Auspicious August

Hey Blog Buddies,

Hope everyone's August went well.  
I was beginning to think I wouldn't get a post in this month, 
because I wanted to wait until I had another letter finish.  
But finally...

K is done!

I think the cat looks a bit nervous.

Maybe she's afraid that the birds

are going to start pecking at her ears.

I worked a bit on Rip-Ro, too.

Here's where I was last month.

And here it is now.

I had a good bit done on Forest last month.

And here it is now, all stitched.

I like the way the trees change color

when they overlap.

I made a couple of new starts, too.

I don't know if this will be

finished in time to be seasonally displayed, 

but at least I should have it for next year!

This has been in my stash pile for several years.

It finally called loudly enough for me to notice.

The Lake County Fair was in the middle of the month...

...and I did quite well.

This past weekend, I attended

Needlework Galleria with my friend Joyce.

It was held at the Embassy Suites Hotel

in St. Charles, Missouri.

There were close to 30 vendors,

mostly designers and some needlework shops,

and it took up the entire fourth floor of the hotel.

Since all the rooms were two-room suites,

the vendors set up their shops 

in the living room part of the

suite where they were staying.

I took this photo from the 12th floor where

our suite was, far from the madding crowd.
You can see the banners of some of the vendors
down on the fourth floor railing.

A tiny sample of goods from various shops.

I went a little nuts in the shop with all the fabric...

I got lots of nice 18- and 20-count evenweave,

good for over-one work!
Wait, am I planning on doing a lot of over-one work?!

I signed up for one class, the Round Robin.

Six vendors took turns presenting their small projects.  

Just what I need, six more projects!

But they're small...

Clockwise from top left, The Silver Needle's acorn stand-ups;

JBW's candy cane holder; Romyscreations' Christmas ornie;

J Design's Spooky Tin, Noteworthy Needle's

thimble holder (it's really small); and finally

Needle Bling's sampler pillow.

The Silver Needle is a needlework shop in Tulsa, OK.

They had a fabulous 2-suite shop jam packed 
with the most tantalizing stuff.

If you're ever near Tulsa, pay them a visit!

I have to give a shout out to Cathy from

Inspired Needle (my local LNS)

who puts on this incredible event year after year.

Thanks for all the hard work, Cathy.

It was well worth it.

That's it from here.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Leap Year List - August Report

Hey Blog Buddies,

July sped by quickly, despite it being one of the longest months.  It's been too hot here for my liking.  And the last part of July went from drought to deluge.  As a matter of fact, we had such a series of torrential downpours here last Friday that we got seepage in our below-grade family room for the first time in years.  But luckily, we were home when it started, and it was abated by the one-two punch of a shop vac and box fans.  It also helped that the rain stopped a little while after the water started to come in.  It was more of a nuisance than anything.  Lots of others in this area weren't so lucky.  Molly's cushion had to be temporarily relocated "inland" from the wet wall after her bedding was cleaned and dried, but it didn't seem to faze her.

On to the stitching... 

First up is Prairie Schooler's Farmer's Almanac.

Here it is as of last month.

And here it is now.

I constructed a farm house, planted trees,

and did more of the verse, from the bottom up, of course.

I know I can't avoid stitching

the rest of that grass for too much longer, though.

All this over-one stitching is slow going.

Next is another Prairie Schooler design:  

the A from the ABC leaflet.

I had it started last month.

And now it's finished.  Woo hoo!

I originally toyed with the idea of

doing this entire piece over one.

I'm so glad that I didn't!

It's been a joy to stitch so far.

Finally, we have Jennifer Riefenberg's 

The Missing Piece:

Here it is as of last month.

And here it is now--all finished!

Some of the various stitches

were a little tricky to compensate.
The bargello section
had me talking to myself.

I've been spoiled with Kathy Rees' 

Needle Delights Originals designs.

She graphs out all the compensation for you.

But it's nice to know I can do it on my own

if push comes to shove.

And speaking of Needle Delights Originals,
she came out with a new "Log" design
for Halloween (uh-oh).

I just couldn't resist this one.

And, yes, it's all kitted up.

Last month I showed you a little 
design from La D Da that I stitched.
I sent it over to Averyclaire
who crafted this sweet needle roll finish.

The outside.

The inside.

Here it is all rolled up.

So cute!
And I do plan to use it, not just look at it.

Last, but not least, here is
The Lake County Fair Report

Exhibitors' Night was last night
at the Family Arts and Crafts Building.
It's a sturdy two-story brick edifice,
with the second story
being just a balcony around the perimeter.
The building has no air-conditioning,
just a couple of strategically-placed fans.
Did I mention that yesterday the outside
ambient temperature was in the low 90's
with very high humidity?
Each exhibitor gets two passes,
and there are lots of exhibitors.
Many of them do bring a guest.
Think body heat.

Of course, I knew all this going in,
but I went anyway because
it's a rollicking good time.

This photo is from 2013,
with the Fair mascot in the doorway.

The baked goods,
which have already been judged,
are always given away to the attendees
who are willing to stand
in the very long Free Food Line.

