It is Fair Month!

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind!  I confess.... I love seeing my quilts on display.  I am not in it for the money, as a blue ribbon is only $3, but I do love to display my quilts.  I gift a lot of quilts, but each year I look back through photos and decide on some quilts to enter in our local county fair.  I am a co-superintendent of the quilt/afghan dept. and take an afternoon off work to help check them in.   I decided on 9 quilts/wallhangings, all in different categories to enter this year.

I am there for the judging and I am the one who stands with the judge to tell her which category this quilt or afghan is in.  Our fair is judged on the American system, one set of ribbons unless there are 10 items in the category or more.  Many years ago I was doing a LOT of quilting for others and started entering in the professional division, although I am FAR from a professional.  I still enter that category as the fair board said it's hard to switch back, even though I don't quilt for pay anymore.

I did get my Canyon Dance quilt finished.  Terrible photo in a hurry before the fair.

Canyon Dance

quilting closeup

We had a LOT of entries this year.  84 to be exact.  My friends got this display set up after judging.  I have two quilts in the front row.  My Canyon Dance with Best of Show professional and my Crown of Thorns with a blue and extra $15 sponsored cash award at the judge's discretion.  In the photo are also my Splash of Lime and Cat Houses and Snippets.  My friend also made a Canyon Dance with my templates and her quilt is on the front row right.

 I was working with two young men on the other side putting up afghans and smaller quilts in the two  photos below.  My One Block Wonder is in the second phot on the bottom.

 Then my friends did this wall with the wallhangings and tablerunners.  The screens are up so nobody can touch or steal!

 Another view of my Crown of Thorns and Canyon Dance after the screens are up.

I actually did very well, winning 9 blue ribbons.  Part of the fun of fair weekend is family.  This picture is distorted since we were in a curve, I am really not such a giant, my mom is taller than me!  Me, mom, SIL Dee holding Isaak her grandson, niece Kylie, sisters Lori and Sue.  I hadn't gotten back in line after finding a classmate walking by to take our picture.

So if that wasn't enough.... there is another fair in the next county.  They allow entries from the surrounding counties and I have never entered before.  I have never even been to that fair!  My husband wanted to go to "town" and pick up some things and I said if we went Tuesday I would enter quilts.  So after work we did.  I picked 5 because their categories were very limited.  They judge on the Danish system, entries get a ribbon if they deserve it.

I had to go down Saturday as my car was throwing codes and needed a checkup so I went to the fair. I was shocked to see the entries behind plastic, but at the same time, it keeps dirty hands off of them!  I was awarded 5 blues!   I went back Sunday afternoon to pickup up my entries.

Baby Boy Grandson quilt

Canoyon Dance was all folded up and laying down.

Two wallhangings

Crown of Thorns with a Best of Class.

I want to get back to some quilting, all I have done is make a big mess, trying to design a small wallhanging for th Teal Swap to support Ovarian cancer.  

Linking up with Small Quilts and Doll Quilts for Design Wall Monday.

Two Christmas Quilt Finishes!

In my last post I showed that I was quilting on my Snippets quilt.  I finished it last week.  I did pretty simple quilting, straight lines until the border where I did feather and curly q quilting.

Snippets by Cottonway pattern

 The striped binding was a great finish I thought!

 Closeup showing some of the Jingle fabrics, along with others from my stash.

 After I finished that quilt I was still in the Christmas mode so I quilted my One Block Wonder.  I LOVE this quilt!  It is not huge.  I just quilted a simple, quick allover design with a pale gray thread. The fabric is a Hoffman Spectrum digital print called Poinsettia.  I loved it so much I ordered more of the fabric off ebay, I couldn't find it anywhere else!  Then I was at a quilt shop an hour away Friday and found enough left on the bolt to make another one so I bought that too!

One Block Wonder

 I added a lime flange and red binding to finish it off.

 Closeup of some of the blocks.

 Next up is my Bonnie Hunter Easy Street mystery quilt.  I really am trying to finish UFO's!

I finally received my pillow cover from the Quilted Pillow Cover swap on Instagram. I sent the Red Fox Faces pillow I had posted earlier to my recipient.  She was supposed to send to another person and that person was supposed to send to me.  This was all secret at the time.  Anyway the third person had not posted updates and would not respond to emails and the hostess had my recipient send to me instead.  We had filled out forms stating color preferences, styles, etc.  The funny thing I had commented on Instagram that I thought this was too busy when she first posted fabrics and I thought it wasn't that cute, not knowing I was going to get it!   But, wow!  She turned it into an artistic creation!  The quilting is impeccable and it has amazing detail!  I am so impressed and thrilled to receive it!  I am just glad she had been told to wait and not sent it to the person who flaked out!   

School started last week and it was tiring!  I also spent two days this weekend refinishing my front and back decks.  I usually hire it done, but couldn't find anyone.  When we built our house the composite decking was just coming out and we went with the cedar.  It's great except for having to refinish it occasionally!  I'm glad that is done before winter sets in.  

Linking up with Small Quilts and Doll quilts, check out all the inspiration from other bloggers!