So Harwell was being just a little bit rebellious when she took the ancient art — with its deep roots in her native western North Carolina — and made it something of her own.

These days you can catch Harwell’s quilts at shows around the country or on her Web site.

You can even see one of her quilts on this year’s commemorative Lazy Daze poster and T-shirts.

Harwell, a Wendell resident, was selected by the Town of Cary to produce the artwork featured on the poster.

It’s hard to believe the artwork’s scene — shoppers strolling along the booths of a craft fair — was made entirely from pieces of cloth.

“I’ve always sewn my whole life,” said Harwell, now 56, who remembers a little sewing machine as a childhood gift from Santa.

Harwell mainly put her sewing skills to use as her family moved east 30 years ago for her husband’s job.

He is a captain in the Raleigh Fire Department and the couple has three sons — now 31, 23, and 21.

As her family grew so did Harwell’s confidence in her craft and that her sewing could be translated into pieces of art.

She competed in her first shows in the 1980s and throughout the 1990s continued to get attention for her work, even receiving a mention in National Geographic.

Quilts are Harwell’s full-time work now, but she also enjoys carrying on the tradition of her craft.

“I’m standing on a very shaky bridge between the past and the present,” Harwell said, noting that most people don’t have the patience and aren’t willing to devote the time needed to master a craft like quilting.

Harwell’s Lazy Daze piece took 400 hours of work and was inspired by her first trip to the festival last year.

This year Harwell will have her own Lazy Daze booth, in which about five of her pieces will be up for sale.

The Lazy Daze piece is 37 by 53 inches and costs $4,400.

To learn more about Ann Harwell’s work visit her Web site.