Amazing Crafting Weekend in Vermont

I just got back from an amazing crafting weekend in Vermont. My month in the emergency department has been kind of difficult with almost all my shifts in the first part of the month so I was tired. The day before I was due to leave, I almost decided not to go so I could just hang out around the house and sleep and chill out. Finally, I decided that was just plain wrong and packed my stuff to go.

Welcome to the crafting weekend in Vermont

The main intimidating thing was that I didn't know anyone there. And then the planned crafts were kind of alien to me (meaning no paper crafts) so I was just plain scared. My fears were gone immediately when I drove up to the beautiful Vermont farmhouse setting and everyone came out to greet me. The next bonus was that I arrived right at lunchtime. You know I LOVE food. And what food! The food is made by Meleen, the owner of the farmhouses we stayed in and her trusty sidekick, Kana (rhymes with Dana). Oh my goodness, if the lovely kind people surrounded you wasn't enough, the food would welcome you on its own. We had this incredible bread at each meal from Sugarhouse Workshop. I try to avoid carbohydrates, but bread - bread gets me every time. I can avoid desserts  easily, but not bread, not homemade-to-die-for bread. Whoa! If you are anywhere near southern Vermont, try to find some bread from Sugarhouse Workshop, unbelievable.

After the incredible lunch, I had to go to sleep because I had not slept at all the night before. That meant that I missed the indigo dyeing which made me kind of nervous because everyone made these incredible designs that I had no idea how to make. And guess what, I woke up just in time for Happy Hour and the next meal! That's like a dream to me - wake up just in time for more food.

Indigo Dyeing

The indigo dyeing was so much fun. I didn't know how cool it is to dye fabric with indigo. It starts out green and then oxidizes to blue. Kind of an amazing process to watch. My fabric is in the upper left hand corner of the photo. Charlotte of housewrenstudio whom I have followed online for many years organizes this part of the program.

Art Dolls with Jenn from noodleandlou.com

The next day we made our art dolls with Jenn McGlon from noodleandlou.com. In my opinion, it was not quite as difficult as I expected. Everyone included great details in all of their dolls.

Zipper bags with Indigo Dyed Fabric

Again after several more absolutely incredible meals, we made our zipper bags with the indigo dyed fabric. Meleen has several areas for crafting - a new big crafting barn where we took the top photo and made our dolls, and a cool old house built in the 1860s where we sewed. In the room for sewing there is an amazing array of vintage fabrics to choose from to make a collage on your sewing creations. I chose a toile kitty fabric and actually was able to incorporate 5 kitties which is how many kitties I have at the moment. (Aside - who knows when the next little cat will show up in my driveway - that's how the last 4 have arrived at my house though I am at Caturation - already saturated with cats ).

Treats from the Crafting Weekend

Here is a photo of the treats we got at the Vermont crafting weekend. I included my own zipper pouch with the cats on front and my art doll - Shelly with the seashell bikini.

I have to say the weekend was delightful and such a surprise because I didn't really know what to expect. Making friends in a setting like this is the perfect way to meet people. And then the food. That was way beyond my expectations. I could never have imagined how good it was.

Thank you to everyone who made it such a wonderful weekend

Thank you Charlotte and Meleen and Kana for hosting us and treating us like royalty. I hope to see you again next year.

P.S. I made a few little houses for everyone which I will write about these little houses in the next post.