Summertime - time

Where oh where does the time go?  It's coming down to the end of July and I feel like summer has just begun.  We did have a mighty cool, rainy spring so perhaps that's what has made the summer seem so short to me. 

Here in Brookline summer is time for gardening, swimming in the West River (or some other favorite swimming hole), bicycling and festivals. Oh my, festivals, there are so many.

Some of the coming fests "in the 'hood" are just around the corner.  Jamaica has "old home days" with all sorts of doings this weekend.  


Next, on August 6th, is Grace Cottage Hospital's Fair Days up in Townshend - an auction, parade of anyone born at the hospital, a tag sale, plant sale, pony rides, music and a barbeque - what more could anyone want?

The following weekend is the Windham County History Fair  on the  Newfane Common on August 13th - both the Brookline Round Schoolhouse and the Historic Brookline Church will have a tent there. Raffle tickets for the finished 2011 "Moonlight in Vermont" quilt will be for sale  and the quilt will be on display. Oh, and there will be lots of crafts demos and other historical organizations there too.

 

On August 28th, the last Sunday in August, is the 3rd Annual Sunflower Festival, right here in Brookline.  There will be food, music, face painting, the quilt raffle - of course - vendors and a silent auction and who knows what else... 

And that takes us to the end of August!  With all these festivals, and warm summer weather to enjoy, no wonder why I'm not busy blogging.  But before I sign off, here's a picture of the finished 2011 quilt in all it glory!

Come on out to a fair and see the actual quilt for yourself!

Tag sale tomorrow!

Has been awhile since I've posted a thing, so I'm back briefly.  Long enough to note, there's a big town-wide Tag Sale in Newfane tomorrow (Sat - July 2).  The Historic Brookline Church Preservation group will be there with lots of stuff to sell to raise funds for the building AND the quilt will be on display!  Raffle tickets for sale too - of course.

That's it for tonight - will put up some longer news in the coming week.

There's a whole lot 'a Moonlight in Vermont

Oh my gosh - where did the past two weeks go?  If time flies when you're having fun, I must be having a lot of it.  Writing this blog has taken a bit of a backseat to weaving and gardening, and so I've got some catching up to do I suppose.  

I seem to remember I promised to share the Moonlight in Vermont quilts from years' past in my last post, so without further ado, here is a gallery of quilts beginning in 2000, and some of the quilters that have stitched them:

Wait, I know  - where is the Moonlight in the 2000 quilt?  The first Moonlight in Vermont quilt was stitched in 2001, but I included the quilt from 2000 above even though it doesn't fit the theme. It was a beauty.

 Here's the first of the series          

 And some details.

Two more years above - very similar borders, but not exactly the same.

 Here are some of the 2004 quilters at work.

Are you able to see some of the differences from year to year?  Hard to get the detail on the internet, but I hope some of the detail and variations are visible.

And finally, years 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010:

I have a feeling I missed 2002.  Well, I'll check my files and if I did I'll add it another time.  

That's it for this week - next week I'm off to visit family; when I get back I hope there's a finished picture of the 2011 quilt ready to post!  Happy spring to everyone.

A Sneak Peek

The 2011 "Moonlight in Vermont" quilt is complete!  We stopped in at Pat's last Wednesday and everyone there was busy perusing craft magazines and other materials collecting ideas and inspirations for new craft projects.  The quilt was neatly folded and wrapped up, but they kindly took it out so my husband, Paul, could take some photos.

Unfortunately it was hard to get a big picture of the entire quilt in the space available. There will be a picture of the top taken soon - they usually hang it from a balcony railing in Betty's house and then a full view of the whole quilt top can be seen.  But, just as a teaser, here are some pictures of the quilt taken last Wednesday 'til the "official" picture is ready -

Look at all the animals on these quilt squares!  And I love the detail on the houses - in the windows, on the roofs - everywhere!


I think everyone's individual touches are what makes this quilt so interesting and unique - not one square is exactly like the other.

 
I guess that makes sense - each square reflects the unique spirit of each person.









All stitched together to make one beautiful quilt!

So happy Mother's Day to any moms reading the blog today!  Next week - "Moonlight in Vermont" quilts from years past.

Oldies but goodies

Well I didn't make it over to check on the quilt progress this week - it was nearly done last week and I'm hoping by next Wednesday I'll be there to take pix of the completed masterpiece.  

