Hello from the Vermont Quilt Festival

I'm at the Vermont Quilt Festival in Burlington Vermont. Last night was the opening ceremony. There were about 1,000 quilters there for the first night - standing room only for the announcement of the award winners.

The judges this year are Pepper Cory, Libby Lehman, and John Flynn. In addition to the regular awards, each of the judges awarded a Judge's Choice award. Pepper gave hers to a quilt from Beaconsfield, Quebec, "Minton Memories." It is a very Pepper quilt - soft-colored hand-applique and hand-quilted. Pepper said it was tough to judge the show - it took the judges two full days to judge the quilts and decide on the awards. VQF has a complex point system where quilts are judged on their own merits, not against each other.

The first place winner is a wallquilt - machine-appliqued and machine-quilted/embroidered - "Maidens in Full Bloom" from Illinois.

After the opening ceremony, they let us in to see the quilts and gave us champagne and chocolate. There are more than 600 quilts, plus a huge display of antique quilts and tons of vendors. There is also an historical quilt exhibit with past winners from VQF going back to 1981. Mrs. Aronson's 1983 blue-ribbon winner is in the historical exhibit.

Today Mrs. Aronson has an all-day class, and I'm going to the show and vendors with her friend, Ruth Reichel. Ellen and the girls fly in this afternoon, and we'll go to the lecture tonight before dinner. Tomorrow I'm taking Pepper Cory's Crosspatch class, and Ellen and the girls are taking half-day classes. Tomorrow's lecture is Libby Lehman, followed by the giant show-and-tell.

Fun so far!