Regional seminar day 2

Today was all about stitching. I'm doing Perfect Forest by Catherine Jordan. We got lovely kits with dye-painted linen. We got going promptly and then spent the next three hours withdrawing some threads from the linen and reweaving others. It was tedious and seemingly endless! I was more than ready for the lunch break. It helped that I completed this task just before lunch so I could relax, knowing the hard part was over.

This afternoon we began to create our forest on the remaining fabric threads. We used needleweaving to fashion the tree trunks and branches. Catherine's techniques allowed us to separate the threads in a way that creates a dimensional effect, with some trees behind others.

I made one large tree up front and two in back. By then the day was over. The Regional Meeting was next, with the installation of new officers. Then another nice dinner. Tonight's table favor was a ball of perle coton. (Mine's yellow.) It came in a cool little plastic holder that is very reminiscent of the round holders you get prizes in from those coin machines (like gumball machines only bigger). It has a little hole in the top to feed the thread.

I won a doorprize tonight after dinner! I got Issue 70 of Cross Stitch & Beading, an Australian magazine, and a hand made wooden post-it-note holder with a diamond inlay. It holds the medium-sized square notes and came with a pad in place. It was handmade by a Madison Chapter member's husband. (I can't quite read his name on the note but hope to meet him Thursday to thank him.)

I also found two more goodie-bag prizes. I was looking for something and tipped the bag out and found a large nail file and a pen!

After dinner a friend and I went by the suite for next year's seminar and saw the pieces they're offering. Photos are nice but there's nothing like seeing the pieces in person!

My friend came by my room and we did our own show-n-tell. We both had brought some of our recent pieces and works in progress to show each other. Then we shared some of the things we'd bought here. The boutique and the book store are both nice. The boutique has an especially wide range of products---fibers galore, lovely tools and everything from beading through hand-dyed wool. So day two is done. Tomorrow I head back into the forest.