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Sunday, September 5, 2010

State Fair

Warning - this is a post full of pictures from the state fair! 

I had to go and see my first-ever entry.  I entered this tatted doily in the state fair after receiving a blue AND a sweepstakes ribbon at the county fair. I received a second place ribbon at the state fair - pretty fun for the first time trying!




I wanted to see what the other entries were.  There are not many tatters in my area, but I know they are out there!  The entries were gorgeous, though few.  The categories in the Minnesota State Fair are 1) Tatting, clothing accessory; 2) Tatting, ornament; and 3) Tatting, other.  These categories are under Handcrafts - weaving, knotting, felting, and caning. The main thing I noticed here is that most entries were white or cream in color.




I have no idea why my doily took second place over that top one - it is as gorgeous as the first place one.

An edging took first place in the clothing accessory lot:

 and earrings took 2nd place:


First place ornament:

 And some other tatting I found was in the quilting.  These blocks appear to all be old hankies with tatted edges:




The other place to enter tatting is under Needlecrafts - lunch and dinner cloths and table runners and centerpieces, judged with crochet and knitting. This is where I originally saw the only place to enter tatting - but figured out where my entry belonged at the last minute. This is the only tatted piece I saw in this category - large and beautiful!



Most everything at the Minnesota State Fair revolves around FOOD!  I enjoyed apple cider from Minnesota grown apples, garlic fries, deep fried cheese curds, deep fried dill pickles, shrimp cocktail, and a mojito :)  Yum.  Enough grease to make my heart hurt from grease clogged arteries!


We have everything (not just food, but mostly food) "ON-A-STICK".  Some of it sounds weird, but most of it is funny, creative marketing.  Do other state fairs do this?  I had to take photos and make a collage - it was fun to take pictures of every sign of food "on-a-stick" I saw, and these are definitely not all of them!





Other things "on-a-stick" - a quilt on a stick competition with a theme each year:






and this cracked me up:

(OK, so I have a weird sense of humor.)
 
It was a great day for the fair!  It was sunny and unusually COOL.  Last Sunday, the high temperature was in the upper 90's and uncomfortably humid.  Yesterday, the high was only about 68!  Only in the midwest do we deal with these kind of temperature fluctuations - 30 degrees different within one week.  (Even within one day sometimes!) 



Edited to add:  Oh yeah - and check out this scarecrow contest at the fair!


The fair signals the END of summer in Minnesota.  Labor Day weekend is the last getaway to cabins, camping and family weekends before school starts on Tuesday.  I love this time of year and the cool weather it brings.  Not looking forward to snow yet, but cool, fall days are most welcome!

13 comments:

  1. Your doily is beautiful!!! Congratulations!
    I just started tatting that pattern and I sure hope it turns out half as beautiful as yours! :)

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  2. Wow, you had lots of places to enter tatting! I haven't entered in the state fair here so I don't know exactly how it is listed. Locally, however, it's just "tatting" and you are limited to 2 entries. I still enter tatting under "other" or sometimes "jewelry". Great win!

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  3. You've made me homesick for Minnesota. I lived there for 3.5 years and loved it! Hotdish Heaven!

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  4. Congratulations on your marvelous first showing at the State Fair! Loved seeing all the photos. My favorite is Quilt on a Stick! Still chuckling over that. And wondering how to turn the "on a stick" idea into a tatting challenge.

    Hee hee, my word verification is "polvall" - which reminds me of pole vault -- definitely an "on a stick" sporting event!

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  5. Your first showing and a lovely ribbon! Congratulations! That is just wonderful as it is a gorgeous piece of tatting.
    Fox : )

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  6. Oh, ya, those scarecrows are downright scary!
    Fox : )

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  7. Congratulations on the doily! I'm glad I'm not a judge, I would have a terrible time making a decision on those entries. Thanks for sharing all the pictures,it was a fun walk through the fair. The Kansas State Fair starts Friday. My sister and I are planning on going Saturday. I'm also planning to take my camera, we'll see if I can do as well as you taking pictures. There is always so much to see!

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  8. You missed a beautiful large tatted piece in the same case as the luncheon cloth! It was just on the other side of the case on one of the vertical boards. Unfortunately the people that displayed it wrapped 2/3rds of it behind the board so you couldn't see most of it, but it was gorgeous! Thanks for sharing your photos--I didn't bring my camera this year!

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  9. Amy - how did I miss that? I thought I had my eagle eyes out for anything tatted - it really must've been hidden. Now I wish I could go back and look for it! (Do you know the tatter?)

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  10. Congrats on the ribbons! Your Gerbera doily is very pretty. I'm all for lots and lots of color. Next year, you'll get the blue ribbon! *fingers crossed*

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  11. Congratulations...your Gerbera doily is lovely!

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  12. Yep, the tatter was Rhonda Grobe. The white luncheon cloth was done by Alice Larson. (Both Minnesota Lace Society members, which is how I know them)

    Your doily was also beautiful! Congratulations on the ribbon

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  13. Amy - I've only been to one Mn Lace Society meeting, but it's a little far to go regularly. Do you know if any tatters are from the NW metro? There doesn't seem to be anyone near me :( Email me sometime!

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Thanks for your thoughts - I read and appreciate every one!