So I learned a lot by just watching her.” 

Her mother’s lessons were well learned and led to a burgeoning interest in fashion and design. “I had a lot of energy and I think it must have driven my parents crazy. So they would give me little boxes of fabrics that I just sewed together. I made clothes for my dolls and then I got interested in fashion and I would cut out pictures of fashions in magazines.”

Georgia’s nomadic adventures continued into her early adulthood. She studied Home Economics at Iowa State for two years and then moved to Chicago with her family where she ultimately received a degree from Northwestern University. 

During this time in Chicago, she literally met and married “the boy next door.”  Tall and athletic, Pete Bonesteel first caught the attention of Georgia’s mom, who mentioned to Georgia that there was a new boy who lived next door and played football with the neighborhood kids every afternoon. Georgia and Pete soon started dating and he spent more and more time with Georgia … and her family. “Pete always said he married me for my mother's cooking,” she laughs. They were married in 1959 and recently celebrated their 60th anniversary.

During the early years of their marriage, Georgia parlayed her love of fashion into a job in the fashion office of Marshall Field’s, and Pete was in the Marine Corps reserves before later getting a job with Shell Oil Company.  Georgia’s traveling ways continued as Pete’s job took the young couple from Chicago to Minnesota, back to Illinois, to Oklahoma and from there on to New Orleans  - by that time with three young children in tow. 

It was in New Orleans where fate stepped in to launch Georgia on her career as one of the country’s preeminent quilters. 

She auditioned with a local TV station for a job as a seamstress on a very popular local mid-day show hosted by Terry Flettrich. Georgia worked behind the scenes on a series called “Sewing is Fun” where Flettrich would demonstrate sewing techniques. “I remember on one show we used leftover men's ties. And as it turned out, Terry’s son-in-law was president of Wembley Tie Company. So she gave me boxes of the most astounding fabric I've ever seen. And she said to me, ‘Why don't you do something with it?’”

And indeed she did. Georgia Bonesteel turned that “something” into the start of a remarkable career with a trajectory that saw her rise from a seamstress behind the scenes of a local show, to a role as the star of a national TV series on quilting.

The first step along the path to success was an entrepreneurial venture that capitalized on her exceptional skills with needle and thread. “We started a business called Cajun Quilters, and I made little quilted evening bags out of that fabulous tie fabric. We sold them in boutiques in the French quarter.”

Then, once again, the demands of a corporate career stepped in and brought Pete, Georgia, and their family to Henderson County.  By now a veteran of making moves and starting over, Georgia quickly embarked on the next phase of her career once she arrived in the mountains of North Carolina in 1972. “When I came to town here, I promptly went to Blue Ridge Community College and said I'd like to teach quilting.” This was something of a bold request as she explains. “At that point, I had never made a full quilt!” 

Almost immediately, Georgia’s classes were among the most popular at BRCC and Georgia realized how much she enjoyed teaching and sharing her passion with her students. Armed with the confidence of success in the classroom, Georgia considered her next move and approached UNC-TV with an idea for an innovative sewing concept she had developed called “lap quilting.” 

The executives at UNC-TV agreed to give her a try, and the first six segments of her new show aired in 1979. Although the audience for her early shows was not large, the program had a devoted following and an additional seven segments were taped and were eventually broadcast on national public television.  By that point, there was no stopping Georgia Bonesteel and she ultimately hosted a series of quilting programs for the next 27 years.

The popularity of Georgia’s TV shows spawned additional business interests and through the years she authored a dozen books on quilting and sold wooden hoops for lap quilting. She and Pete also bought a hardware store in Hendersonville when one more corporate move to Ohio was more than they could take. “We'd grown very fond of Hendersonville, and we heard this hardware store was for sale. There was a gift shop in part of the hardware store and I turned that into the quilt shop.”  As a result of Georgia’s burgeoning national fame as the first lady of quilting, Bonesteel Hardware and Gifts soon became one of the most popular tourist destinations in Henderson County.

When asked to explain the popularity of her show and the dedication of quilters in general, Georgia points to the very social nature of traditional quilting which is often done in groups. “When you're interacting with people and talking about what you're doing, that's a real high for quilters. It's a very enjoyable way to pass your time. All of a sudden you'll wander off to someone's problem or the cost of groceries or something else. You’re interacting. I think that's the important thing.”

Looking back on her career, Georgia marvels at how the tapestry of her life revealed itself.  “I didn't mean for it to happen. It just evolved. Dealing with the shows and traveling was really exciting. It was a lot of fun. I just loved it. I really did.”

These days, Georgia describes herself as “semi-retired” but that does not mean she has stopped challenging herself to learn new things. “About 10 years ago I thought I'm going to take the Master Gardener program,” she explains. Putting her new-found skills to good use, Georgia is now a regular volunteer with the North Carolina State Theater Garden Club that designs, plants, and maintains the beautiful grounds at Flat Rock Playhouse. “Being a Master Gardener and working with Tamsin Allpress and the Garden Club has enabled me to learn so much and to make a whole new group of friends.”

In 2019, Georgia published her latest book, a memoir entitled “Scrap Happy Quilts.” True to her passion to teach, the book combines instructions on the latest methods to make quilt patterns, with funny stories and surprising moments from a lifetime of learning and personal adventures.

Of all her accomplishments, Georgia still has a particular fondness for her time on TV. “I believe deciding what to do on 13 30-minutes shows a season was probably the most fun." Her on-screen presence seems effortless, and Georgia attributes that to her comfort with the setting and a sincere belief in what she was doing. “To be honest, I couldn't talk unless I had a sewing machine in front of me. I had this need to share. That’s a teacher instinct. I really admire teachers.”

Thanks to Georgia, generations of fans have learned to love and perpetuate the art of quilting. And the Village of Flat Rock has benefited by her creative talents as well. In her own way, Georgia Bonesteel has been instrumental in bringing together bits and pieces of a small mountain village and turning it into an even more beautiful place for all of us lucky enough to visit or live here.

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Learn more about Georgia at www.georgiabonesteel.com and her memoir “Scrap Happy Quilts” here.