Survived the quilt show!

Last weekend's Central Vermont Quilt Show was a real success, despite pouring rain Saturday morning. The Friday night opening ceremonies featured our mayor and his wife who selected their favorite quilt, as did two other celebrities, a state representative who is also on the board of the Old Labor Hall and the president of the Barre Partnership which helped us hang quilts in merchants' windows as publicity for the show. Even though attendance was lower than last year, everything really went smoothly, much to my relief, and it seemed more relaxed and "together." Someone called the show "cozy," which is what I had been aiming for.

Our featured quilter, Kathie Alyce, was very pleased with her reception by visitors to the show and, I suspect, with sales at her booth. I loved the way we arranged her exhibit separate from the vending spaces, because it made her work more visible and offered her a space to talk to people about individual quilts.

The demos were well-attended and sometimes even had people standing around watching. I wish I could have participated but hope that some will repeat at guild meetings in the next year. I would particularly like to learn how to work with hexagons.

For the most part, the vendors were pleased by their sales and the interest of visitors. One told me that last year he sold nothing on Saturday, but this year, things were flying out the door. A couple of vendors didn't do as well, but I was also pleased by the number of raffle tickets we sold, both for the quilt and the Featherweight sewing machine.

And then there were the quilts and totes! We kept saying they were better than last year, but I bet next year we will say the same. They all looked wonderful! The wooden racks we rented were a little difficult to assemble and a little wobbly, but they looked fine with quilts on them. A slide show of the quilts and the show is available at http://picasaweb.google.com/irishlazz/CVTQuiltShow2010. My big purple quilt and my pink "Summer" quilt are hanging on the Old Labor Hall's porch by the entrance. I entered the purple round robin quilt, which won the "Featured Quilter's Award," and my "3 Hannaford's Bags" tote won one of the "Challenge Awards."

Now it is time for evaluation and, I hope, passing the torch to someone else next year. I have a pile of stuff for that person(s) who I hope will shoulder most of the responsibility. It is time for Paul and me to move on to other activities. I am grateful for his help and that of son Chris who climbed many a ladder over three days and brother Axel who came from Wisconsin to help.