Last week I found a link to The Uniform Project. Click the link and read all about it. This is a project in which the woman below is wearing the same black “uniform” every day for one year. It is a short dress/smock that buttons up either in front or back. She changes up the uniform every day. She is doing amazing things with this one dress and accessories. I’m getting some good ideas!

Look on the left side of her blog page. Click on “View Dailies” and a calendar will come up. Click on a day and you’ll see the photo of the outfit she wore that day.

I taught at the Vermont Quilt Festival. What a great show! If you ever get a chance, go to this show. The quilts were wonderful, the quilters are happy, and there are lots of classes. It is held on the campus of St. Michael’s College in Burlington, VT. The land is flat and the classrooms are air conditioned.

There were some great red and white and green antique quilts. This one, #A32, was my favorite. Here is what the catalog said about it:
“Potted Flowers with One Blue Pot, 1850-70
This quilt is an example of the pot-of-flowers quilt pattern for which there is an ongoing research project. There are very few of these intricately made quilts, the majority of them having PA or OH origins. This particular quilt, locatedin 2006, was not one of the known examples and has since been added to the project. We do not know the name of the maker, but it is also believed to have come from PA. The one blue glowerpot is a result of the yellow component of the original over dyed green being fugitive. Private collection.”

Personally, I wish the blue flower pot was intentional. That color change is what makes this quilt so memorable.

#A4 was another favorite. It’s named Urn with Red Feather & Mystery Flower, 1850. The catalog says:
“This quilt is from Oneonta, NY. The design is composed of elements common to many red and green applique quilts with flowers and leaves emerging from an urn. But the expression is totally original. The flowers are unlike those seen in nature and the leaves are as much like red feather as leaves. The quilting apttern on the center setting blocks is unusual – a pineapple tree with three pineapples. Private collection.”

And then there was this striped stairwell spotted in downtown Burlington. The stripes dressed up an otherwise boring spot.

We went to the Shelburne Museum before my classes started at the Vermont Quilt Festival. The museum sits on a large swath of land in Shelburne, VT. There are historical houses, barns, buildings, a steamboat, and a locomotive on site that have been restored and furnished. There are a variety of exhibits. The docents were exceptionally helpful and knowledgable. The Shelburne is definitely worth a visit if you come this way.

It was a beautiful day – breezy and cool. The plants were bright green, the flowers lovely. Here is some of what we saw…

The round, red barn at the entrance had a motorcycle exhibit on display.

It was interesting to go into these houses. The walls were mostly solid wood planks. 2×4 construction came along much later.

There were several lovely antique quilts on exhibit. I didn’t photograph them because we couldn’t figure out how to turn off the flash on my camera. Oh my. I did use my little camera to take a photo of this block. I know I’ve seen it before but I don’t think I’ve ever really looked at it. The shapes are appliqued, not pieced.

This Paul Revere on his horse weathervane made me smile.

There is a horseshoe-shaped building devoted to circus things. One entire side has a carved replica of a circus parade mady by Roy Arnold. He spent 25 years carving and painting it – and he had helpers! It’s pretty amazing. I think the wheels would look great as pieced blocks.

The American side of the falls is different. From this side you get the view over-the-top. Surprisingly, the river leading to the falls doesn’t look that dangerous. There are rapids and there is a lot of mist in the distance (clouds of it in fact) and there is the noise from the falls – but if you didn’t know what was coming you might just paddle on… and over you’d go.

A closer shot of the top of the American falls…

Here’s the top of Horseshoe Falls…

I love these things. They look like happy men from Mars.

We drove from Michigan through Ontario, Canada, to Niagra Falls. It really is spectacular from the Canadian side. You can see the falls falling. There are two falls. American Falls…

…and Horseshoe Falls. There is mist coming off both of them and when the light hits it just right, you can see rainbows. It’s very cool. And noisy. And damp depending on which way the mist is blowing.

You can’t park near the falls. The walk from the parking lot to the falls takes you through some serious tourist-y stuff. The Frankenstein Burger King was pretty impressive.

King Kong was attached the the sideways Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. I was happier to find fudge and a nut-covered carmel apple.

We got to our hotel and they asked if we would be willing to upgrade to a jacuzzi suite. Well, why not, right? There’s a huge jacuzzi in one corner of the room and we might actually use it! Actually, no, we didn’t. It just seemed a little icky.

What is this flower? It might be some sort of lily.
These white flowers were big – 8″ across or so. The petals seemed sheer. Is this a peony? It does not grow in my part of the world.
I think this is a lady slipper…
Even the dandelions are pretty here.