PART TWO: (This part’s by Rachael)

As Becky stated earlier, Peter and I went over early in the day to hang the quilts, set up the pillows for the display and be sure that the items were visible.

When we had left in the morning, the platform looked like this… By the time we got back, they had taken down our sign and moved it to the back.

This is the set that the staff especially loved. It would be the featured item in a Silent Auction to support teen scholarships for college.

We got there around 6 p.m., for the 6:30 supper. As we were piling out of the van, Peter said to us both, “Just think. Tonight I can win a quilt.” I said, “Well, that’s not going to happen. What are your chances? Pretty slim!” (Hold that thought), but I dismissed his comments as merely funny.

Prior to this, the Farm Bureau staff had told me that the staff had loved Becky’s queen sized quilt so much that they wanted to do a silent auction with it, to raise money for college scholarships for deserving teens. I agreed, as it was truly stunning, and I was thankful that someone saw the value in it. However, when approaching Becky about it, she was afraid that it might go for $20 or some pitiful amount like that, as you hear about it happening all the time.

So, as soon as I got there at 6:05 p.m. that night, I went up to the staff gathered around the front of the platform and told them that we needed to have a minimum bid. They agreed to a $300 minimum sale price, and assured me that their staff within Farm Bureau would be sure that it was at least that high, but that we should start it around $50 to get the momentum going.

Peter, Ken and I ate quickly, and then I moved back a table to man the “Silent Auction” station, as we had gotten let into the dinner early for this very reason. I was to be in place before 6:30 when general seating would open, so I could pass out our cards, point people to our advertising sign and discuss quilting. Peter headed to the back of the long line outdoors so he could get door prize entry tickets.

Unfortunately, only a couple of people wanted to discuss quilting, and so I didn’t pass out many cards. However, NO ONE could miss the quilts on the front of the platform.

The two chairs in the foreground is where Peter and Ken sat during the rest of the meal. I had eaten quickly so I could man the Silent Auction.

As the meal progressed, (I was finished eating), I was a little concerned because our quilt wasn’t getting much action in the Silent Auction department. However, the first bid had been $400. Then, 2 minutes later, another person came by and bid $500, so I wasn’t worried about it not selling that night.

But then one of the Movers and Shakers in town came by, and bid $600. He said, “That’s ALL I’m going to bid. NO MORE.” I didn’t realize the importance of his words for at least 10 minutes. (He’s the former Pasco County Property Appraiser, and I’d often write checks out to his name for business stuff, but I didn’t know him by sight). Then, the current Superintendent of the Pasco County Schools came along and said, “Well, I can’t let Mike outbid me. I’ll bid $650.” I was thrilled. If I could just get a bidding war going, I thought.

So, I tried. Mike came along another 10 minutes later, and I said, “Hey, Kurt outbid you. You can bid $700.” But my game didn’t work. He said, “I really didn’t want it THAT badly.” We both laughed, and I remembered that he had told me that the $600 was ALL he would pay.

Then 3 minutes later, an unassuming, quiet lady from the audience slipped over to my table and asked if it was hand made. Well, that question can be a double entendre. Hand made? as in made by stitching with a needle and thread around the firelight, or made as a one-of-a-kind custom quilt especially for the occasion? I assured her that the latter was true. She was thrilled.

So, she bid $660, and that’s where the bidding stopped. I was very pleased. I would have loved to have gotten $1000 or more for the scholarship fund, but $660 was a great amount.

The Farm Bureau reps came and got my paper with the name of the winning bidder on it, and announced it. Then, they decided they’d give away Becky’s bargello quilt. At this point we got a pre-written blurb read, announcing our store name and location. I’m hoping at least 5 people noticed where we are located, though honestly, most of the people were eating and wanting to win the prize, not at all thinking about buying fabric!

You can see how far away we were from the front of the auditorium. Trying to get their attention was quite a feat.

Ken, Peter and I were in the far back corner, about as far as you could get from the platform. When announcing door prize winners, they pull from a bin, and then someone announces the winning numbers. Someone from the Farm Bureau staff then brings the gift to the person with his or her hand in the air.

(Just in case you don’t know who my sis’s husband and son are, I marked them in this picture for you! - Becky)

All of a sudden, in front of me, my son, Peter’s hand shot up in the air, as high as he could get it…. They had called HIS NUMBER for the final “grand prize” quilt. (The John Deere Bargello.)

Well, that just made us all laugh. After we got done Truly LAUGHING OUT LOUD, I waved my hand from the back corner and said to Sherri, “Do It AGAIN. You have to pull it again, because he can’t win.”

She finally figured out what I meant, and pulled another name. Come to find out that the lady who won knew all about QuiltedTwins, because she gets her hair done at the salon that we had to buy out in order to do the expansion last August. She was really pleased to get it, and said that she had a 7 year old grandson who would love it!

After pictures, and pulling down the quilts, I got a picture with the door prize winner, and after collecting all of signs, and clips, we headed home, laughing all the way.

Christie Gaskin won the twin sized quilt!

Who would’ve thought? 400 people at this dinner, and the final prize, they try to give it to the ones who brought it! ….and Peter had unwittingly predicted it on his way in….