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Vermont Quilt Festival Named a Top Ten Summer Event

Posted on: Friday, 5 June 2009, 11:18 CDT

Friday, June 19 - Sunday, June 21 at the Champlain Valley Expo

ESSEX JUNCTION, Vt., June 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The Vermont Quilt Festival, named a Top Ten Summer Event by the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, attracts thousands of quilt enthusiasts from around the world. New England's oldest and largest annual quilt event runs from June 19-21 at the Champlain Valley Expo in Essex Junction, Vermont, and offers exhibits of more than 500 dazzling new and antique quilts, lectures and workshops presented by renowned quilt artists, classes for children and a colorful display of wares in its Merchant Mall. Free and informative gallery talks, free vendor demos, appraisals, and the Festival's second Booth Hop (sponsored by In The Beginning of Seattle) add to the excitement.

Festivities begin on Thursday, June 18, with the Awards Ceremony at 6:45pm, honoring the quilt contest winners; Governor James Douglas will present the Governor's Award. The Champagne and Chocolate Preview begins at 7:30pm (event sponsored by Quilting Treasures of Rhode Island; chocolate sponsored by Lake Champlain Chocolates of Burlington). Preview tickets are $12 payable at the door. The appraisal service for antique quilts is available Saturday from 9am to 5pm. Exhibits and the Merchants Mall are open to the public Friday and Saturday from 9am to 6pm; Sunday from 9am to 3pm. Daily admission is $12, seniors $10, children under 14 free.

Highlights include:

The Contest Exhibit features 250 quilts that offer a display of the diverse talents of quilters of all ages from the US and abroad. The Doreen Speckmann Retrospective, premiering at the Festival, shows the creativity and ingenuity of this national quilt artist, now deceased. "Hurrah for the Red, White and Green" features 60 plus antique quilts from public and private collections in this most popular color combination in the history of quiltmaking. Faculty Showcase and A Class Act comprise quilts by this year's and next year's teachers, respectively. Several smaller exhibits feature the works, from traditional to contemporary, of a variety of quilt artists.

The Festival was founded in 1977 as a one-day show of old and new quilts as a part of Northfield's annual Labor Day weekend celebration. From its inception, the Festival has depended on private owners of quilts and loans from the collections of historical societies and museums. It has expanded its offerings and is now a three-day event. The Festival also operates Vermont Quiltsearch which documents antique Vermont quilts and their makers. The Festival's goals are to bring the best quilts and quiltmakers in the world to New England and to preserve a record of this region's artistic and cultural heritage.

For information about the Vermont Quilt Festival, visit www.vqf.org or email info@vqf.org

SOURCE Vermont Quilt Festival

Source: PR Newswire

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