My Weekend At CATS

Get yourselves comfy, this is going to be long.

I am back and I had a great time. We actually left a little earlier than anticipated on Friday and arrived in Hershey just after 6 PM. We checked in and went to dinner. After dinner we decided to stay in the Lounge/Bar/Coffee area with the other stitchers. Let me tell you, it was crowded and I enjoyed looking at what everyone was working on. I never even pulled out my stitching. I think most of the time my jaw was on the floor. We ended up having drinks and coffee and just mingling about. It was a great time. But of course we were very excited about going to the mart on Saturday.

We were afraid of getting up late on Saturday morning but we didn't. I was up normal time at 6:45 AM and my sis in law was up a few minutes earlier. Of course, us talking woke up my niece. LOL We got ourselves together and went to the Coffee Beanery for coffee and danish. We were at the doors of the mart just before it opened. So we spent some time oohhing and ahhing the Guild's work which had a table just outside the mart.

We were like kids in a candy store in the mart. I just love going and since we don't have an LNS nearby I knew my purchases were going to be many. I probably would have bought more but I couldn't make up my mind. There were a few things sold out so I am ordering them today. My niece ordered stuff there and will have it delivered.

This is the year of me buying Christmas things. I didn't realize the theme til I was looking at my purchases on the way home. Here is what I bought......
My biggest purchase was a Lap Stitch Frame from http://imagesstitcherydesign.com. It is so cool. Last year I bought a Legend Stand from Grip-It Plus. While I love it, I still haven't unpacked it since our move. But this lap stand is so cool. It is curved so it sits on your lap and you are able to get to the back of the work. We all bought one and my sis in law and niece bought the lap table to go with it. I don't like being closed in when I stitch so I didn't buy that. Next year, I may add some more dowels in different sizes. This one comes with 6", 9", 12" and 18" dowels. Very nice and I can't wait to use it.

I also bought a magnet for my needles. I bought one last year and I am tired of moving it from project to project so I got another one.

I bought two Stoney Creek Magazines. The April 2004 issue with the Cappucino design. I now have all four and these will be my smaller car projects. I have a coffee theme in my kitchen and these fit right in with my decor. I also bought the December 2004 issue and can't wait to see what goodies are in there. Also from the Stoney Creek Booth I bought the zipper project bags in small, medium, large and extra large. I bought some last year and I love these things. They are great for each project and with DD stitching it is nice to have our current projects put into these bags.

From JBW I bought her limited edition Kit for 2004. It is called Down the Chimney. I bought the frame that goes with it too. You can see it here...http://jbwdesigns.com All I have to add is the DMC.

From Silver Needle I bought a Pine Mountain Pillow Recipe called Christmas Delights. It is adorable and I started working on it yesterday. I am half way finished and will probably post a picture in the next couple days. I couldn't wait to start something new out of my goodies.

Also from Silver Needle, I bought Santa Clothes from Raise the Roof Designs. They are part of Shakespeares Peddler and it is adorable. It is a clothes line with Santa's Clothes on it. I also bought the buttons from Just Another Button Company to go with it. They didn't have anymore of the Witchy Washy left so I am ordering that and the buttons and fabric to go with it.

I also bought Hinzeit's Twelve Days of Christmas Charmed. It is so cool. It has 12 charms for each of the 12 days. I love it. I went searching for a picture of it, but can't find it. But when that is finished I will post a picture.

I also bought all of the Weeks and Sampler threads to go with the Hinzeit and Santa Clothes designs. I also purchased some Weeks and petite beads for a few ornies in the JCS 2004 Ornie Issue.

From Picture This Plus http://picturethisplus.com I purchased fabric for Santa Clothes. It is called glacier and is a light hand dyed blue. They first exhibited at CATS last year and I purchased fabric from them. I just love it. I also plan on getting their Echo fabric for the Witchy Washy.

I think that about sums up my purchases. The only disappointment was there were no freebies like previous years. Normally I have a stack of papers with freebie designs on it. I don't know if they ran out or they just don't do it anymore. But I like getting freebies because it gives me a chance to try a new design or designer.

My favorite booths were Silver Needle, Lorri Birmingham, Stoney Creek and JBW. There were others but I can't remember the names. All in all, I loved something in every booth and enjoyed the stitched pieces and friendship that went with each person/vendor. I also got a chance to talk with Linda Driskell and next year I will probably purchase one of her books on the various stitches. Her designs in person are just jaw dropping, eye popping gorgeous.

All in all we had a great time and I am already looking forward to next year. I know I have mentioned this before but stitchers are great people. Everyone could learn from us. Everyone is so nice and kind and friendly and since we share a common bond, it is so easy to talk to a fellow stitcher.

I come away from this year's CATS with lots of purchases, lots of memories and lots of smiles over what I experienced. If you ever get a chance to go, do it. If you go to Hershey, let me know and we can meet and share time together.

Have a great week everyone.