wow, Wow and WOW!

What a fantastic quilt artist! My good friend Trudy has a friend that was having a gallery showing in Brandon, Vt and thought I would be interested in seeing her works. She was right. Friday was a girl friend road trip day to visit this exhibit and a couple others showing her work, besides stopping by her studio as well as more stops along the way, wherever we wanted or were drawn to. What a great Day and the artist, JUDITH REILLY is absolutely fantastic. What a talented quilter, artist besides a very gracious lady.

Another like minded friend, Sue along with Trudy and moi left early Friday morning packed with our picnic lunches, enthusiasm, and with the sole intent of visiting Judith Reilly's exhibits. OF course a road trip also includes little stops along the way. The first stop was at Knits and Bolts. I stumbled upon a sale of Accuquilt Go! dies at 40% off. YIKES! They are never on sale and though they didn't have the particular dies I really, really want, I was able to increase my assortment of dies with that discounted price. WHat a nice surprise, I am feeling very contented at this point.

The dies I would like to get next are the Funky Flower, Tulip, stems and leaves, Rob Peter to Pay Paul, and Winding Ways. It will be after I finish my quilts for the guild's show that my intention is to play with my Accuquilt Go! and cut the rag squares for a quilt in my UFO pile. I really need to get some "hands on" time and play with my toy. I can see how this purchase will help out and speed up my creativity. With the back issues, many times cutting is a difficulty for me and this will be a huge help and hopefully keep pain in check besides the speed up the time when cutting up my scraps for humpjumping.

Of course both Trudy and Sue found a bit to bring home with them as well, even though neither are into the Accuquilt Go! yet. Our next stop was in Brandon Vt. We found a museum/visitor center with a picnic area on the lawn, so we took a nice lunch break and stretched out our legs, found out about the area and where all these exhibits were happening.

Continuing along our journey, Judith Reilly's studio was next and she was there. Heaven! Her works of art are so detail specific with just a touch of whimsey that I loved each piece. Each one seen I loved and yet the next viewed I loved just a tad more than the previous one. Absolutely stunning works of art. So for your viewing pleasure peeps, I present to you just a few of her pieces.





Judith was so gracious to us and gave us a private tour of her studio (where the magic happens). She answered every question we asked and even gave us a glimspe of the steps she does to create her works. WOW! How diverse and talented. She frames her own pieces too, amazing!



This is Judith with a little friend she made. Can you say Multi-talented! The next snapshots are of the piece of fabric she played on while we were there and a little something I purchased.



It was going back into her gallery and gift shop that I honored my "non-smoking anniversary" gift to myself with yet again with an original art work piece. I call it "Amongst Friends" but I need to write to her and see what title she has for the piece. Thank you Judith. I left her studio feeling so thankful and glad and inspired to try out some of her steps.

Our journey continued and we visited two additional galleries. The Brandon Artist Guild where many talented artists had samples of their passions. Besides Judith's work there I also found a silver artist that made the most original pieces of jewelry, Meg something (I'll have to find her business card and insert her last name later). She might be able to give a class on her technique sometime in the future, so Trudy and I both left her our names and contact info. Hopefully, we will be able to learn her steps. Of course being a gallery, photo's were not allowed, so I can't share the wonderful sights seen there.

Next up was the Gallery in the Field just north of Brandon. Yet again more gorgeous works of art. The space was amazing and the artwork displayed beautiful. Some of Judith Reilly's older pieces were visible there besides the newer ones and the development of her art was evident.




All in all, it was a fantabulous day. Thank you Trudy and Sue for sharing your day with me. This journey of ours made for a long day, but one I will cherish and remember fondly.



While traveling back home, a peculiar sight we encountered along the way just near Ferrisburg, Vt. Ollie the camel bearing witness to our journey.




Thank You Judith for all your inspiration. And as she would say, Follow your instincts and enjoy your journey or "Whatever blows your hair back".

Jane