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.