The Foundation of the Carpet Capital of the World Was Sewn By A Girl
At twelve years old, Catherine Evans Whitener saw a candlewick coverlet and promised herself she would make her own one day. With no pattern, no teacher, and no instructions, she relied on curiosity, patience, and trial-and-error to recreate the tufted stitches she admired.
TUFTED tells the true story of how she took a skill long dismissed as ordinary, domestic, and unpaid and revealed what it could become: innovation, income, independence, and opportunity. Catherine and her beautiful bedspread turned women’s work into women’s wages and, stitch by stitch, transformed a humble handcraft into the foundation of an extraordinary industry.
Any book open in a child’s hands is a beginning. A good book goes further. It stretches language, sharpens attention, sparks curiosity, builds empathy, and gives young readers something to carry with them: a new word, a new question, or a new way of seeing.
Rachel Smalley writes creative nonfiction picture books for children and the grown-ups who read with them. Her work is rooted in Appalachian heritage and storytelling. She believes that real people and their stories help young readers discover the history beneath their feet.
Her debut picture book, TUFTED: The Stitch & Story of Catherine Evans Whitener, tells the true story of a Northwest Georgia girl whose hand-tufted bedspreads helped set Dalton, Georgia’s textile history in motion.
Good Books
Grow Great Readers
SPEAKING & VISITS
A Good Storyteller Reads the Room
How do you transform a piece of local history into a story young readers can carry with them? Rachel speaks to schools, libraries, civic and business groups, women's organizations, historical societies, book clubs, educators, and community organizations about TUFTED, Catherine Evans Whitener, local history, creative nonfiction, Appalachian storytelling, research, reinvention, and the journey from first idea to finished book. Every program is shaped around the audience, setting, available time, and goals of the host—because a good storyteller reads the room before she says a word.
FOR EDUCATORS
Readers Become History Keepers
TUFTED brings history to life through the story of Catherine Evans Whitener, who transformed a skill once dismissed as ordinary, domestic, and unpaid into an engine of innovation and a source of income, independence, and possibilities.
Designed for grades 2–6, the book gives educators a meaningful springboard for exploring history, geography, economics, women’s entrepeneurship, Appalachian heritage, vocabulary, writing, art, and STEAM.
Catherine’s story reminds young readers that history is not only measured by fortunes people build; it is also found in the opportunities they create for others.
SHARE YOUR STORY
Every Family Holds A Piece of History
Do you have a hand-tufted or chenille bedspread in your family? A Dalton connection? A Peacock Alley story? An old photograph tucked away in an album?
Rachel is gathering memories, family stories, photographs, and historical clues so the larger story can be told more completely—one memory, one family, and one yarn at a time.
UPCOMING EVENTS
AUG
18
2026
Tufted
The Stitch & Story of Catherine Evans Whitener
At the Historic Freight Depot, 305 South Depot Street, Dalton, Georgia
5:00–7:00 p.m.
Attend the TUFTED Book Launch
Join the community gathering celebrating the publication of TUFTED: The Stitch & Story of Catherine Evans Whitener. Hosted by Believe Greater Dalton, this special event honors Catherine, Dalton's hand-tufted bedspread heritage, and the many hands that helped shape this remarkable chapter of local history.
A PUBLIC HISTORY PROJECT
The Community Behind TUFTED
No one brings a story like this to life alone. TUFTED was shaped by local historians, educators, civic partners, artists, families, funders, and community members who believe Catherine Evans Whitener’s contribution deserves to be remembered and carried forward.
Generous support from the Brown Whitworth Reynolds Foundation, the Howalt Family, Shaw Industries, and other friends of the project helped make the book possible.
COMMUNITY PARTNERS INCLUDE:
Community Foundation of Northwest Georgia
Believe Greater Dalton
Dalton State College
Creative Arts Guild
Junior Achievement Discovery Center
Whitfield-Murray Historical Society
Bandy Heritage Center
Dalton Public Schools
Net proceeds from the first printing of TUFTED support the Appalachian Historic Preservation Fund at the Community Foundation of Northwest Georgia.
Illustrations by Katie Hickey. Select photographs by Amanda Lovelace; additional photographs courtesy of the author’s collection.