This past week has seen me travelling from one craft fair to another and getting a little “frayed” around the edges! Next year I have already resolved to not do as many shows, but I am definitely sticking with my Vermont Hand Crafter’s Show at the Sheraton Conference Center in South Burlington, VT. It is a massive four day long event going from Thursday through Sunday with over 130 artists and crafters that is a shopping treat.
I really love this show because the artists are required to attend. Some shows do not require this, but I love the opportunity it gives me to meet other crafters and get inspired by their work. Here is a partial list of some of the artists that inspire me at this show:
Paper Crafts -
- Blue Roof Designs – www.blueroofdesigns.com – Hand made journals and photo albums featuring paper from around the world
Fiber -
- Knit to be Tied – Jan Brosky – Unique, whimsical hand knit scarves
- Jenny Hermenze – www.japanesedesigns.us – Katazome -Japanese stencil dyeing- on natural fiber clothing
- Jackie Mangione - www.JackieMangione.com – Hand painted & hand dyed silk scarves
- Laura Z – www.laurazonline.com - Fun, Funky, Fashionable bags and accessories
Paintings and Photography -
- Pika Works – www.pikaworks.com – Colorful, bright paintings of wild and whimsical animals
- Jeff Schneiderman Photography – www.jeffschneiderman.com – Limited edition fine art photography of nature, landscapes, and abstracts
Glass -
- Gabriel Glass – www.gabrielglass.com – Crystal art glass hand blown by second generation Vermont glassblower
Jewelry -
- Anne Havel – Lamp worked glass beads incorporated into sterling & copper jewelry designs
- Novation Glass – www.NovationGlass.com - Contemporary fused dichroic glass jewelry in a variety of styles
- Marsya Ancker – www.marsya.com – Beautiful jewelry with a unique set of energetic properties
- Stray Cat Jewelry – www.straycat.biz – Whimsically elegant polymer clay jewelry
Cool Stuff -
- Julia Emilo – Painted Gourds - Hand painted gourd ornaments, boxes, jewelry, and standing characters
- Vermont Rock Candles – www.vermontrockcandles.com - Oil Lamps made from Vermont stones
- Mary Stone – Clay Whistles – Clay Whistles – Musical sculptures individually hand formed from terra cotta, stoneware and porcelain
- Woodzels by Wetzels - www.woodzels.com - Handmade wooden items are hand painted in the traditional style
Holiday Decorations -
- Sunnie Andress Designs – www.sunnieandressdesigns.com - Whimsical, Folk Art Santas & Folk Figures and Hooked Wool Rugs in original designs or adaptations of antiques
- Jeanne Rae Crafts – www.jeanneraecrafts.com - Hand painted glass ball ornaments
- Jalin of Vermont – www.jalinofvermont.com – Individually handmade polymer clay ornaments
- Robert Weaver & Deb Salzarulo – Bob & Deb’s Sugarhouse - Handcrafted wood door harps and wood mosaic ornaments
For more information on these and all of the other great artists, please visit the VT Hand Crafter’s – Artist Pages.
I wanted to let everyone know that this week-end is the 56th annual Vermont Hand Crafter’s Show at the Sheraton Conference Center in South Burlington, VT. So, needless to say, I have not dropped off the face of the Earth – I am just in crunch time for the show! In the last 4 days I have quilted 6 quilts and 4 toddler blankets, pieced 2 tops and gone through about 3,000 yds of thread (and this is in addition to a trip to the ER and working as a substitute at the school). So wish me luck everyone, and I will try to post updates of the week-end from the hotel. It is running from Thursday through Sunday and is usually packed. Think happy thoughts about the economy and that folks are looking for holiday gifts! Have a great week-end!
Here it is – my first organic baby quilt! This great quilt has certified 100% organic cotton fabrics in an unbleached, natural cotton and a checked homespun. The batting is an environmentally friendly batting made from fast growing plantation trees that are broken down in a green facility and spun into cellulose fibers. The batting is biodegradable, hypo-allergenic, and fire retardant without the use of harsh chemicals! The fire retardant properties are due to the natural way the plantation trees grow and contain silica in their pulp. This silica in turn allows the batting to be naturally fire retardant!
When I was designing this quilt, I had a hard time trying to come up with a pattern that would suit a two toned quilt. I was playing around in my EQ6 (electric quilt 6 software) and saw the pineapple blocks. I had never done a pineapple block but have always wanted to. When I laid it all out and added the two colors, I loved it! I really like the depth that the two tones give the quilt – almost a 3D quality.
The best way to do this quilt block was to print paper foundations for each of the pineapple blocks and piece it that way (highly recommend Carol Doak’s paper-piecing foundation paper and Add-a-Quarter rulers). I was afraid that if I tried to strip piece this together, the blocks might start to twist and spin instead of lining up nicely.
So, once this was all settled, I got started cutting out the pieces and putting this quilt together. I must say, if I had realized that one baby quilt has over 350 pieces, I may have re-thought the design! 
You can see at the left a shot of the foundations in progress. I believe I am putting on the corner pieces of the blocks in this shot.
Thirty hours later, this quilt is now finished! I was so excited to get it done as I have been wanting to start an organics line of baby quilts and I think this gets the line off to a wonderful start! Vermont Hand Crafters, a craft group I belong to, is filming a segment for Across the Fence, a show about local products on WCAX Channel 3. They asked me for a sample of my work and were excited when I gave them this quilt to put on the air. If you have access to Channel 3, please watch on 11/17 from 12:10 to 12:30 EST.
One of my girlfriends is having a baby soon and I put together this sweet baby quilt for her. It was really fun to make and I did it using a charm pack and some white on white print with little chicks and bunnies on it. I am thrilled with how it came out and hope that my friend will enjoy it, too. She still has not decided on a color scheme for her baby girl, so I thought this would go with just about anything. I think that when I finish the baby quilt I will use a pink binding and probably more pink on the back. She already has a little boy, and I have two little boys, so the chance to play with pink is so much fun!
Over the week-end I started to put together what I thought was going to be the Vermont Farm baby quilt. But when I finally got to putting the whole thing together up on the design wall, I was not happy with the fabrics! Eeek! Everything worked together pre-assembly, but post-assembly, I did not care for it at all. 
I think that the problem is that I have the really bold black and white polka dot sashings and when I paired them up with the farm print, it was just too much. The print was too busy and the polka dots too bold. Clash, clash, clash!
So I had a bit of a tiff and then my darling husband found the remnant of the print from my ladybug quilt. It was only about 2-3 yards. Not enough for another ladybug quilt, but perfect for what I needed. I swear I heard the heavens open and a choir singing “Hallelujah” ’cause it is perfect! So now I have my newest quilt I will be calling Crimson and Clover.
This week has seen me burning the midnight oil (as well as the 1 and 2 am oil!) in making Halloween costumes for my guys. My oldest wanted to be a penguin and the youngest picked a winged-bat-creature-superhero-type-costume that had to be the most obnoxious pattern ever made. So even though I did not make the hood or the belt, the shiny purple wings and the mask just made his day. When he came down Halloween morning, and I had him try it on for the first time, he refused to take it off. Needless to say, he went to pre-school in his costume ’cause I wasn’t fighting to get it off!
The only thing missing are the dalmation boots he wore trick-or-treating!
