A Sketch: Antique Quilts from the Pilgrim/Roy Collection
This year the Festival is privileged to present 62 quilts from a single collection. Gerald Roy of Warner, NH, has been a collector and dealer in antique quilts for more than 40 years and has amassed a superb and idiosyncratic variety of examples from the 18th through the 20th centuries. The Pilgrim/Roy Collection, of which he is the owner and curator, is well known in antique quilt circles, but it is rare for this many of the quilts to be seen in one exhibit. Mr. Roy describes his exhibit as follows:

"When Paul Pilgrim and I first became interested in quilts we concentrated our attentions on specific patterns. We researched and devoted all our attentions specifically to those examples that held our interests at the time. The collection grew, in like manner, as our interests and knowledge expanded. As a result, there are very few single quilts in the collection that do not relate to others. The collection is composed of many collections within the whole. This exhibit is organized in the same manner in which the collection was conceived. This selection of quilts represents some of the quilts from some of the different areas within the collection as a whole."

Mr. Roy will offer daily gallery talks in Miller North, where the exhibit will hang. He will also present a trunk show and lecture Friday evening.

Life’s Work: The Quilts of Nancy Halpern
In continuing its retrospective exhibits of the work of well-known quilt artists, VQF is proud to feature approximately 40 quilts made by Nancy Halpern of Natick, MA, one of New England’s best-known and most talented quiltmakers and a leading light of the contemporary quilt world for more than 30 years. Here, in Ms. Halpern’s own words, is a description of her exhibit:

"From the beginning (the early ‘70s) my quilts have been inspired by the people, places and things I care about, plus the happy coincidences found in the colors and patterns of a heap of fabric. Their designs are essences, stripped down and distilled from more complex realities. Their fabrics (begged, bought and stolen) embody and embellish these essences. Their quilting is the calligraphy that tells their stories."

Ms. Halpern will offer daily gallery talks about her quilts, which will be displayed in Miller North.

During World War II women worked in defense industries, planted Victory Gardens, and kept the home fires burning, but they also found time for quiltmaking while their loved ones were on the battlefront. After the war their quilts were packed away in trunks and attics for decades. As members of "The Greatest Generation" leave us, these historically important quilts are coming into the market place. Sue Reich, a Connecticut quilt historian and collector, offers this year’s VQF visitors a large sample of her more than 60 quilts and tops with strong World War II provenance, as well as photographs, magazines and newspaper patterns of the period to anchor them historically in time. Ms. Reich will present a lecture about the exhibit as well as daily gallery talks about the quilts, which may be viewed in the Blue Ribbon Pavilion. In addition, copies of her new book on the collection will be available.

Members the Green Mountain Quilters Guild, Vermont’s statewide guild, have created individual quilts depicting their visions of the treasures of Vermont. Founded in 1978, the Guild includes many talented quiltmakers from the four corners of the state and encompasses every facet of quiltmaking today.

Annually in March, Vermont quilt shop owners sponsor a statewide shop hop. Quilters from all over Vermont (and beyond) gather their friends together to visit the participating stores. Each shop hands out a free quilt block pattern, and a visit to every shop results in the pattern for an entire quilt. This exhibit will showcase the 2009 Vermont Shop Hop Quilt pattern designed by Judy Thomas of Yankee Pride. Anyone who participated in the 2009 Shop Hop is invited to submit an entry form for consideration of inclusion in the exhibit.