Vermont Quilt Festival - a most excellent adventure!

We (46 of us) boarded the bus at 8:00 a.m. and headed out for a most wonderful adventure! There were only two minor glitches, both of which ended up on the positive side. 1) We had to divert our trip slightly to pick up another bus as our toilet was not functioning. We ended up with a newer, more comfortable model! and 2) we ran into construction/accident traffic which forced us to seek an alternate route through Vermont's beautiful countryside. We still landed in Essex Junction in plenty of time to shop at Yankee Pride Quilt shop. We then headed over to the hotel to check in and get ready for the Gala Champagne preview. We entered the venue through the "prepaid" entrance which is where all the "special" exhibits were.

The first thing I saw was the magnificent collection of quilts from Deb Grana and Sharon Waddell. It was without a doubt the best exhibition of antique quilts I ever seen at a quilt show. Both Sharon and Deb are very gracious about sharing their collection. I was of course mesmerized for an hour or so. Finally, a friend broke the spell by asking me where my quilt was displayed. Wow, I forgot all about it. We headed into the main hall to look for it. I was so surprised to see a red ribbon attached! But, it also had a little gold safety pin on it and I couldn't figure out why until another friend came by and asked me why I wasn't at the awards ceremony, and "didn't you hear your name called?" Long story short, I was also "honored" with a judge's Choice ribbon from Sue Nickels.

I feel particularly honored since I consider Sue to be one of the greatest "machine queens" of the quilt world and for her to choose my all hand appliqued and hand quilted potholder method quilt, I was speechless! (and for those of you who know me, I am rarely speechless!) I'm sorry to say that I failed to get permission to post any of the contest quilt photos I took. Deb and Sharon however are happy to have us share their quilts with those of us who appreciate them. 

Thank you Deb and Sharon!!

Here are a few of my favorites. I'm not going to caption them so if you have any questions, please let me know and I will give you the information that was published in the show booklet.  

There were early quilts

and eagle quilts

and a super fun "Trip Around the World"

here is a close up - look at that fussy cutting!

another favorite - these stars were amazing!

close up

a great sampler

lots of great red & green

This was my favorite and when I asked Deb for permission to reproduce it, she said "by all means, but I think you are crazy!" We'll see!

just look at those grapes and tendrils and piping!

I don't think I will do the conventional red & green. Hmmm, maybe cheddar?

That's all for now. I will post more later. If you ever get a chance to meet either of these fine collectors, do let them know how much we appreciate their custodianship! They are both members of AQSG and I think they are both planning on being at this year's seminar in Indiana. 

Enjoy the day!