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

Mary Ellen Hopkins lectures...

What a dynamic, petite woman with enough personality for 5 people! In the past 10-20years, I've always said that if Mary Ellen Hopkins was anywhere near where I was, I would do anything within my power to see her. Well, another dream of mine has come true.

Wednesday night and all day Thursday, Mary Ellen Hopkins gave a lecture at a neighboring guild and I atold Dh that I was going. Yep, I didnt; even ask, I just told him. No problem, got a hotel room and left. She has a simple yet to me, an unusual approach to her quilt making. The most complex blocks, she can irradicate the instruction into the simplest of terms and have a stunning quilts at the sae time. Her use of color is unique and I still am a huge fan. I love the size of the strips she uses too. One of her mantras is to cut the strip no larger than 1.5" at the maximum. Smaller is better for cutting, longer is better for buying. Besides

What an enjoyable time. I was able to meet friends that I made while quilting at Paul Smiths Quilt Conference years ago, besides made some new friends. A little shout out to Cheryl, Louise, Judy, Kathy and Pat, I really enjoyed meeting and spending time with you.

When I checked out of the hotel, I was using the clock in the room and not my wrist watch. I thought it unusual that the front desk clerk never set the 6am wake up call but set it for 7am, but I thought, people are people and sometimes mistakes happen. No big Deal, I'm up anyway and have enough time to get dressed, shower, go out to eat and have breakfast, check out and get to the place where the lecture is. It was starting at 9am. Proceeded with my agenda in a timely manner, and while enroute to the lecture hall, called DH to let him know my plans when I looked at the clock on the dash board. I was one hour and 20 minutes early. Hummmm, the clerk was right and really had called at 6 am. SO now what?
Well I figured I'd drive and scout out a copuple of shops some of the ladies had told me about the night before. The Wooden Needle which is a stitchery shop and the Vermont Fabric and Yarn shop which is a quilt shop so I'd know how to get to them quickly after the lecture. But..... I stumbled across some different views. I absolutely loved it and was thrilled about it, quirky and some parts stunningly beautiful. PS, Have you ever wondered where bicycles came from?




They grow in Vermont! I never knew that.







The stacked rocks are amazing. Such Talent. These pictures are done by an amature, but I am impressed with the quality of my photos. It must of been the exceptional early morning light. I'm so glad I messed up the time, otherwise all of this would have been lost to me. The early morning light was shining on the bicycles hanging in the tree which made me turn the car around, pull over to investigate and brought me closer so I could see.
Then I saw the stone work. WOW! I love to witness the finished artwork of someone who has found their niche and allows their passion to flow. Beautiful! I kept trying to find out the artists' name, I think it might be woman named Thea from some hints I saw in the split log egg/hen house, but I couldn't find out anything more about her or possibly him at the lecture.


This guy was the only inhabitant I saw. He kept following me around I'm sure just wondering what this strange lady was doing in his yard, but he also wasn't sure which door to choose.

Any suggestions?





Enjoy your day, it won't be repeated.
Jane