How Did I Do at the Fair?

My sister and I met yesterday and rode the free bus shuttle to the Fair; unfortunately, Kathy received some bad advice about free parking and had to pay $10 to get into the State Beach Park.  The fact that the bad advice came from me was a blow.  I was so annoyed that the info on the Fair website didn't mention the State Beach fee that I parked on the street and walked in to avoid paying. I then recalled that we used to do that when the kids were little, too! The shuttle ride was short.  I bought Kathy's admission ticket in and we headed straight to the Home Arts building.  Kathy had wanted to enter some jam, but had her dates mixed up and was too late to enter.  She didn't enter any quilts this year.  We wandered around looking at everything and spotting fellow guild members' work.  Before we located any of my entries, we saw the Thomas Fire Quilt display up on the wall. 

These are a few of the ways the Perkiomen Valley Blocks can be set (the middle bottom row's bright zig zag quilt is not a Perki).  I love the two lower right quilts that used the exact same fabrics in the Perkiomen blocks but set differently.  I'm pretty sure these came as finished tops, maybe even finished quilts.  

The first of my entries spotted was the Lizzie Kate May Stamp cross-stitch with an Honorable Mention ribbon.  Yay!  Boo for weird lighting through the display case.

My Michael Miller Fabric Challenge runner for Sewtopia was just a few feet away.  I was happy to see 2nd place. 

Next we found the Metro Twist Modern Baby Quilt, with a lovely 2nd place.  A fellow guild member we bumped into turned over the tag to read the judge's comments, which noted that the quilting in the negative space was a little sparse.  Huh??? I thought it was pretty obviously done that way, since I more closely quilted outside the pieced part.  Oh well, hopefully the more modern quilts that are entered, the more the negative space concept will be apparent!  I did get a nice comment on my binding :)

The remainder of my entries were in a display case.  Seems they preferred the back of the placemats, but awarded me a lovely 1st ribbon. 

Sorry about the lighting, couldn't avoid it.  2nd place for the Yarnover tablerunner!

My Dotted Big Bag got a lovely 1st place ribbon.  I was surprised that it was the only big bag entered, as many other guild members have made these in guild classes and on their own (Kathy made at least three herself!).  You can spot my Broken Dishes Pillow in the upper right of the photo. 

Another 1st place award!  How fun is that--a ribbon on each of my entries.  There were lots of other great arts, crafts, and quilts in the Home Arts building, and I'll share more in a separate post.  Kathy and I looked at a lot of animals, ate in the freezing cold wind coming off the ocean mere feet away, toured the midway and watched the teenagers and kids, and finished up with a favorite Fair Food dessert before catching the shuttle bus back to the State Beach.  I will probably go back another time in the next week to see the Photography and Horticulture exhibits and enjoy more Fair Food and music.

Design Wall Monday-4/30

Last Design Wall of the month!  Off my design surface is the Big Bag project I showed the start of last week. It was a late hour Friday night completing the panel section I had added rows to over several evenings during the week. I used flannel leftovers instead of batting, seaming two chunks before quilting.  Flannel was recommended to reduce bulk. 

I thought I was only going to quilt with some straight lines, but then I realized there would be no way to add any additional detail once the bag was complete, so added my favorite 3-step zig zag stitch to the pieces as well.  I ran out of bobbin thread twice while making the large center panel (folded in half in this pic) and two side panels. I think it was 1:30 a.m. before I finished trimming to size and zig-zagging the raw edges.

My sister picked me up Saturday morning and we headed to Calabasas High School for the class given by fellow guild members.  We were 18 students, including the school's principal, who was able to ferry folks from the parking lot with the school's golf cart. My sister, however, pulled out her transport wheelchair she uses for her elderly charges, and we set our heavy sewing machines on the seat.  "Worked a treat" as they say.  

Our first task was to use a template provided to remove part of the panel for the handles to be inserted.  Since I wanted to add a large pocket, though not taught in the class, I set to work on that job.  

More Polka Dots from stash.  I used two different gray solids from stash for the lining of my bag.  This pic shows the quilt binding used to cover raw edges of the pocket, handle section, and bag edge all finished. I used the handle cut-out portions for more pockets on the sides.

After all that piecing, I didn't want to throw them away!  I think the zig zagged edge looks just fine.  Once all the sections were sewn together, all seams covered with quilt binding and the top edge folded down and stitched in place, 1/2" dowels were cut to size in class and inserted. 

Ta-da!  Though not intentionally done, the borders on my pieced main section lined up to a single row of polka dots, which I like. The handles stop at the edge of the main section so the bag opens to a nice 9-10" width.  We had a great group of stitchers and a lot of fun making our bags, all of which were different and wonderful. I am happy that all of my bag's fabrics came from stash and scraps, the only purchases were packaged quilt binding and the dowels.  My sister, meanwhile, being a power sewer, blazed ahead of everyone.  She finished her bag way ahead of me and started on a second, which she also finished before the class ended.  Then this morning she sent me a picture of a THIRD bag she made last night.  I expect a few  more before she's tired of it!

Next up is to make a baby quilt for a shower in a few weeks.  I'll get to do more fabric play and piecing, yay!

See more Design Walls on Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.