Nashville - Day One

What a great day!!!  Hard to not be a great day when you're away with friends.

The house isn't the best designed for 8 people to sleep in total comfort, but the price is right compared to what some of the others are paying at hotels in the downtown core. I'll go with cheap any day, although I did have trouble getting to sleep last night. Jan arrived yesterday and is sleeping on the day bed in the second-floor loft. When I couldn't sleep, I turned the light on in my room and shoved a quilt under the door so the light wouldn't leak out!

I got a bit of sewing done in the morning and making good progress. Not sure that I have enough fabric with me, but whatever I get done here is less than I have to do when I get home. All is good! I'm very happy with the progress.

We spent some time in the morning trying to figure out exactly what we would do for the day. Some went to the mall to get Lego and Pandora charms, some went to the Grand Old Opry, some went to the Frist Art Museum and other places. I decided to strike off on my own. I wanted to get some walking in and I have zero desire to go to a mall.

It was raining a bit when I left so an umbrella and rain boots were in order. It really isn't that far to downtown from the house but you have to go in a bizarre way. Through the back alley, then I had to walk along the grass beside a one-way street (almost an off-ramp from the highway) into the area where we are and then I'm on the main street. It's that close. Cross over the highway and then the railroad tracks and voila - right downtown.

It's about a 17-minute walk for me. I walk fast and I was happy as a clam. Never mind the lady who didn't see me in the crosswalk even though I had the right of way. Let's just say that she scared the crap out of herself when she saw me as she started to drive. I'm wearing my bright orange jacket so it's not like I'm not visible. Oh well.

I started the day off at the Frist Art Museum. I met up with Linda and Tish although they took a cab to get there. There were two entrances and of course, I went to the second one which was locked. I waited under the awnings for the museum to open and was perfectly happy there. Only to be rescued by a security guard. The other door was open, but I wasn't walking back. It wasn't raining hard so I could have done that.

The museum was great. Mostly paintings. I remember years ago, my ex MIL was really into art and almost every painting in their house was a dark portrait of someone. Well, there were some of those in the galleries. Paintings of horses, dogs, and other things. It wasn't that bad and I did pick up some ideas.

Where we had fun was in the kids' section upstairs. The artwork by the school kids was a hoot and I picked up some great inspirations there. Then I found Tish in the maker section and we did a print onto paper. That was fun. Her little sheep looked awesome. My geometrics were also great.

As I was strolling through the pictures, I realize that I'm attracted to graphic design. The bolder the better.

Met up with Linda in the gift shop where we had a good laugh over the Bob Ross self-painting mugs, the Bob Ross finger puppets and other various Bob Ross items. Ever since Cherrywood announced their theme of Bob Ross, he seems to be everywhere.

Back to the house for lunch. The others were back from their mall expedition and we had lunch together. I did a wee bit more sewing and then figured out what to do in the afternoon. Hey - there's a used bookstore not far so I was off to that. OH MY GOD - it was totally crazy. The stacks of books, the narrow aisles, I couldn't find a thing. But eventually, I found the novel section. Of course, I didn't have my list with me so I went by memory. I found one that I'm certain I don't have. It was $5. Even if I don't have it, it's not a huge expense.

Then off to the craft section. There were a lot of quilting books. I like the historical ones. There are about three or four books about American quilts that seem to be in every bookstore around. Now, why is that? Anyway, I did find a book on Kentucky quilts and that got tucked into my bag.

Next up was to find the Downtown Antique Market. Holy cow - the building looked like it was going to fall down. It was a crazy place and all kinds of little booths within the building. There were a few leaks because of the rain. I mean - it was in seriously bad shape. I saw a fair amount of quilts but after some investigation, all of them had significant wear and I didn't think they were worth the price that was being asked.

Near the cash, I saw a couple of trays filled with old photographs - black and whites from the '40s and '50s. There was another tray filled with old postcards. EACH item was selling for between $2 and $7. Holy cow!!!!!   Are you kidding me?  DO NOT throw your old photographs away. I would love to have some old photographs to mess around with. I have some great ideas about what to do with them and I just need the photos. I'd be happy to buy some, but I'm not paying $2 a piece.

I was going to buy one from the antique mall but decided to keep my $2.

It was drizzling by now, but I didn't have far to walk back to the convention center where I was going to register. Oh, I forgot to mention that I had a quick peek around the show floor (don't ask) and saw the two charity quilts that I was involved with. Said HI to some of the vendors and a quick peek at some of the quilts.

I had said to my group that registration from 5 PM to 7 PM wasn't going to be long enough. Everyone is enthusiastic and wants to get signed up. The line opened at 4:30 and it didn't me long to get through. But the line just got crazier and crazier and they had to delay the awards ceremony because of that. I knew that - why didn't the organizers know that? That line should have been open from 3 PM onwards.

The others from my group arrived and we got them registered as well. While they were in the registration line, I was in the swag buying line and buying stuff for them. It was a totally crazy experience, but loads of fun to see some of the gang from back home and to see friends from previous years here.

I wanted to see the awards ceremony in person, but like most things, the darn thing was completely sold out. You didn't have to buy a ticket to attend, but you had to register. I was told that if I showed up, I would likely get in because there would be no-shows.

Well - I'm totally disgusted. The awards room was HUGE. I mean HUGE. I and a few others had to wait outside - I'll say there were about 20 of us waiting. Once all the registered people got in which took time because they were stuck in the registration line upstairs, we could go in. The room has about HALF FILLED.  Yes - there were a ton of no-shows. Seriously????  What is wrong with people?  That's very disappointing for the rest of us who would have liked to get in early and get a seat near the front. Not the end of the world, but just frustrating that all these crazy quilters get themselves signed up for stuff just for the sake of getting signed up and have no intention of following through.

The rest of my group went out to dinner to a BBQ place which after I heard their horror story, I'm thrilled that I didn't go.  I had leftover pasta once I arrived back to the house. I felt perfectly safe to walk back after the awards ceremony were over.

All in all, it was a fabulous day. I walked almost 20,000 steps!!! 

Today, the show starts at 10 AM and I plan to be there and probably stay for the day.

On that note, I'm off to sew. Most everyone is up now.

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!