Chester, Vermont

"Quilts Around the Town"

by Patricia and James Cummings

On a sunny day in May, we had the pleasure of driving through the verdant countryside of Vermont, with its roadside babbling brooks, its green hills, and, on this day, blue skies. The purpose of our journey was to attend two shows. The first, in the town of Chester, a town that I like to refer to as one “that time forgot,” is an annual town-wide quilt show. Three inside locations were set up, with one building holding just antique quilts where I was in my glory. In addition to those areas of exhibit, every Inn on the main street of town had quilts blowing in the breeze from porches, breezeways, and some were draped on items on the lawn.

The Hugging Bear Inn: Chester Vt.

The Hugging Bear Inn, a year and a half after this trip.

One of the Inns in town that always make me smile to think of it, is the “Hugging Bear Inn.” This Victorian manse has five guest bedrooms and a gift shop that sells teddy bears made by Vermont artisans. The owner states that they have over 10,000 bears available. There are large stuffed bears on the lawn, the biggest stuffed bear I have ever seen, sitting on the porch, and a collection of bears that can be seen by looking upward to the front Victorian third floor tower. What a treat to even just drive past this Inn! On this day, however, we got a chance to stop and speak with the owner. She stated that they have special Teddy Bear making workshops several times per year.

On the day we visited, no one could complain of a mad rush of quilters. No pushing or shoving here. No jockeying to get closer to a quilt to see it. We liked the relaxed atmosphere and the time to chat with some of the local quilters who make the show possible. Carlita Saunders said that the show is sponsored by the local fabric shop, “Country Treasures,” owned by Sue Ashe. We had already checked out the shop which looks deceptively small from the outside. However, once inside, one room flows into the next, moving toward the back of the building, and they are filled with everything a quilter might need. Their collection of many different flannel fabrics for quilting was impressive.

The admission cost was the purchase of a button for $4.00. Profits from the sale of buttons were to be donated to area charities. The show was not presented by a Guild, but rather by individual local quilters who were kind enough to loan their quilts for the weekend. A quick overview of the show would make one realize that there is a wide variety of quilting interests in the group, as much as anywhere else. Free demonstrations were presented on hand and machine appliqué, quick piecing, and working with floral fabrics.

Pat, outside quilt shop in Chester Vt.
An avid quilter outside of the quilt shop
photo taken a year and a half later, in late October.

The area quilters are to be commended for this labor of love. We surely enjoyed seeing all the work of their hands, and we look forward to next year’s show.

Write to us at: pat@quiltersmuse.com