County Fair Results, 2019 Edition

I was working in the Home Arts building last night at the county fair. There's a lot going on this year...besides buying tickets for the raffle quilt ($1 each or 6 for $5), there is also voting for the People's Choice award, guessing how many buttons are in a jar, guessing how many corn kernals are in a jar, and finding a red and green bow in the displays. That's a lot of explaining to visitors!! (Don't worry; I don't hit them with all of it all at once! :)

As always, I went a little early so I could check out all the displays, take some pictures, and see how I did. Here are the results:

In Pullover/Cardigan, my vintage blouse place first!

Until I typed that, I thought it was second!! I still get confused by the red and blue ribbons. In Canada, red is first and blue is second. It's the opposite here and I'm telling you, I have the hardest time keeping it straight. Well, woo hoo! I saw one other entry in the category.

Next, my Blooming Brioche shawl placed first. (I didn't see any other shawls When I looked again, there was one other shawl.)

 My socks placed second:

 They were topped by these socks:

I see Laura's projects every year and she's very good. Always good to have some worthy competition! :)

Next is the pullover in the child category. My Wool-Aid sweater placed second:

 Again, beat out by Laura!

But it's never a shame to be beaten by the Grand Champion!

The final knitting project was my mini sock book marks, in the "miscellaneous" category. They placed first:

It's hard to tell what else is in this category so I have no idea what the competition was.

In quilts, my blue elephant quilt won second:

ETA: When I got the quilt back, the judges had noted that the piecing was very good but the quilting "needed work." I can't argue with that since I'm more of a "confident beginner" than expert at free motion quilting.

I had the fun of seeing two different people vote for my quilt for the people's choice award. The third person said she was voting for mine (of course she said "the blue and white elephant one" since she didn't know it was mine at the time) and then I saw her write down the wrong number! I wasn't sure at the time so I didn't say anything but when I checked later, I confirmed it. Oh well, there's a vote I won't get.

This is a new award for the fair. The winner will get a $20 gift certificate to a local quilt shop. That's a lot more value than any of the ribbon premiums!! I believe they said they'll count the votes on Friday so that they can post it on Saturday for everyone to see. (So if you want to give mine a vote, get to the fair before then!! :) ETA: I was notified that I did win the people's choice award! I'm so flattered and excited.

The raffle quilt block category was very competitive this year. For one thing, there were more blocks returned than any year I've been there, and they were good. So it is a great pleasure to not only be picked to be on the quilt, but to also be awarded sixth place!

This is the second time I've placed (in 10 years), and both times it was sixth. Apparently the judges had to get very picky this year, so I'm glad I got all of my points to match!

On to photographs...look at this!

Grand Champion for black and white photography! One year the clerk told me I was really close with my picture of some keys, but this time I got it! Wow.

My "seascape" picture was awarded third:

 It was also beat out by the Grand Champion:

(well, and the picture which placed second).

And finally, my collage placed third:

Mine is the one on the left. I've included the others in the picture so you can see what else was there. I think there was a fourth and maybe a fifth entry in this category too because just before I left on Saturday, I walked by the table where the judge was evaluating these and I thought there was a very good chance I wouldn't place at all.

Another fun year at the fair! I should be able to get a post with all of the quilt entries later this week so keep an eye out for that.