County Fair Entries and Results, 2022

The Cass County Fair is going on this week. I did my usual stint checking in the canning entries and helped in other departments as needed.

I, myself, didn't have that many entries this year. Although I've been doing some "making", it's not as much as previous years and I'm not sure I finished any big projects. Or none that I still have in my possession. :)

Realizing the fair was coming up, I thought I'd better get to that quilt block for the raffle quilt! About two weeks before the fair, I decided on my idea (the only one that was going through my head), looked up some pictures for ideas and got started.

The theme this year was "Keep on Trucking" and they gave us a few pieces of fabrics including this piece of novelty fabric as the focus fabric:

I really didn't see how it would be very useful for piecing (with the wide variety of colours and values), and there were very few whole trucks for applique. What to do??

I ended up appliqueing a scene. I drew out the scene, copied it and cut apart the copy to know what shape to cut out the pieces. I used the original copy to place the pieces in the right place. I sewed it all together with a buttonhole stitch.

You have to use each of the fabrics, so I cut out the most complete truck from the focus fabric and put it on the road.

There are things I would have changed about the design, but the cream background fabric is the only one that is big enough to span the whole width of the block. The rest are only 10"x10".

In the end, my block was awarded honorable mention and was chosen to be included in the quilt.

There were a lot of block entries this year so I was gratified to make it.

Here are all the blocks that will be in the quilt.

I was surprised how many pieced blocks there were. Generally there are more appliqued ones.

Here are the top six:

And here's a close view of the top block. There wasn't a person who looked at the blocks that didn't point out this one as their favorite! It's beautiful.

The focus fabric apparently makes up the flowers in the back of the truck and the railing. I find it interesting that the block they liked best used the least amount of the focus fabric and you can't recognize it at all. This year's theme is "Keep Calm and Grill On" and it includes a novelty fabric with grilling paraphernalia. It's going to be just as hard to work with.

Here is the quilt from last year's blocks.

Where's my block? I couldn't find one in my pictures or Instagram feed from last year and then I remembered that I couldn't find the kit. I remember all the little squares with different animals so I either lost the kit or they had run out by the time I went to buy one. I can't remember!

My second entry was my Bright Stars on Black quilt.

It was in the category of king/queen/full--machine quilted--pieced and won first! I finished this a few years ago, but it was the same year I finished my blue and white elephant quilt and I had entered that instead. There were two quilts in this category and the other one had quilting issues.

This quilt actually has machine and hand-stitched quilting but I entered it in machine quilting because I know they value hand-quilting more. Any machine quilting would disqualify it in hand-quilting, but hand-quilting wouldn't hurt my position in the machine quilting category. People are funny, right?

That's it for hand crafts!! A far cry from my usual number.

I also entered two photographs. This one from a senior picture session:

which did not place,

and this black and white lakeshore shot,

which also didn't place.

I thought I could only enter one colour and one black and white photo, but they've changed the rules. Maybe I should have looked at the fair book more closely and sometime before the week that the entries are due! :)

I had a nice time walking around the fair after I worked the Home Arts table on Wednesday. I enjoy walking through the animal barns and had to check out the new goat barn that someone I know had worked on.

On Monday evening I was with a group of people and mentioned I volunteered and the fair. She asked, "Is that the one with the baby animal barn?" I said, ya the fair has one, not realizing that every fair doesn't have one. She was so excited! She had heard about this a couple years ago but lost track of what fair it was. She has looked online and asked anyone who mentioned a county fair and finally, I had given her the answer! She immediately started planning which day to go to the fair this week. Lovely to make someone's day so easily! :)

Fair Results 2021

The first day of the fair was today and I went to find out how my entries did. And lucky for those who are impatient, it looks like I'll manage to post them the same day!

In the same order I showed them in the last post:

Knitting

Pullover: Second place

There were two entries in this category. The other is shown below and you can see it was chosen for grand champion as well.

Vest or Shell: First place

There was at least one other entry in this category, if you're wondering.

Socks: Second place

They were right beside each other, so I showed the first place entry in the same picture. I'm guessing the strips put it on top.

Any other-cowl: no place

Apparently the judges were not impressed with the double knitting. I did not take the time to try and figure out what else was in this category. It can be a real hodge podge!

Crocheting

Pullover: First place

Not to rain on my own parade, but pretty sure this was the only entry; but at least it was appreciated enough to get a ribbon. (A ribbon does not have to be awarded even if there is only one entry.)

