I very much enjoyed the Vermont Shop Hop last weekend visiting 12 quilt shops across the state.  My fabric stash continues to grow (I call it my quilting 401k).

I had been looking at wooden barn quilts online to put over my garage door to make it easier for people to know they are at the right house when they come to drop off quilts but didn’t like the colors and most were too large for my small garage.  While on the Shop Hop I saw a metal block that was the right size but not the color or block I wanted – I looked online when I got home and found the perfect one!  It is now hanging over my garage door and I just love it!

I reached a milestone in my quilting business this week…. I quilted my 1500th quilt on my machine!  I still do quite a bit of free-motion custom quilting but the addition of the Intelliquilter has let me move into the digitized age and lets me offer so many more options for my clients AND saves my shoulders and back!

I am offering a special for the remainder of November and December to celebrate…. please see the ad below!

I am back in my quilting studio after a long week of working as Registrar at the Vermont Quilt Festival.  I didn’t have time to take pictures of the amazing quilts there but if you go on to the Vermont Quilt Festival Facebook page you will see many quilts and highlights from the show. (and while you are there ‘like’ their page and you will get news updates from VQF)

Below is a picture of me and my friend Teela Dufresne who is Volunteer Chair along with her daughter Trista who posted a lot of the pictures on the Facebook page.  This picture was taken after the show had ended in the middle of all the clean-up required to shut down and pack up.

After a long week at VQF

Next year is a BIG YEAR for VQF – it is the 40th Anniversary (another good reason to like their page so you can get updates as we prepare for that show – it’s going to be the best-ever! – Forty and Fabulous!)

The theme color for 40th anniversary is Ruby Red –  I purchased this new mug at the show for inspiration and also a bunch of beautiful red fabrics to make a red and white quilt for the show….  I will post updates as the quilt progresses!

After balancing growing a quilting business and working out of the home for the last ten years today is the first day of being a full-time quilter.  I am very excited to begin this next chapter and looking forward to more time dedicated to my passion of quilting and the opportunity to help more quilters finish their beautiful projects!

One of the key missions of Champlain Valley Quilt Guild is to educate the public on our craft.  As an outreach to get more information out to the public the guild contacted Seven Days a local independent paper to write an article about quilting and asked several of its members if they would be interviewed and share a sample of their work.  I gladly participated and am thankful to Seven Days for featuring our craft in their Art section this week.

Here is a link to the article – I encourage you to read about quilting today. My favorite local quilt store Yankee Pride is also featured in this article as well as several other quilters from my guild.

http://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/vermont-quilters-reinvigorate-traditional-craft/Content?oid=2471940

It’s finally here!  Vermont Quilt Festival!!

No time to spend at my quilting machine this week…. it’s time for VQF!

Vermont Quilt Festival

This is my first year as Registrar and I look forward to meeting students later today as they pick up their badges, along with beautifully designed VQF bags stuffed with useful information, Show catalog, etc.

I do have some of my quilts at the show… Coffee in the Cabin is entered to be judged and two of my other quilts are hanging in the main lobby are in a great display of works by the board members and staff of VQF.   (Also I have several of my clients who have entered their quilts that I had the privilege of quilting for them.)

It’s going to be a fantastic show…. if you are anywhere near the area you should attend! (for you quilters there are also many vendors so you can do some shopping!)

Show runs Friday thru Sunday…. hope you can stop in and enjoy the views!!

Whew!  It’s been a hectic year so far…  but I’ve survived:

1) Starting a new part-time job (now Technical Recruiter for Keurig since 1/27) – love it!!

2) 1st year as Registrar for Vermont Quilt Festival  – >550 Class Registrants since end of Feb!!

3) Taking 2 college classes (Web Development and Internet Marketing at CCV) – enrolled when I thought I would ‘only’ be quilting.

4) Participating in Machine Quilter’s Exposition  – both by entering a quilt and taking MANY classes to learn more about my IntelliQuilter system

5) Quilting 70 quilts for Clients so far this year….. should be able to pick up the pace now that my college classes are DONE!

I handed in my final projects for my classes today and now my website is officially launched!

Please visit my website: Machine Quilting Services of Vermont:  www.machinequiltvt.com  and let me know what you think!!

Say it ain’t so! I had all these projects ready for quilting retreat this weekend with my fellow CVQG (Champlain Valley Quilt Guild) campers and due to the extended winter there’s no water so no retreat! BooHoo!