Old Time Way

As the year comes to a slowing down, and the holidays approach, it is time to let everyone know what the fall and winter have in store.

The  grand opening of ” The Story of North Carolina” will be held at the North Carolina Museum Of History in Raleigh NC, November 5, 2011.  Music, dancing, performers and historically accurate crafts will all be ongoing throughout the day. Chuck and Peggy Patrick will be representing basket making in  North Carolina from 11 a.m., until 4 p.m.  Hand splitting white oak and river cane for basketry as well as the weaving of baskets will both be represented in detail.

Chuck and Peggy Patrick will be showing their workmanship at the John C. Campbell Folk School annual Fireside Sale on Sunday, December 4th, 2011, 10 am – 5 pm. Handmade damascus knives, white oak and river cane baskets, beaded buckskin and Old Time Mountain Music cds will be made available from them personally at this festive Christmas time event. This sale will be offering arts and crafts made exclusively by the artist who teach at this one of a kind school.

In January Peggy Patrick and Emma Garrett will be teaching a river cane basket class together. The class will begin by going to the river bank and harvesting river cane to begin learning the splitting process. Each student will then make one basket using materials expertly prepared before hand. Traditional Cherokee techniques will be taught as well as how to dye the material with natural dyes.

a student files a blade after forging

Also in January, Chuck Patrick and James Batson, (former president of the Blade Smithing Society) will be teaching a Bowie making class. Learn from the masters how to hand forge, heat treat and finish a traditional bowie knife. Learn how to forge a blade closely and do the finish work at the bench using hand tools. This week long class will give the student with some experience, plenty of time to hone their knife making skills.

In March, Chuck  Patrick and John Kraus will teach tool forging. In this class students will gain the skills to make their own edged tools for wood working projects.  Proper heat treating and tempering for each tool will be covered as well as designing the tool to work correctly.  These instructors are used to making tools that work as well as look good.

See the classes page to find out where to register for any classes coming up and dates for each. The material fee if applicable, will be listed with each class. Hope to see you soon. Have a great winter!

Here are just a few of the pictures from a recent shoe making class. Thanks everyone involved for helping make it a huge success!  There will be another class soon at John C. Campbell Folk School. Look for an update on the classes page with a link to register soon.

This recent shoe making class at Rivercane Rendezvous met end exceeded all expectations. The students were devoted despite weekend rain. No lost soles at the end thankfully. 11 pair of beautiful hand made boots were finished last week.  One pair was a size 14, perfect fit.

The class started making patterns, and cutting leather.  Sewing eyelet trim, or any decoration was done on the boots next. This always is the creative place for a lot of students, and this was an exceptional group. After the eyelet trims were on, the Vamps (toe and tongue area)were sewn to the quarters(uppers). The next step was to sew the boots up the back, and add the foxing( heel and ankle support).The soles were made to fit each students foot. The shoe was then fitted to the foot, and glued onto the sole with the foot inside, thus ensuring a perfect fit. The last sewing was to sew the shoe to the sole. After that the rubber grip is attached to the bottom of the shoe and cleaned up.

This is a practical way of making footwear that fits you and looks good . Look in the Classes page for the next shoe making class.

Beaded Knife sheath

This sheath is done in applique and lazy stitch on braintan leather. 

✢ Beadwork ✢

¤Every cloud has a silver lining. Here is a Beaded Tree of Life bag by Peggy Patrick Among the many colors used are sky, powder, pony trader and mediteranian blues.¤ (sold)

✢ Chuck & Peggy Patrick Live ✢

¤ Chuck and Peggy Patrick did a live radio broadcast of Old Time Mountain Music Friday the 19th of February at Young Harris Georgia’s station WYHG 770 AM 12pm to 1pm. The host David Brose is a well known folklorist and historian for the John C. Campbell Folk School.

Peggy comes from a family of musicians. Her father was local square dance caller in Blairsville,Georgia. His mother before him filled that function for the community. Peggy began singing in church as a child with her sisters, mother and grandmother. She plays guitar, clawhammer banjo, and does vocals.  Chuck plays fiddle, mandolin, harmonica, and tenor banjo. They often play in bands with other musicians in their area. Most notable for them has been the late,  legendary left handed fiddler from Hiawassee, Georgia, Ross Brown, with whom they made a classic recording called “Ross Brown, Chuck & Peggy Patrick play your request”. This and another recording , of them ” Still Old time” are available for download from this website.

Chuck and Peggy have been playing music together since 1974. They play a variety of insruments including fiddle, banjo, and guitar. When they married Chuck and Peggy began to perform locally, and have never stopped. You can download a full recording of Chuck and Peggy Patrick’s cd, “Still Old Time” and  ”Ross Brown,Chuck &Peggy Patrick Play Your Request”  by going to the Music page.¤

✢ Color of the Fire ✢

¤ Chuck Patrick is a damascus knife maker and blacksmith. A blade-smith is a blacksmith with a special understanding of metallurgy that  blacksmith does not necessarily have. Chuck Patrick is a blacksmith, yes , but he does so much more than make horse shoes and sharpen plows.

Chuck Patrick made his first knife while living in the Alaskan bush country. When his need for a superior tool led him to spend days on end trying to come up with a blade he could use the way he needed to in this tough environment where you are not forgiven by nature if you fail. From this humble beginning he has become one of this nations leading expert  Blade-smiths and metallurgist.

Chuck has been and continues to be consulted by many top knife making companies, about his Damascus steel, as well as his heat treating genius. Chuck seems to be in tune with the fire as he works in it. He can tell by the color of the fire and the steel, what the temperature is with out even looking at the thermostat. In fact Chuck Patrick can tell if the thermostat is wrong!

Chuck Patrick has traveled throughout the U.S.A. teaching knife making. He continues to teach locally and  in the southeast.  In addition, he and  Dr. James Batson former president of the American Bladesmithing society (ABS), co-teach a knife making class at the John C. Campbell Folk School. The class name  is The American Hand Forged Knife. To find out when the next class will be held, and to register, see our classes page¤

To see photos from this class: Knife Making Class Photos