But I, and many others, were not food-oriented.
Our main objective is peering into the
display cabinets and over them,
looking at the hanging pieces
that are set up out of harm's way,
squinting at the tags,
looking for our own entries and,
almost as important, our friends' entries.

There is lots of camaraderie,
with people greeting each other,
giving congratulations and just chatting.
Yes, the competitors who I know personally
are truly happy for each other's wins,
even if it might be at their own expense.

This year I had 12 entries,
10 of which won various ribbons,
so I did good, as did most of my friends.
Yes, the blackwork horse got a blue ribbon.
(I was the only exhibitor in that class.)

I do have one photo to show you.

After 25 years of exhibiting at this Fair,
this is my first Best in Show.
I have to say I was a bit giddy last night
and very, very surprised.
I was with Averyclaire (she was my guest)
and we got to scream and jump up and down together.
I truly believe it was her gorgeous finishing
that put this piece over the top.

"Best in Show" is a misnomer anyway,
because there are many Best in Show winners.
What it refers to is your Section,
which in this case is Needlecraft II,
limited to the embroidered pieces,
with the exception of holiday decorations and ornaments.

And, yes, I'm already thinking of 
what I might enter next year.

This post turn out to be a bit longer than planned.
If you're still reading,
thanks for sticking with me.
Have a wonderful weekend.

Fun at the Fair

Hey Blog Buddies,
How has your August been going?  It's Fair season here in the Midwest, and the Lake County (IN) Fair is going on all this week.  DH and I made a trip there today--here's some of what we saw.

There's always a flower show.

They have a whole building devoted to it.

I cruised through the building next door...

and saw lot of pigeons...

...and rabbits.

No Fair would be complete without a carnival.

 

Any guesses as to what these are?  No?

They're "coin blouses" -- one size fits most, 

they stretch to fit.

I found them in the Industrial Building.

You never know what you'll find there.

No, I didn't buy one.

 

 

You didn't think I was going to skip the Ag Building, did you?

 

What a beauty--all 890 pounds of him.

That's a lot of pumpkin pie!

 

I thought this bug was cute and clever!

So did the judges.

 

You can win a ribbon for your baled hay.

 

Who doesn't love gourds?!

If you're a gourd and you're big enough,

you even get your own chair!

 

I couldn't tell what type of produce it was

that they turned into Miss Piggy!

Peppers!

 

I thought that this mixed produce display 

that came in 2nd

was much more creative than the one 

that took first.

C'mon, tomatoes atop Greek columns with

peapods hanging off of them!  Genius!

But that's the thing about judging--it's subjective.

I have many more photos from the Ag Building,

but I'll spare you because

you're probably not as enthusiastic about this stuff

as I am.

Let's move on to Family Arts and Crafts.

Here's what I entered...

I was quite happy with my results,

even though I didn't win a ribbon

on everything I entered.

There are a lot of talented exhibitors out there!

It's just so much fun to participate,

and to check out how all your friends did

during Exhibitors' Night.

My large Newfie/St. Bernard friend

who works with the guy who makes animal tags

says "Bye--see you next year at the Fair."

Thanks for coming along!

Lake County Fair

Hi Blog Buddies,

It's been a while, and some of you may be wondering what I've been up to (or not).  Well, I have been stitching, and later this week I'll have stitchy stuff to share, but today I'd like to take you with me to the Lake County Fair.  This City Girl just loves county fairs (especially Lake County).  Wanna take a spin around the fair?  C'mon!

This Fair has been going strong for 161 years,

but they are not the oldest fair in Indiana.

That honor goes to the LaPorte County Fair.

 

Are you hungry?

 

You're in fried food heaven....

 

...with beverages to wash it all down.

 

There's always lots of heavy equipment on display.

 

I love watching the horse competitions.

Do these kids have bad posture? 

Are they checking their smart phones?  No!

They are all holding apples under their chins!

Last one who drops their apple wins.

 

Next there was the egg race.

Same principle:  last one who drops their egg

(sitting on a spoon)

wins.

 

This big guy comes every year with his owner,

who makes name tags for dogs while you wait.

 

And speaking of big guys...

...the biggest pumpkin always draws a crowd.

Yes, that's 754.5 pounds!

We are now in the Agricultural Building,

and we won't be leaving any time soon.

 

They grow their sunflowers tall in Indiana!

 

Who can resist the Wonderful World of Gourds?

 

They were keeping the (live) bees cool with a fan,

even though the day itself was pleasantly cool.

 

One of my favorite categories:  Freak Vegetable or Fruit

...because I'm weird.

 

DH loves the Industrial Building as much

as I love the Agricultural.

It's populated by building contractors,

cookware demos,

ShamWow salespeople

and even a company that sell caskets.

Nothing to see here--let's move on.

 

No visit to the fair would be complete

without a stop at this building.

But we won't actually be going inside today.

Do you see that gigantic bee guarding the entrance?

Instead, I'll send you here,

to see all the exhibits which my sister stitchers and I

entered into the fair this year.

We all had a blast during exhibitors' night.

If you've been reading this blog recently,

you can easily pick out my stuff.

 

This concludes our visit to the fair.

(There was so much that we didn't see.)

Hope you enjoyed my version of

the 2013 Lake County Fair.

 

And thanks for visiting!