Share a Stitch Second Day

Another fun and exciting day in Nashville! I browsed through all the baskets at the teacup auction. I have to admit that the TANA and Majestic Mountain baskets were getting a lot of ooohhs and aaaahhs and quite a few tickets were being put in the bags. Since I was there at the setup my tickets went in first but we all know that really won't mean anything in the long run. The basket that was set up by Fredericka and the wonderful ladies in her group will be the one that receives the most tickets. I would probably fear for my life if I won it. I'm not sure those women would allow me to leave with it. It has two DMC floss boxes, a quilt with a square stitched by each of the ladies, a stitched temari ball, tassel, christmas ornament, a folding table made by one of the husbands, a teapot and cup handpainted by Fredericka's friend, and the list goes on and on. I will try to take a pic of it today. There were so many people surrounding it yesterday I couldn't get in to get a good photo.
Classes started at 1:30. I'm taking studio time with Marion Scoular. I think it's the first time I've ever met her, at least that I can remember. She is a very beautiful, extremely intelligent and very charming lady. Of course I've heard of her many times through the years because I absolutely love her designs. She does a lot of blackwork and that's my favorite. I spent a lot of time at her table during merchandise night and just a bit of money (that's in case my hubby reads this). She had wonderful stories to tell in her beautiful accent and shared some great stitching tips with us. I found that many of the ladies in studio time had been school teachers. I did get quite a bit of stitching done on my promise piece but the light was just not very good in the room. We were in one of those very large rooms that have the sliding dividers to make smaller rooms so only one long wall had outlets for lights. I bought a small clip-on light last night and will use it today.
Merchandise night was fabulous as we all knew it would be. They opened the doors at precisely 7:30 and we all herded in. There were several tables set up and I was impressed by the variety of stuff available. One chapter had a table to sell their unwanted stash and use the money as a fundraiser. I found a few things there I really liked. I got two patterns from DebBee's Designs that are amazing and will be quite a challenge to stitch. She had several designs complete and on display. It was nice but it made it that much harder to limit my purchase, and I had to because her table was just inside the door and I knew I had many more tables to visit. There were tables of fabric, thread, painted canvases, books, beads and so much more. I found Marion's table and bought five of her items, Blackwork Balconies, which I had before but lost in the fire, Tasseled Trimmers, Box Pincushion, Stonehaven, and Evensong (all blackwork designs). I then made it over to the corner where a husband/wife shop owners had many lovely things. I got a project bag there that is green with a scissor and thread design stitched onto the front. It unzips with a place for patterns, fabric and thread. Then, I found the catch of the night, grab bags! Those went over really well with the ladies from our group. There were about five of us that bought one. Each bag was $20/piece and we were promised that each bag contained $80 - $100 worth of merchandise. I honestly believe it was more than that. Well, we got our bags and headed out to the lobby where we each opened them and put the items on the table we didn't want and then we picked through and everybody found the things they liked the best and we swapped. We all made out pretty well if I do say so myself.
Well, it is Saturday morning and I need to be in class in about an hour so I will have to end this for now. I will try to get a photo of the large basket and put it on later. Tonight is the Banquet and the drawings for the teacup auction baskets. Wish me luck!!!!