Small projects, lotsa guests

With an international building trades conference drawing carvers, architectural engineers, and others to Barre along with the usual summer tourists, we have been full almost every night this week. This summer's pattern seems to be longer stays, so that means we make up rooms and wash linens less often. But it does sometimes present a challenge to the cook who likes to vary the menu. Yesterday we served French Toast, today Quiche, tomorrow...? We just picked some raspberries, blueberries, and rhubarb, so that will figure somehow. The breakfast conversation among the trades people is way above my head, but they are happy to be together.

On the quilting front, I'm sticking to smaller projects with the humid days we've been having. For years, I've paged through a book called "Fabulous Flowers" by Sharon Baker, and last year I even made a quilted base for the dimensional flowers I wanted to make. I am finally making them now, and it is a lot of fun to create a little garden of fabric. My applique workshop with Anita Shackleford has come in handy, too, since the flower stems are narrow using her method and I plan to include a sweet little butterfly.

Monday is my long-awaited class in Long Arm Quilting, after which I hope to be able to finish off a few of the tops hanging in the closet. There were three at last count.

I'm finally getting around to reading "Suite Francaise," a book I noticed everyone carrying around last year. I can't help comparing it to "The Madonnas of Leningrad," which my mother recommended. "SF" deals with the occupation of Paris by the Nazis in 1940, while "TMOL" gives an account of 2000 people living in the basement The Hermitage during the Nazi seige of Russia a little later in WW II.

Hot!

We are having what I think is our third heat wave this summer. We may have had more and I've just lost count. I don't get much quilting done when it's like this, but I still read quite a bit. I have just finished my sixth book by Lisa Wingate, an author recommended by another Dear Jane quilt fanatic. Wingate's "Tending Roses" series is set in Missouri and Oklahoma and features individuals in an extended family. Her stories are thoughtful and satisfying. As soon as I finished one, I looked for the next, and now I'm waiting for her next book to be published!

At the end of June, I attended the Vermont Quilt Festival, including a day-long dimensional applique workshop with Anita Shackleford. We learned to stuff cherries with batting, thread yarn through stems, ruch a little butterfly, and embroider details. Anita used a camera to project what she was doing on the wall so that we could really see, and she was a very warm and encouraging teacher. The quilt show itself required another day of oohing and aahing at some very impressive works of art. Contest quilts can be viewed at www.vqf.org.

Here in Barre, we are planning our own Central Vermont Quilt Show on May 8 and 9, 2009, at the Old Labor Hall. Our featured quilter will be Christine Fries-Ureel, and our website will be up very shortly. Details are coming together, and we hope to encourage area quilters, including those too shy or intimidated to enter VQF, to display their work.

Summer busy-ness

Many days go by in a cheerful daze of guest breakfasts, room make-up, grocery shopping, and guest check-ins. Maplecroft is busier than ever this June. The price of gas doesn't seem to be curtailing anyone's travel, but it may mean that people stay in one place more than one night, which is nice for the chambermaids (us!). In the past, many people would "do" New England in six days - one state per day. Perhaps with the price of gas, they are concentrating on a few areas instead. I took some guests to Bragg Farm sugarhouse last week, and the owners told me they are busier, too. Today's paper said that tourism is up 25% this year, which is good for the state economy all the way around.

We were, however, saddened by the sudden closing of our favorite local restaurant last week. Sean & Nora's was visited by almost all of our guests at one time or another during their stays, and we went there quite a bit, too. We were happy that we had managed to go a week or so before the closing, and we are optimistic that something similar will take its place. Still, we will miss the community-mindedness of owners John and Shannon, who freely gave to the Friends of the Library silent auction and many other events.

Meanwhile, Main St. has a new topcoat and looks very spiffy. We - and many others - enjoyed strolling downtown Friday night while the street was still blocked off. Studio Place Arts had an opening, and there was the usual line at the Creamee stand. Summer is off to a pretty good start!

Gone quilting!

These summer days are just right for quilting - of course, winter ones are, too! A couple of weeks ago, I quilting a brown, peach and teal throw and now have to tack the binding on the back. Then I'll post a photo. It is hard to find time to quilt anything of size since I need to use the dining room table. Since we are busier than ever at the B&B, it's hard to find a day when we don't have guests.

I signed up for a birthday signature block swap on the Dear Jane Alternate List and have been furiously making "siggies" to mail out. In between, I continue to try to make at least one Dear Jane block a week in the new color scheme - Far Eastern fabrics with a black background.

Above is my most recent finish, a pink and blue tote bag made of upholstery sample scraps. I like the two pockets at the ends - great for water bottles!

Marianne

Posie tote bag

Here's something I just finished, with much gnashing of teeth since there were problems with the pattern. It's a thank you for Claire, who is stepping down after a number of years as treasurer of the Aldrich Library Friends. It has been a pleasure getting to know her, and I remember with fondness selling popcorn together on the Library lawn last summer.

Spring and vacation

Since I last wrote, spring has come to our corner of Vermont with a vengeance. We had temperatures in the 70's and lots of sun for several weeks. It was time to get outside, rake detritous from the lawn and gardens, mulch, wash lawn furniture, scrub the house, and all the other things that have accumulated over the long winter. There's still plenty to do outdoors, but things are fairly under control now. Yesterday we planted some rose bushes, a gift from some neighbors, and I need to tend to my shady garden behind the garage soon. This year I have decided to plant only cherry tomatoes in pots and some parsley here and there in the flower beds. I am hoping to depend on LACE (Local Agricultural Community Exchange) for fresh veggies.

During late April, Paul and I took our annual trip to Colorado to visit my parents and sister and to chase spring. Unfortunately, spring wasn't as far along as it usually is there, and it even snowed a little on May 1. But we enjoyed ourselves anyway, especially a three day trip to Mesa Verde National Park where the ancient cliff dwellings are fascinating. We stayed at Far View Lodge in the park which offered beautiful vistas at meals and in the mornings especially. We spent a day in Boulder with my sister Jenny, visited the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum and American Mountaineering Museum, and generally relaxed with my parents.

Now that we're home again, we have been busy at the B&B, taking care of guests, serving breakfasts, and cleaning up. So far this year has been our busiest ever, and we have bookings as far out as mid-October already. Paul and I have also been meeting with some local quilt shop owners to begin planning a quilt show for Central Vermont in spring, 2009. We have yet to determine the scope or the date, but it will be an interesting project that can bring some more visitors to Barre.

Hope you all had a happy Mother's Day!

Totally behind

I have not been keeping up with the 23 things or even my blog, although every week, I mean to do another lesson. The fun of retirement just keeps getting in the way, and now the weather is making it difficult to stay indoors. Even though it's too cool to do much outside, I still find excuses to do so - walking to the post office, taking the garbage out, checking the progress of bulbs, returning library books.

It has been busy here at the B&B, too. I went on a pre-spring cleaning binge, picking a room each day for deep dusting. Paul called it "one woman's war against cobwebs." They certainly have accumulated over the winter. Then Barre had its Jackson Browne weekend and LACE gallery opening, which we helped with. It took about a week to catch our breath, and now we have a bunch more weekend guests.

I have also been madly sewing, perhaps because I know that as the weather improves, I'll do less of it. I am making a small dent in my fabric stash as a result. Today I counted four finished tops of various sizes waiting for quilting. My good sewing machine is being cleaned, but when it comes back, I'll get busy finishing them off. Meanwhile, I have plenty of reading, hand sewing, and even a little yard work to keep me busy.