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Saturday, October 22, 2016

Maine trip - part I

My dh and I have wanted to visit Maine for years and we were finally able to put the trip together this fall.  And we were so lucky with the timing.  Fall is in full swing (at least until this weekend!) and we enjoyed some beautiful weather and spectacular fall colors!

I had arranged to meet Wendy Caton Reed at her house in Bath and she was a most amazing hostess.  First thing we did upon arriving at their fabulous house was a tour of the sewing areas!



This is Wendy with some of her stash, which is expertly organized.

Then she showed me some of her quilts, which she has laying on a "bed"...she said it wasn't a real bed, though! VBG


The top quilt was the one that Lori recently hosted, the Gwennie medallion.  It is truly beautiful!  I didn't get pictures of her other quilts but do you notice all the ribbons hanging on the wall?  Wendy is extremely modest but she does absolutely amazing work.

here is one little block she has been working on from the Shenandoah Valley year long block of the month, I think.  I hope she doesn't mind that I'm showing it.


Here are her threads (DMC), beautifully organized and arranged!


I think I can honestly say that Wendy is an expert in the "potholder" method of quilting.  It's akin to quilt as you go, only much better!  She works on each block, quilts that particular block (using half weight wool batting), then puts on the binding.  When all the blocks are done, she whipstitches them together.  I'll show you a quilt we saw at the Shelburne Museum in the next day or two.

Yesterday we started our journey to Vermont with a stop at Cyndi Black's amazing shop called Busy Thimble, located on her farm in a beautiful area.


Can you see the gorgeous fall colors??


This is the shop!!

Here is a neighbor, watching the neighborhood:

Cyndi's husband actually works with livestock and I'm guessing this is one of their cows.

Here are Cyndi and Wendy in the shop:

I should have taken more pictures of her fabrics but I was too busy snapping pictures of her samples and pulling bolts off the walls for her to cut me pieces that I neglected to do that.  I'm sorry, Cyndi.

If you EVER have a chance to get to Litchfield in Maine, run, don't walk, to Cyndi's Busy Thimble. She also has a Facebook page and does phone/mail order so don't feel constrained by an inability to physically get there!

I'll post pictures of some of her beautiful samples in the next few days.  

She needed to stop at the post office on our way to Shelburne, which was perfect for me to ship home the pieces of fabric I got.  This tree was in the parking lot and I just couldn't not take a picture.




We fly home tomorrow and next post will show the samples that Cyndi has in her shop.  VERY inspiring!  Then I'll share what we saw at the Shelbourne Museum, in Vermont.  Also, so very amazing!!

16 comments:

  1. Looks like an amazingly fun time! Isn't fall just so lovely?

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  2. Thanks for your kind words, Randy! Wonderful to meet and travel to Vermont with you and Mark...........safe travels back to CA!

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  3. I'm am so happy that you got to go to Cyndi's shop! Isn't it the best? I thought I had taken photos of everything when I was there, but after I got home I realized how much I had missed. I also got shots of all of the samples, but only some of the fabric.
    Cyndi is such a sweetheart! I didn't meet Wendy--didn't know about her at the time, but Cyndi put me on to her blog and now I wish I had another chance to go.
    Isn't it beautiful there in the Fall?
    Can't wait for your next installment!!

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  4. Oh la la Randy...what a beautiful post ! Thank you for sharing these wonderful momemts ! I always said that Wendy is the Queen of potholder method ! Don't you agree with me ? And the shop of Cyndi is like Heaven.... all these treasures ! What a beautiful and lucky trip !

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  5. Thank you for sharing I need to get back to New England - I miss it so. I live in the Midwest now.

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  6. What a fabulous trip you had! I would definitely be interested in that whipstitch method of working block by block...thanks for taking us along on your adventure...hugs, Julierose

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  7. Sounds like you had a fun time meet these two ladies. I enjoyed meeting them too via your post. Wendy does gorgeous work. I saw the tiny little flowers on her Gwennie's Medallion quilt and scalloped edges, WOW! It must have been a blast to view all of her work. Thanks for sharing and the Autumn's pictures too. I enjoyed it a lot. ;^)

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  8. I really enjoyed your visit with Wendy!! WOW! Her quilts are AMAZING and her fabrics are out of this world! Now I can put a face to an email! What a fantastic trip you had and loved the shop!

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  9. It does look like it was the best time of year to go! Wow!
    Wendy and Cyndi seem like the nicest quilters!

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  10. Wendy is an amazing quilter and Cindi's shop has always looked fantastic. How fun that you had the chance to visit with both of these gals and then, through in those gorgeous fall colors, it looks like an awesome trip.

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  11. I think every quilter would want to see someone's sewing room first thing. And then all their quilts. What a good time you had.

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  12. looks fabulous! That stack of quilts at Wendy's looks so awesome.
    She's a wonderful lady and quilter!

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  13. So, we got halfway to Montpelier before we realized we forgot to take the pictures of the three of us that we talked about the night before. Sheesh! I guess we were all to "quilt drunk" to think clearly. What a fun time! Can't thank you enough for joining in the fun!

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  14. What a wonderful opportunity for travel, meeting a friend, and viewing museum quality quilts up close! I am sure you and Wendy had a blast! Look at Wendy's stash! WOW!!!!

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  15. What a wonderful trip! DH & I traveled to New England for our 50th anniversary 4 years ago and just loved it!! Too bad I missed Cindi's quilt shop.

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  16. It was so nice to meet you in Shelburne. I'm always so impressed by Cyndi's and Wendy's talent and spirit.

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