Quilting

Full/Queen/King-machine quilted-pieced: Second place

I didn't get to see this being judged and I didn't confirm which quilt was first, but I think it was the one that was chosen grand champion, which is a killer quilt (I'll post it later with pictures of the other quilts), and just my bad luck to enter the same year.

I think at least one of the judges agreed because I saw this note on my card. They don't normally leave notes or feedback so this was a deliberate choice.

Meanwhile, my sister and I can keep up the joke from how my lace coat did, summing up something's worth with a facetious: "good enough for second place at the fair." :)

Twin-pieced: no place

There were at least five in this category. I saw the tail end of the judging, but not specific comments on this quilt. There aren't a lot of scrap quilt entries so I'm not sure they are appreciated. Even so, I'm not trying to imply that the ones that were awarded ribbons didn't deserve them.

Wall hanging (180 inch perimeter and smaller)-Pieced: First place

This was an honest win: there are usually quite a number of wall hangings. Again, I didn't search out its direct competition so I can't show any for comparison. (The ones it's hanging with here are table runners--different category.)

Mini quilts (96 inch perimeter and smaller): Third place

Mine is the blue and yellow on the left. The red and white one beside it would have been in the same category.

Any other quilted article not listed: First place

I don't know what it was up against, but I'm happy with that!! :)

Photography

Color: abstract: First place

Pretty sure there were only two pictures in this category, so not much competition.

I could not find this picture when they were put out for display after judging. Looked and looked. When Troy went with me today, I had him look. When I met the superintendent and mentioned it was missing, she looked and looked. I suggested it might be behind another picture because they put double layers on the shelves to hold them all before judging. She really didn't think that could be it, but she looked and found it...behind another picture. So now it's out and my mind can stop dwelling on it.

Black & White: head or figure: Second place

A lot more competition in this category. (There always is. People like taking pictures of people! :)

I wasn't happy with how it was printed; I think the dark side is too dark. But maybe changing that would have blown out the light side, so maybe it needs some touch up work done.

So there you go: 12 entries, 10 ribbons, 1 comment from the judge, and a lost picture found.

The County Fair is Back

Like many other things cancelled last year, the county fair is returning this year. Tomorrow morning I will be taking care of the canning entries and be turning in my own projects for judging and display.

You would think I would have lots more things to enter after two years, but this is not the case. I used my time for some other creative pursuits and I spent a lot of time recovering from surgeries, etc., which meant I wasn't doing much of anything. (Watching videos of other people making stuff doesn't give me anything to show for it! :)

When I started to think about what to enter this year, I remembered that I would still need to make a quilt block for the raffle quilt. That meant I would need to find the fabric kit that must be used. Long story short, I searched high and low (twice) and can't find it. I've decided to believe that I didn't buy a kit. (Never mind that I bookmarked a post on Instagram just a few months after the fair and tagged it "Fair block ideas".) They didn't have any more kits available so there was nothing to be done about it.

So what did I find to enter?

Knitting

1. Cardigan, coat, pullover or sweater – adult

The Telja sweater. I finished it in 2018 and could have entered it in the last fair, but I had another sweater (this striped blouse with collar) to enter and you're only allowed one.

It's been worn but when I pulled it out of the hope chest it looked like I had cleaned and blocked it before putting it away. I pulled off some fuzz balls and called it good.

2. Vest or shell – adult

The Boxy T. This was finished in September, 2019, just after the last fair. This also had some evidence of wear and I had to re-work in some ends on the twisted edging. (There are four strands to bury and nothing to put them in!)

3. Socks

These socks were made in 2016. They were supposed to have a pattern woven on the side as you knit. I took them on a trip without the pattern and knit too far. Not wanting to rip it back, I figured I'd add some embroidery later. Now, five years later, I worked in the ends on the second sock and pulled out the experiment embroidery I had started at some point.

I didn't have time for a full blocking so I put them on the sock blockers, made them damp by spraying them with water, and hung them under a ceiling fan.

4. Any other knitted article not listed

The True Hope Cowl. I knit this in 2018. I hope the judge appreciates that it's double knit, which means it looks like the "good" side on both sides with the colors in reverse.

Sidenote: I have to admit looking at these pictures is making me a little nostalgic for this hair!

Crocheting

5. Cardigan, coat, pullover or sweater – adult

The Summer Dreams top, made last year. This might be my first crochet entry. I don't know if they're going to consider this a "pullover" but it has long sleeves and does pull over your head, so I didn't know where else it would fit. I provided a hanger for hanging so they could see a little better how it would fit.

