Friday, October 5, 2012

State Fair Time!

Yesterday, the kids and I went to the .....
and had a great time with some of our Keepers at Home group friends.

Overall, we were pleased with the ribbons we won ~ but honestly were puzzled about many ribbons we saw.  And there were a several projects that we couldn't find.  One project I couldn't find of mine was a pair of hand quilted potholders.  The fair project head honcho lady looked it up and then called me ~ it seems it was disqualified because they didn't think it was quilted or put in the right category...sure fits the hand quilted misc. category to me.  She is going to check into it and let me know.  And we could not find Amy's Pink quilted John Deere Bag she made this summer or a cross stitch project she had done.  Mrs. Head Honcho Lady did tell me they had changed some of the fair judges this year and these were "pickier" about awarding ribbons.  My response...go back to the old judges!

Some ladies that quilt are probably going to be very disappointed with their ribbons.  There are always gorgeous quilts hanging up with just red ribbons on them.  One yesterday had individual squares hand embroidered and then made into the the quilt ~ she deserved a blue.  We saw many items like that, more red ribbons that we had ever seen before, and some of the reds were on our items.  But, we learn more and more every year.  It would help if the judges would give us some feedback as to why an item got a white or red instead of a blue.

Amy & Will were excited to pick out their projects and see the ribbons.  Amy had 30+ projects entered and Will had 14 (which may not sound like a lot...but last year he had 2).  They are both working on a new project each for next year already.  Amy is into Owls & there are lots of cool owl projects & directions on Pinterest.  She found a cute one to cross stitch & started on that.  Will is working on his 3rd needlepoint quilt square pattern ~ this one is name Carpenters Wheel, which is appropriate since he likes wood working.  All the quilt squares in this series are stitched in red, lt. green, dark green, & white.  We are just backing these with white felt when done and adding a ribbon hanger.  Both of these projects were free ~ since we already had the fabric, floss, canvas & yarn!

Here are some pictures of our displayed items...
"Sew" is a decoration for our sewing/craft room





Chicken done in Chicken Scratch

Tablecloth for Amy's hope chest ~ hand embroidered

Roberts Baby quilt got a blue ribbon!



Wills stenciled stool

Amy's Snow painted sign...Will's cross stitched owl

Amy's cupcake cross stitch...Will's needlepoint quilt square







Greg's Nativity Set



Will's glass etching
The kids hiked through the games, vendors, and hawkers to find their deep fried candy bar seller.  They came back chocolatey & happy!  And Amy saved me a bite to enjoy!

Then we headed to Hobby Lobby...because the fair will be back in 51 weeks!

I am also sharing this post at ~

http://mysimplecountryliving.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-country-homemaker-hop-40.html
and
http://deborahjeansdandelionhouse.blogspot.com/2012/10/farmgirl-friday-blog-hop-77.html

5 comments:

  1. Wow Donna,
    You have all been BUSY. What a talented bunch of artists you have. I especially loved the smock dress, the chicken scratch wall hanging and the cross stitched afghan. Way to go! Thanks for sharing.

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  2. Good job, Donna! (and Will and Amy and Greg!) Sometimes you do shake your head in wonder - judges can be so arbitrary. Last year a judge gave Abigail a white ribbon because she thought stenciling was too easy for a junior (ages 12-13) even though there is a category for it! I just wanted to know if they had EVER stenciled with a 12 year old! Quilt judges are nortorious...So sometimes it is a blessing not to know what might go on a comment sheet. :o)

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  3. Lovely work!

    Donna - I know this is probably a bit odd, but you've mentioned before being part of a Keeper's at Home group and I have a baggie full of award pins that I'm looking to pass along if someone could use them.
    Would anyone in your group be interested? I'd be happy to post them down to you (or them).
    Doesn't seem to be much interest in that sort of thing up here in NH. :-(
    Let me know... Blessings, Deb

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  4. You all made a lot of very neat things. Congratulations on all your ribbons! Our family very much enjoys entering things at the county fair (and we are sometimes puzzled about the way that ribbons are awarded too!) but have never tried entering in the state fair.

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  5. Thanks everyone! We have fun working on these things.

    Deb, I would love to get those pins...Our group is 20-30 girls depending on the time of year and someone will want them! Send me your email address (I won't publish) and then I can give you my address...Thanks bunches~!

    ReplyDelete

Welcome to the farm ~ we are a blended family with 7 children (3 are married), 4 grandsons, 5 dogs, 3 rabbits, and 15 chickens living on 3 acres in Georgia. I love crafting, sewing, cooking & canning, recipes of all kinds, reading, playing with my little buddies, family time, travel, pinterest and most of all the Lord.