I've long been a fan of the Vermont Quilt Festival, but living as I do in southern New Hampshire means a long drive to get there. I've been able to go to VQF several times in the past, and I've come to the conclusion that this is the kind of trip made for a bus ride. And when you take a whole bunch of other quilters, many of whom have never been to the show before - you have a great trip to Vermont.

VQF does a first class job of encouraging young quiltmakers to enter the show, and I've long been impressed with both the quantity of quilts and the diversity of what these young people can accomplish.  This picture above is one of my very favorite pictures from the show...it was taken in the vendor mall area, and this little girl (who has a shopping bag over her shoulder as big as she is) was really concentrating on working with the machine...she was not just playing around.  She attracted quite a group of admirers watching her stitch her flower pattern.  I love that Vermont is the kind of a show where this kind of creativity is encouraged!

Janome USA and Bittersweet Fabric Shop of Boscawen NH are two of the platinum sponsors of the festival, and this year they (again) worked together to acknowledge this very special group of young people. At the Opening preview, each Young Quilter (defined as aged 17 or younger) was awarded a brand new Janome sewing machine.  I think this is extraordinary, and I love the fact that I get goose bumps just thinking about it.