In the meantime, how about some pictures of quilts from past years?  I've been poking through the archives (translation: boxes & notebooks from the last 30+ years) and found some beauties!  Some of them have more info with them than others - these pictures span from 1974 to 1999.  But isn't a picture is worth a hundred words?  So without further ado here are some snapshots:

The first photo is from the 1974 autumn edition of Vermont Life Magazine - must have been the 1974 quilt don't you think?  The article was about Brookline & featured the Ladies Benevolence Society quilters and the famous Round Schoolhouse - which was where the quilters met according to the article.

The second picture shows a quilt called "Blue Dahlia" and is shown with the 1986 raffle tickets that were sold for it - the raffle tickets are still the same price today!

This quilt pictured is a "mystery year" - no date included in the files. Anyone out there remember what year this one was made?

This sweet quilt is from 1989 - anyone know the name of the pattern?

Here are a few more undated quilt photos - very nice!

 Last, but certainly not least, is the 1999 quilt that was raffled.  I wonder who the lucky owner of this one is?

Come to think of it, next week I'll post more quilts from the 90's and the one from 2000.  So y'all will have to be patient to see the 2011 Moonlight in Vermont in all its glory.

Quilt progress update

Several weeks ago the quilt was in separate squares and yesterday, when I showed up at Pat's house, it looked nearly done! I'm no seamstress, but it sure looks like speed sewing to me.

Here's Alice hemming part of the border.  And this is the BACK of the quilt.  You can't quite make out the wonderful white quilting stitches that loop around in patterns over the back. 

And here's a close up of the hem being blindstitched. 
The quilters graciously turned the quilt over so I could admire (and photograph) the front of the quilt too!  

I got some insight how it's all assembled:  Briefly, there are 20 quilt "sandwiches" made; each "sandwich" includes the top-piecework, batting, and a backing piece.  When each piece is done, they are joined together, then a border is added and all the finishing hemming is done.  

This is the 11th Moonlight in Vermont themed quilt the Ladies Benevolence group has made - there were many more quilts, but just 11 of these so far. 

One more picture of the group at work this week - then watch for pics of the finished quilt and some history in the weeks ahead!

And this year's quilt is.....

Back in January the Ladies Benevolence Society of HBCPI, plus friends, began their annual quilt.  I don't know what number quilt this one is, but a group of women have been gathering here in Brookline for over two decades to stitch together a handsewn quilt as a fundraiser for preserving the Church building.  I've been digging through the archives and plan to share some of the past efforts but for now, this year's quilt is special enough to share.

This year, as in several years' past, the subject is "Moonlight in Vermont."  I believe there are 20 squares in all, each one appliqued and quilted by an individual quilter, then they are joined and a border is added.  Here are some pictures from a couple weeks ago of some of the stitchers in action: 

There was a nice article too this weekend in the Brattleboro Reformer about the quilt this past Saturday - here's a link to it:Brattleboro Reformer Article - "Moonlight in Vermont Quilt"

This is just one of the twenty squares - very nice, don't you think?


So, I've heard that most if not all the squares are now sewn together and I hope to get over to the crafters on Wednesday to check out the progress and take more pictures - this is sew much fun!

Best place to begin is at the beginning.

Where to begin? 
Perhaps an introduction is in order.  My name is Somara and I moved to Brookline Vermont almost two years ago with my husband and our dogs.  What a change for us!  We left Chicago city-living and bright-lit night skies for a quiet country back road and soot-black night skies  (except for the countless stars which of course we can now see).  Our little community of Brookline, Vermont has a town hall, a historic round schoolhouse (perhaps the only one in the U.S.A) a small elementary school building and the Historic Church of Brookline - about which much more will be written.

After our belongings arrived via moving van -  no, actually before all our belongings arrived -  one of the first things we did was go looking for the closest library - which we found one town over in Newfane VT.  This is where we first met Judy, the current president of the Historic Brookline Church Preservation Initiative - or HBCPI for short.  Judy was one of the volunteers in the library that afternoon and she asked if I was interested in joining the HBCPI: I said yes,  we pass by this lovely place going to and from home, I'd be glad to help ensure it's continued existence.

And that was the very beginning of my involvement with this lovely group of folks, whose mission has been to preserve this lovely old historic building and to find new ways to make it available to the community.  There is much more to tell, so more posts will be up shortly --especially as the annual "Moonlight in Vermont" Quilt is well underway!