For nearly four hundred years a unique and resilient people have inhabited the coast of North Carolina and left a rich history both written and oral. Before the coast became a summer playground, it was full of fisherman and merchants and hard working people who built the state that we know today. The stories in the Of Sound and Sea series are inspired by their history.

My family lived for 3 generations in a North Carolina mill village, so fiber has been an important part of our lives. I have always admired the hard work, ingenuity and thrift of those generations before me. My main influence has been my great great Aunt Mattie who spent her entire working career at the mill, but even in her spare time and her retirement her hands were never idle. Aunt Matt never sat down without something for her hands to do.