On the Road…to the Vermont Quilt Festival

I enjoy traveling to meet quilters, and I looked forward to my trip to the Vermont Quilt Festival from the time they contacted me with an invitation to teach there.

I planned and packed, pulling quilts and supplies for my classes. I knew I wanted to drive because I didn’t want to ship supplies for four classes. A few days before I needed to leave, I decided to plot my course from Virginia to Vermont. How long could this drive be, right? Well, pretty long, as I found out. MapQuest said it would take me about ten hours. Hmm. I went to my GPS for a second opinion: ten hours. Okay, ten hours, then.

Hey, Quilters, what do you do when you have a long drive ahead of you? Not a long ride, a long drive. I print out directions, pack maps, borrow the plug-in cooler from my friend Kathy (Seriously, this kind of travel is not possible without Diet Coke), and load plenty of tunes and books on my iPod. For this trip, I downloaded The Girl Who Played With Fire.

Ya Can’t Get Theah From Heah

Off I went, leaving as early as I could be awake and presentable. I stopped only when I had to, and I always hurried back to my car to hear more of the book and to try to beat the ten hour estimate. I drove through Virginia, Maryland, Delaware (waving to my old apartment as I crossed the Delaware Memorial Bridge), and New Jersey. Once I hit New York, I felt like I was getting close to my destination.  I drove and drove and drove. Just when I was sure I had missed a turn, my GPS warned me that I would be turning right in two miles. Puzzled, I replied “I can’t turn right; there’s a lake over there!” At the appointed milemarker, I did turn right…right into the parking lot for the ferry!

Waiting for the Ferry

Yes, the ferry. Do you have a GPS? I have a TomTom that I call Yoda – it’s a long story – and it always asks me if I want to avoid the toll roads or if I want to avoid the HOV lanes. Don’t you think it could have asked me if I wanted to avoid leaving the road entirely?! As I stopped my truck next to the ticket booth, I asked the attendant if there was a bridge nearby or if I had missed the road most people take to Vermont. Nope. The ferry was my only option unless I wanted to add two hours to my trip. She recommended ice cream from the place next door, since I’d be waiting twenty or thirty minutes for the next ferry.

“Driving” on the Ferry

  Truthfully, the ferry ride was the highlight of the journey. It was a beautiful day to be on the water and I met other quilters on the boat. And what a view!

The added bonus? I got to see what the GPS screen looks like when you’re on the water, but not on a bridge. Interesting.  

At the Vermont Quilt Festival

After ten and a half hours (I had to wait for the ferry, remember?), I drove onto the campus of St. Michael’s College where most of the classes were held and many teachers stay during the show. The campus is absolutely gorgeous with lots of trees and beautiful buildings. Check-in was a snap and I was able to set up my classroom the day before classes began. Too cool!

The students were amazing. They really brought their “A” game. Just about everyone came in with all of their supplies and a solid idea of what we’d be doing. One student really surprised me when she unpacked photos from my website. I guess she did her homework! Everyone was cooperative, helpful, positive, and ready to get the most out of each class. What more could a teacher want? I had a blast! For those of you keeping track, I offered Finishing Techniques for Art Quilters, The Pen is Mightier Than the Needle, Design Your Own Memory Quilts, and Trees (from my pattern).

 I really had a great time at the show and I hope I can make it back next year. At least I know to expect a ferry ride!

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Behold the Power of Deadlines

Done!

Deadlines are amazing things. They force productivity — sometimes with great results and sometimes not.

I needed to finish this quilt by yesterday morning so that it could be part of the Mason Dixon Quilt Professionals’ Network (MDQPN) special exhibit “What We Do” for this year’s Road2CA. The exhibit is designed to showcase what each of the quilters in this group offers professionally. I offer a Trees workshop and pattern, and so I thought this would be a good place to show that.

It’s done. I’m not exceptionally proud of this quilt, but it’s done and off my list. Such is the power of deadlines.

I think if I had a chance to continue searching, I might have found a better, less distracting border fabric. I might also have found a better quilting thread color for the grey border. I might have added some surface design, augmented the snow, given more dimension to the trees. Woulda, coulda, shoulda. I’ll never know, though, because it’s done and out of my hands.

Vintage Revisited #6 in Process

Now, I’m back to the Vintage Revisited #6. (Check the archives for more on the process for this one.) I’ve quilted leaves into the black borders and I’ve added the green vintage pieces to form a tire track. The green vintage fabric was still pretty icky, and so I stamped it with commercial and original stamps. I think it’s kind of ironic that the track interrupts the portrait the same way the vintage materials interrupt my normal process. It’s a fitting way to complete this series of six quilts.

Our MDQPN meeting yesterday was held at G Street Fabrics, where I was able to find the perfect spokes for the bike wheel. I can’t wait to add them and see how it turns out. I’m eager to finish this and turn it over to Mary to add to her collection. To see more Vintage Revisited quilts online or to see what shows will exhibit them, check out www.MaryWKerr.com.

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Moonlighting Quilts in Pittsburgh

Mother and Daughter Working Together

This week, I drove to Pittsburgh to meet the ladies (and gentlemen!) of the Quilt Company East Quilt Guild. What a great group! They are friendly, cheerful, and talented. On Monday night, I gave one of my favorite lectures, Fabric Acquisition 101. We talked about what fabrics to buy, how much to buy, and what to do with it once you get it home.

Tuesday was an action-packed day. We started out with my Trees Workshop. Setting up in a spacious and well-lit space, we all shared fabric and ideas as we created our own personal forests. I was so happy to watch these ladies approach this new technique with such open minds. The technique uses freeform rotary cutting (much like Ricky Tims with his Caveman Quilting) and lots of steam. Each participant gets a pattern, but I always hope that every quilter will create her own trees in her own way. The pattern is there for when they go home without me.

Happy!

What I love about teaching Trees is watching each quilter “get” the concept. They each bring lots of fabric and a vision. As the workshop progresses, many of the quilters abandon their original vision (some more willingly than others) in favor of following the creative process. More than one quilter remarked that the trees they created were not the ones they had planned when packing for the workshop — but in a good way.

Lots of Steam!

After we were finished with the workshop, we were off on a road trip! Elizabeth and Charlotte took me to a favorite quilt shop in Finleyville, PA, called Quilters Corner. What a great shop! They have a little bit of everything. Looking for a nice Moda selection? Got it. Batiks? Um hmm. Black and whites, Anna Griffin, Lonni Rossi, Lakehouse, you name it. Books, magazines, notions, even a corner for holiday fabric and projects. The most striking samples, however, were the applique pieces designed by shop owner Mary Beth Hartnett. From design to fabric choices to execution, the applique work was exquisite. Do you hear me, Book Publishers? Hurry to sign Mary Beth before your competition does. These patterns have universal appeal.

Afterward, we drove through Pittsburgh so that I would have a sense of the city. It was beautiful! We drove on some very scenic roads and saw some amazing vistas. We saw the pink water in the fountains (for Breast Cancer Awareness month), lots of twinkle lights, and diverse architecture. And now I understand why the Steelers do so well. I’d hate to be a warm-climate football team and have to come play in that giant open stadium!

I’m not sure how we packed so much into two fabulous days, but we did. Now I have just enough time to rest up before I leave for the IQA Festival in Houston!

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