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! :)

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.

Fair Entries 2015

Once again, I got myself to the fair grounds by 8 (am) and managed the canning entries. I check them in, organize them for the judges and then record the results.

Then I turn all the tags over and attach the ribbons so they are ready for display. I left a little after 3 this year.

I also managed to enter a few things myself.

Here is the list of what I am submitting for judgment:

1. Pullover sweater (adult): Ombre Yarneater

This sweater was looking quite worn (since I wore it) so I decided to shave off the pills. I had the thought that I should be able to use hair clippers to cut the pills off. So I tried it. Well, it's very effective. But if you catch the threads, you can easily cut them...or four of them. It was worst where the yarn got really thin in the "thick and thin" sections.

So I cut the yarn in one sleeve in four places. I decided not to have a meltdown because the sweater is made up of so many different yarns already. I pulled out the bag that had leftover yarns from this project and was pleasantly surprised to see that I still had extra of the yarn that was cut. It still wouldn't match exactly because the yarn colour and thickness changes so much, there would be no way to find a piece that was the same as the section that was cut. But again, since everything varied all the time, you didn't notice.

I essentially duplicate stitched from a few stitches to the right of the cut, past the cut and then a few stitches to the left. After I block the whole sweater again, I couldn't even find the spots unless I looked for the ends on the back side. So hopefully it will not catch the judge's attention. :)

2. Vest (adult)

I knit this for Troy either back in our engagement or early marriage days. I think it was always a little small on him. He liked it but did not wear it often.

When I pulled it out of "deep storage" to wash and block it for the fair I noticed that it biased terribly. Even though the fabric is knit straight, it wants to distort diagonally. So one bottom corner of the back, for instance, was way lower than the other. I believe this can sometimes happen with yarn that is unbalanced. (You can read more about it here on TECHknitter's great blog.)

Includes fake pockets and everything! :)

For now, I blocked it to try and get it to straighten out. I think the long term solution will be to ravel the garment and reuse the yarn.

3. Pullover sweater (child): Wool-Aid Sweater

4. Hat and mitten set: Dwindling cables set

Of course, they really are the same colour.

Ok, I spent about two hours Friday night looking for these mittens. They were not with the hat and they were no where to be found. I had convinced myself that they fell off of the shelf and into the garbage can that sits below and had been thrown out. I was devastated and bummed. Not only did it take me about two years to finish them but I hadn't even gotten to wear them yet! No, actually the worst part was that I finished them for the fair and now I couldn't enter them.

But I kept looking. In ridiculous places. In the same places. And eventually I found them in a plastic bag with something completely unrelated. I think I did that when we blew insulation in the attic. So the mittens were dust-free, but almost lost "forever."

5. Any item from handspun yarn: Etoile Hat

6. Any other knitted article: Pennant Skirt

Obviously a picture from before it was finished. After blocking it hangs just how I was hoping...looking like nice regular pleats. I finished the knitting in late June but just put in the elastic and closed up the casing this week. (Once again the fair deadline gets things done!)

7. Quilt--twin size, machine quilted: Orange and Grey Zig Zag Quilt

8. Raffle quilt block: Bear Paws with a surprise

 Ok, I did promise you a surprise on my quilt block.

I had the idea to applique a bear onto the block. My first idea was to use the dark brown (a little more suitable for a black bear) and put it right in the centre, but the dark colour wouldn't show up against the blue and green. So after trying out other browns in my stash, I came back to the golden tan colour already in the quilt. Troy convinced me that having it off-centre would be good and I came to agree with him.

I found a bear silhouette that I liked online, printed it the size I wanted, and then traced it onto the fabric. I sewed it on with traditional needle turn applique. All done with very little drama this year!

Oh, and I used a lot of starch on this piece both before cutting and piecing and after it was finished, and it feels great. Let's hope the judges agree.

9. Tomato Juice
No picture here, but I did one nice bottle of tomato juice last summer and saved it for the fair. But there are a few seeds so I think they will mark me down for that. It will depend what the competition is. (I have at least been shaking it so it's not separated.)

