This is the final day of the St Fillans Floral Arts and Quilt Show put on by the So and Sews. Here is a photo of the back wall with the raffle quilt--which we all had a hand in making and quilting--in the center. At 4 this afternoon the raffle begins. The are quite a few smaller prizes, but the owner of the final raffle ticket drawn will go home with the quilt. I was on the raffle ticket table for an hour and a half yesterday afternoon and must have sold about 60 tickets so you know that box full of stubs will be loaded.
We have had almost 400 people come through so far. Today is expected to be a bit slower but the show has been very well received. The Hon. Roseanna Cunningham, MSP (Minister of the Scottish Parliament) for our area and a representative of the Scottish National Party, was the honored guest at the opening on Friday morning. She officially opened the show and was most gracious and appreciative of all the work, creativity, and talent that the quilting and floral displays represented.
In addition to the hanging of the quilts all day on Wednesday and the creation of the floral displays all day and into the night on Thursday, most of us So and Sews plus 2 flower arrangers (2 other arrangers are also members of the So and Sews) are there during the show from 9:30 in the morning until about 4:30 every afternoon. In addition to this, various members have been up late or early at home cooking food for us workers to have for lunch and sweets for our visitors to enjoy with their tea or coffee. For example, yesterday morning I got up bright and early to make 80 finger sandwiches: 40 were cucumber and cream cheese with chives on white bread and 40 were egg salad with dried mint on brown bread.
Our leader, Eleanor Cunningham (no relation to the MSP), worked out the logistics and organized all of us for the pre-show publicity as well as raffle-ticket sales. She produced a rota of our morning and afternoon duties during the show. I was a floater on Friday morning, helping out as needed. On Friday afternoon I was a "tea lady" helping 4 others to put cakes on trays, serve tea and coffee as well as handing round the tray of cakes, carrying cups, saucers, and plates to the kitchen, washing up, rinsing, drying, and resetting the tables. We all did all of those tasks as needed. Saturday morning I was a steward (sort of like a docent to greet folks and answer any questions about the quilts). In the afternoon I had that split shift which was half raffle ticket table and half stewarding again. I have this morning "off" and believe me, I need it. My feet and back are tired! But it's also exhilirating and fun. I have another session of being a floater this afternoon.
Don and Gordon are out playing golf. When they get done at about 1:30, they'll stop by to see the show. This afternoon at 4, Don will come back to help us finish up the raffle and then assist in taking down all the quilts and doing the clean-up of the hall. It has been a great community effort in St Fillans where a number of men and women not part of the So and Sews or the floral group (unless by marriage) have volunteered to help in various capacities. The funds raised go to repay our expenses, give us seed money for the next exhibition in 3 years time (I erred in an earlier blog when I said this was a biennial event), and what is left over goes to the St Fillans Sandison Hall funds. (This St Fillans village hall, is also where the Tuesday music circle programs are held that Don attends.)
My quilts stand out in the display. It's like going into a neighborhood of large Tudor style half-timbered houses and then finding a grouping of 5 modern rambler homes here, a geodesic dome house there, and perhaps a 1950s style contemporary home squeezed between two of the Tudors. But the floral displays have tied all the quilts together so nicely that the effect isn't jarring. I've had quite a number of visitors want to know how I achieved this or that effect, so I know that they attract some interest. One woman from Blairgowrie wondered if I'd be interested in teaching a workshop to her quilting group. Of course I said yes.
Our weather has been beautiful. Friday and Saturday were sunny and warm. Today is a bit duller but still fairly warm. These days sunrise is at 4:30 and sunset is not until almost 10 o'clock. At 9 last night we went out for a walk. We walked into the housing estate (subdivision) across from us and headed back toward the fields beyond. We found a place where the fence was low enough for us to step over and walked around a large farm field. The views across the valley were magnificent. I feel certain that all that fresh air and exercise promoted the good night's sleep we had last night--one of the best in a long time. Of course, being on the go (and mostly on my feet!) all day for 2 straight days helped too!
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