vermont sewing weekends

Where do I begin to summarize our August adventures in lovely Vermont? Maybe with this photo, which actually has very little to do with sewing but everything to do with the level of fun we had during this trip:

If you haven’t met Heather Ross yet, you’re missing out. She’s extremely funny, laid-back, and a good sport about absolutely everything. Trust me, I had the pleasure of spending nearly every waking hour for ten days with her, so I know. And we were still laughing and talking right up to the very end.

Our first group of fifteen sewists arrived on Friday afternoon, and after one of Blueberry Hill’s notoriously fantastic dinners, we all marched off to the sewing barn to get started. Kelly of Make, Grow, Gather joined us for the weekend, and Phiona of Nido (in Burlington–great shop) dropped by with Ashley of Film in the Fridge to talk a bit about Ashley’s quilts. (Sorry–I was too busy holding up quilts and talking about them to take any photos. But you can see a few shots on the weekend’s Flickr page.)

We took a quick Saturday morning jaunt into town for the local annual yard sale. This little boy could’ve been mine. But I probably would have been too frightened to get any work done (or to do anything at all, for that matter) with him staring at me like that.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many second-hand skis in my entire life as we saw at this event. We also made some great scores, including a terrific vintage Necchi sewing machine in excellent condition.

And you can’t go to Vermont and spend the entire time sitting in a barn, sewing. So Heather brought along her Orla Kiely teepee, and we rigged it up with a bed, quilts, and even an electric lantern for naps, hanging out, and for cocktail hour.

One of the great pleasures of teaching at weekend sewing events is that everyone who comes is so nice and so fun. The other great thing is that they all bring interesting projects or ideas to work on, and each person makes something different. Here are two of the terrific projects that came out of weekend number 1, which passed far too quickly.

It was at this point that my camera battery quit on me, so you’ll have to visit the group’s Flickr page to see more. Sorry.

Later that afternoon my camera was back up and running again, and although all our new sewing friends had already (and sadly) departed, our husbands and the kiddo had arrived for a few days of relaxation.

S promptly got busy picking blueberries. They don’t call it Blueberry Hill for nothing, let me tell you. We also spent a great deal of time hanging out by the pond, books and/or drinks in hand. One morning we managed to pull ourselves out of our comfortable chairs and onto the trail for a short hike up to a reservoir, where the swimming was great.

We parted ways briefly one day so some of us could visit the Ben and Jerry’s factory. Best part? The flavor graveyard, with funny epitaphs for departed flavors.

And this is my very favorite photo of these two, EVER.

We hit Addison County Field Days on our way back to the inn. Rides were ridden, sheep were judged, lemonade was drunk, fun was had. You know. Summertime stuff.

On another day we paid a visit to the inn’s neighboring barn, where Diane, the local justice of the peace, stores loads of costumes for Vermont theater groups. Incredible, mind-boggling collection of materials inside. It also happens to be the location of Heather and TC’s first wedding. If you don’t know the story, you absolutely must read about it.

We managed to sneak in lots of other adventures, including a quick photo shoot for the fall patterns, before spouses and kid departed and the next weekend got started.

But that’s enough for one post, I think. I’ll finish up tomorrow with weekend #2. There’s so much more to tell!