10. Photograph - black and white: animal

11. Photograph - colour: animal

They changed the rule this year and you can only enter one picture into each section (black and white or colour) instead of each class (subdivisions of sections). So that will be a lot fewer entries this year. If I were worried about ribbons, I would enter in the classes that get a lot fewer entries ("abstract" or "digitally manipulated") but I decided to go with my favourite pictures instead.

And that's everything this year. I'll let you know next week how I did!!

County Fair Quilt Block

Yes, it's almost time for the Cass County Fair again. (The 164th!) It opens August 3rd and runs through the 8th, which means I have to have my projects ready to turn in on August 1st.

I have a number of projects I am trying to finish up and prepare for entry, and one that I didn't even start until last night was the raffle quilt block.

I bought the $5 fabric pack last year and the theme was "Up North." I had a few ideas to do with the Mackinac Bridge but I couldn't get excited about a landscape or applique project. I finally decided to do a Bear Paw block. Bears live up north, right? (Right?)

I'll skip to the end and show you my final block:

I put it together in one evening. It is 12.5" this year (I swear), except for a tiny notch out of the right side. (At about the mid point. Don't pretend you can't see it.) But I'm not replacing that piece and will take my chances with how strict the judges are. (They are strict.)

Here is a close up to show the fabric a little better:

The kit came with a dark blue, a green with red dots and a brown and tan with the same vaguely-animal stripe on it. Oh, and the pale pale blue that I used on the outside of the block. I really wish they would chose some more modern, or at least bright and cheery fabrics one year. They are always the same dark drab tones. Ok, ok, I'll stop criticizing before another person asks me why I participate if I hate it so much. (I don't.)

Here is the basic unit of the block:

Make four of those, add the sashing and you're done.

I followed this great tutorial by Delaware Quilts. Except I did the half-square triangles eight at a time instead of four. I followed the Fons and Porters tutorial here for that. (The key formula is that your starting square is 2 times the finished block size plus 1.75".) It worked great except for the missing notch on the right side and I think that was because the block got distorted when I was marking it with a pencil. (Not their fault.)

If I did different colours in each corner, then the four at a time would have been perfect. But since I matched opposite corners, I needed eight total and why not do them all at the same time then!? :)

If all goes according to plan, my block is not actually finished. I have a surprise in store. I'll show you later, assuming it works out!

2014 County Fair Raffle Quilt Block (The Wheel Goes Round)

Last time I mentioned my raffle quilt block, the Carpenter's Wheel, it was finished,

but too small. By a good 1/2 inch.

That was January 26. By January 31, I had made the decision and started ripping it apart.

 Piece by piece, until I had a big pile:

 I decided the central cross shape was far enough.

(I couldn't stand the thought of redoing the star.)

Then to help the pieces get rid of their very well-pressed seams, I soaked them in water and let them dry:

That's a big puzzle to put together. (Ok, so not compared to an actual 5,000 piece puzzle, but you know what I mean.)

And then the pieces sat and sat and sat and waited for me. Apparently waited until I finally felt the looming deadline of the Fair. I started putting this back together about a week ago and concentrated so hard on it that I didn't take any pictures.

I assembled the whole thing and it measured (close enough to) 12.5"--the needed dimension. But the edges were very ruffly meaning the outside rows were too long. I took out the center light coloured rectangle from each outside row because that's where the problem seemed to be and sewed it back in with a larger seam. This helped a lot and my square ended up like this:

Not too bad. I got rid of every last hanging thread, and there were a lot of them with all that ripping and resewing. The square does measure closer to 12.5 x 12.5 than anything else, but some of the edges are uneven. There isn't enough width to cut them straight.

Since I made this block three times and made a fourth out of my practice fabrics, I figure I have enough for a wagon now!

I am still proud of the back and how good the pattern of seams looks. (How you press your seams is a very big deal in quilting.)

I think it's quite a lovely block, although I have no desire to make a quilt out of a bunch of them! And now that it's done, I'm wondering if I should have gotten more creative with the colours. Maybe made all the points of the outside shapes one colour. And of course, I would have loved to use more red, but it was the only bright colour and I felt it had to go into the star.

One thing is for sure, I will be putting a suggestion in the suggestion box to use some bright modern fabrics one of these years. It would be a nice change!