I Survived Vermont!

Last Sunday I returned from my first time teaching at the Vermont Quilt Festival. I am a bit late in blogging due to my sister visiting this past week. You may ask why I have worded my subject line as "I Survived Vermont"? Truth be told, I actually "thrived" in Vermont. It was a great trip ... lots of keen students doing great work in the beautiful state of Vermont.

I hadn't been to Vermont in a number of years because I had grown to fear it. Back in 2008 after leaving my conventional job, I decided to take a drive to Vermont in autumn and photograph foliage. I was alone on this trip and managed to have a pretty serious fall when I stumbled down the edge of the pavement, and headfirst into my car door, while photographing a covered bridge. Then I proceeded to have something go wrong for me on another three trips to Vermont: 1) a mouse moved into my glove compartment; 2) I forgot my medication at home; and 3) on the last morning of teaching for the Champlain Valley Quilters' Guild in 2011, I rolled over in bed and the room was spinning. I had come down with positional vertigo, that lasted for three months. I hadn't been back to Vermont since

Because I was a bit shaken by the above track record, I invited a dear friend (who is also a quilter) on this trip with me to help keep me safe. This is dear long-time friend Carole on left. I am happy to report that I was safe on the trip, but true to past experience, I encountered a problem the day prior. Suddenly my car started sounding like a jet engine and it was clear that I would not be driving it to Vermont. Small problem as I was able to rent a car on short notice. Everything went smoothly after that.

Sometimes teaching at shows can be physically grueling, but this one wasn't. We were able to drive up to the classroom door to unload, It was easy to get meals close by, and the show provided me a chair on wheels to take some of the strain off my knees from standing all day. I had shipped my supplies ahead of time and they were waiting in my classroom, access to the classroom was level, and we stayed in a hotel with an elevator. I had a car and my friend Carole kindly helped me. What else could a teacher ask for?

Classes were well-attended, with anywhere from 16-20 students each day. I did a good job of taking photos the first day in "Hosta Leaves 101" class.

A few students finished their quilt tops. As you can see, many purchased my kit of hand-dyed fabrics.

I must have been really busy because I failed to take any photos on day 2 while I was teaching "In Full Bloom". The photo below is from Day 3, "Collage Tree".

And finally, on Sunday morning, I taught a half day of Surface Design, where students had an opportunity to try Prismacolor Artist Pencils and Caran d'Ache Neocolor 2 Watersoluble Wax Pastels.

I visited the show and merchant mall twice, however, I ran into so many visitors I knew from Ottawa, Kingston, and Quebec that I really did not manage to capture photos. A kind soul I found admiring my work took a photo of me and the piece I submitted for the Instructor Showcase.

I did have a pretty good visit with the special exhibit of Ruth McDowell's work, however, photos were not allowed in this exhibit. It is easy enough to see photos of her work by visiting her web site at the link mentioned above. So I am afraid I have no photos of quilts to share. While many Facebook friends have been sharing photos from the show, most of them do not provide the name/s of the quiltmaker/s, so I will not be sharing them here. Please, if you appreciate a work in a show and must share it on social media, I'm sure the maker would appreciate having their name associated with it.