A surprise table gift exchange, Janet Myhill-Dabbs paper dolls and a joint second-place finish made day three memorable for Sasha collectors.
A surprise at every table
For the Saturday lunchtime buffet, the US-based festival crew arranged the table-hostess exchange to keep guests from choosing a table based on who they expected to be hosting it. Guests entered the conference room first, picked a numbered table and settled in. The hostesses waited in the foyer, each received a number and exchanged gifts without opening them. Only after the guests were seated did the hostesses come in and find their assigned tables. The result was a genuine surprise: no one knew who would be welcoming them.
The arrangement had a personal bonus for the writer: her daughter was seated at another table and received a gift from a different hostess. The writer had prepared three gifts per guest, enough for a table of ten. Two were her own work; the third was commissioned from her friend Sue.
The handmade pieces paired Scottish tweed handbags, finished with plaited Shetland wool handles, with lavender bags filled with dried lavender from the writer’s English garden. Sue’s knitted Sasha and Gregor toys added another choice: mermaids, monkeys and teddy bears in different colours. The maker was pleased with the finished gifts, and especially glad that the guests at her table seemed to enjoy them. This was her second time as a hostess; her first had been at the 2017 festival.
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| Scottish tweed handbags made for the exchange |
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| Tweed handbags alongside Sue’s knitted toys |
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| Lavender bags filled from the maker’s garden |
The exchange brought home how varied a small, personal gift can be when it’s made with a particular recipient and collection in mind. The writer received a pair of finely crafted shoes from Monica J. At Tricia’s table, her daughter picked up a fully reversible shorts-and-top outfit for a Sasha baby, sewn in Liberty lawn, along with a miniature floral elephant toy. The gifts had distinct materials and styles, a fitting snapshot of the craft and doll-making skills around the room.
A second festival souvenir awaited attendees: a reinforced envelope containing paper dolls based on Sasha and outfits. Artist Janet Myhill-Dabbs designed them, and the careful printing made them tempting to keep intact. The writer suspected that few recipients would want to cut them out, turning the souvenir into something many might prefer to preserve as presented.
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| Trudi with JoAnn’s soft-body baby on her lap; JoAnn’s dolls wear matching dresses, with Florence looking on |
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| Guests at the writer’s table |
Raffle draws and the Dress a Sasha results
The helper raffle ran across Friday and Saturday. Its final draws took place before the Saturday lunch had ended because the long tables needed to be cleared and reset for the sales tables. The writer and her daughter had placed tickets in several items, sometimes more than one ticket per item, but neither won. The raffle’s timing made the room’s transition part of the day’s schedule: the draws had to wrap up while lunch was still underway.
The Dress a Sasha results brought a happier outcome for the pair. The writer and her daughter tied for second place in their category. After the winners were announced, they photographed the first-, second- and third-place entries. Then the displays were carefully taken apart, returned to plastic crates on a trolley and carried back to their room. That dismantling is a quieter part of a judged display: the work must be documented, then packed away safely once the show ends.
The photos recorded several categories and placements. The fairy entry won in the teenaged entrant category. In the adult English Garden category, the pictured results include a crafted first-place entry, two second-place entries and three third-place entries, as well as assembled entries in first and second place. The adult Afternoon Tea category likewise showed crafted pieces in first, second and third, plus an assembled first-place entry. The source captions distinguish “crafted” from “assembled,” preserving two different approaches to the themed display.
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| The fairy entry won in the teenaged entrant category |
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| First place, English Garden, crafted by an adult |
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| Second place, English Garden, crafted by an adult |
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| Second place, English Garden, crafted by an adult |
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| Third place, English Garden, crafted by an adult |
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| Third place, English Garden, crafted by an adult |
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| Third place, English Garden, crafted by an adult |
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| First place, English Garden, assembled by an adult |
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| Second place, English Garden, assembled by an adult |
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| First place, Afternoon Tea, crafted by an adult |
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| Second place, Afternoon Tea, crafted by an adult |
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| Third place, Afternoon Tea, crafted by an adult |
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| First place, Afternoon Tea, assembled by an adult |
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| DollMum with the joint second-place Dress a Sasha entries |
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| DollMum’s daughter with the joint second-place entries |
With the display packed away and the sales tables still being set up, the writer made a quick trip to the shopping centre cash machine while her daughter looked for a few things in the shops. The day’s sequence—from handmade table gifts to judging, photographs and packing—captures the festival’s mix of collecting, making and shared time.