Quilting

6. Full, Queen, King size – machine quilted: Pieced

The Nocturne Star quilt! Just finished today and ready for its debut! I put a note on it that it was quilted on a home machine (not a long arm) because I have heard them make that mistake on my quilts in the past. Credit where credit's due.

7. Twin size: Pieced

The Plaidish quilt. Finished last year and I almost forgot about it!

8. Wall hanging (180 inch perimeter and smaller): Pieced

"Prayer Flags" I took this from where it was hanging at church, leaving a naked rod. I hope no one thinks it was stolen. :)

9. Mini quilts (96 inch perimeter and smaller)

The Yellow Star on Blue wall hanging. This one is only 18" square. I submitted the sister wall hanging (Crossed Canoes on a Starry Night) in 2010 and it won a blue ribbon. Fingers crossed!

10. Any other quilted article not listed

The mug rug I made for Troy's desk. It was pretty dirty but a hand wash and a soak in Oxyclean has it looking bright and fresh again. I hit the binding with an iron and it's all set.

Photography

11. Color: abstract

This is a picture I captured last summer of Lake Superior waves breaking on some rocks. I wasn't sure what class to put it in--seascape? still life? I went with abstract just because it's cropped close enough that it's a little hard to see what you're looking at at first.

12. Black & White: head or figure

Self-Portrait. Is it weird that I keep submitting pictures of myself? I don't know. I don't have anyone else to take pictures of so self-portraits it is. (I convince myself it's ok because of the long tradition of artists painting self-portraits. I'm guessing they had the same problem I do!)

There you have it. All the fair hopefuls I'll be turning in. I'll let you know the results as soon as I have a chance.

County Fair Quilts (2019)

Ready? I said I'd do this a couple weeks ago, so I hope so!

I'm going to keep it simple this year and pretend like we're walking through the Home Arts building.

First up, as always, are the raffle quilt blocks. Here are the ones that made it onto the quilt (usually 20, if they have enough entries):

 Here are the top six, if you'd like a closer look:

 Then we have the quilt blocks that will be made into pillows:

Hanging above are this year's blocks. Below on the shelves are last year's pillows.

And here are all the extra entries. There were a lot this year.

Some of these didn't meet the rules for the use of the fabric or didn't fit the theme. The block way on the top left was judged to not fit the theme ("Grandma's Scrap Quilt"), but look how great it is!

So cute!

After this year's blocks comes last year's blocks made up into the raffle quilt:

Click here to see the blocks last year to compare to how it looks now with the sashing. Always an amazing transformation.

Next is the Grand Champion of the larger quilts:

 That was a lot of fussy applique. Almost everyone exclaimed at this quilt as they walked by.

A Tshirt quilt for a USPS deliverer:

 A couple wall hangings:

 This is the quilt that bested my blue and white elephant quilt. It was hand quilted:

 A few more wall hangings. The hippo one is really cute.

 The following quilt was hanging from the scissors lift instead of along the wall:

(It hides the lift and the big garage door behind it. Shhh.)

Butterflies!

There is a lot of detail in the border of this one:

All those pieced triangles!

 Next is the row of wall hangings that fit over the photograph and art displays.

 Look! More hippos! There were two of this quilt!

You can see the one below on the left was the Grand Champion of the smaller quilts.

Beautiful! And on the right is another Tshirt quilt. One of the local high school teams is called the "Eddies" and you can see Eddie at the top centre.

That's the end of the second wall. There's nothing on the third wall (no room), but when you turn the corner you see my quilt hanging by itself in a corner:

It might look lonely, but it must have worked since it got the People's Choice Award! (It's also one of the few spaces for a big quilt.)

Carrying on along the fourth wall, some more wall hangings or smaller quilts:

 A lovely Christmas quilt:

That's the end of the hanging quilts.

There is always one set up on a bed. This year it was a maze illusion quilt:

And since the number of produce entries was down this year, some of the shelves were used to hold two more quilts:

The superintendent mentioned that mine might have been displayed here, but one of these had a white backing and she didn't trust hanging it against the wall. Since my quilt had a dark blue backing, she thought that was safer!

And there you go. Quilts at the fair. I love seeing other people's work and I hope you have enjoyed seeing these too. I think clicking any of the pictures will get you a larger view and I encourage you to take a closer look at them.