Midwest Summer Tour Day 2

First, I have to say that I was good and went walking.  We were staying near a lot of strip malls and stores and it was a great place to walk early in the morning.  It is Saturday and the real reason we traveled to Madison, Wisconsin.  We are taking a class from Betsy Morgan.  The Toy Box.

Several of us have seen Chris's completed Toy Box and it is beautiful.  So we jumped at the chance to make it.  BFF and I took a class from Betsy a few weeks ago.  She is a really good teacher.  I was happy to learn the joining stitch and needed the refresher.  I was forgetting how to start, with a knot? (Yes)  So it was good to hear the directions again.  I know that in Betsy's classes, if you get the pre-stitching done, you will be able to finish something by the end of class.  I love that.  I'm ready to make my thimble holder.  She has some great ideas about finishing too.  I love the bead hinge for the lid.  It is great to have challenging stitches to do like the hedebo.  I always need practise with that one.  I ended up doing it four times before it was the right size and shape.
Lunch time was a blast.  BFF, Terry and I walked over to a small place called Yola's Cafe.  There was a big picture on the wall of their specialty - a thick golden malted Belgian waffle with butter, maple syrup, bananas and walnuts.  I love breakfast any time.  Boy was it delicious.  I've been lucky on this trip to have some really yummy lunches.
Back to work in the afternoon.  I am almost done with my thimble holder.
After class, Lynn's, who arranged this class is staying open for us to shop.  A third shop to see!

Lynn's is an unusual shop.   It has framing.  It has art supplies.  It has cross stitch supplies.  I have to say that most shops with more than one specialty don't do justice to each area.  But Lynn's does an admiral job in each area.

 There is even Brazilian embroidery supplies and charts I haven't seen other places.  The framing area is very nice and there is a good selection of ready made frames too.  So many models on the walls.

 I was especially impressed with this one.

 I wasn't even sure it was cross stitch.  There was a ton of fabric to choose from.
We had to decide whether to go back and work on our thimble holder or go to a lady's house.  We decided to go back to the classroom since we were so close to finishing.

 Next time (if we get the chance) we would go to this lady's house as everybody had a good time.
I was so exhausted by the end of the day!  It is so fun to take classes.  I had fun showing people my Show and Tell stuff.  I had seen Marilyn's mermaid at Spring Fling and now I got a chance to show her mine.  (Hers was more perfectly done!)
More class tomorrow.
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