Fair Time!

Back in 2005 during my last semester at Snow College, I took a quiltmaking class which was surprisingly a ton of fun (I had a lot on my plate at the time and I think I just needed something that wasn't school or the newspaper to unwind).  To pass the class, I just had to make a certain number of quilt squares and piece them together in a quilt top, which I could finish into a full quilt during the summer or whatever.  I wanted to hand quilt it, just to say I had done it, so I basted the top, the batting and the bottom together and started the long and arduous task of hand quilting.  I finally finished the hand quilting part of it in 2008 right before I left on my mission.  The quilt sat in a basket for a year and a half until I came home.  Kathryn showed me how to bind it all together and she also suggested that I enter it in the county fair (full disclosure - I affectionately refer to Kathryn as the Yoda of Sewing.  She just got her Bachelor's degree in Family/Consumer Science Education and she is going for her Master's in the same field, which I think is amazing).

So, the fair is next week and I am going to do it.  Shoot, I worked on this sucker this long - I might as well show it off, right?  Even if I don't win anything substantial, it'll be fun anyway.

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It's kind of hard to get a full picture of it when it's on the floor, but that's the general idea.

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A closer look

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This is the pattern I sewed on the sashing (the beige rectangles between the pieces squares). I used a disappearing ink marker and drew this doodle on the fabric and followed it with my needle. This is the view from the back because the thread blends in with the pattern on the front, but you flip it over to the back and it looks pretty neat with all the different stitching patterns.

I also have some pictures I took in Florida of a sunrise over the ocean that are pretty good that I'm thinking about entering. Mom and I went to the neighboring county's fair (which, incidentally is a lot closer to where we live than our county's fair. Kind of messed up, but there you go) and they had some amazing photography entries, so that's what got me thinking I'd do that too. I have to pick one and mount it before the entries are due on Tuesday. Shoot, might as well. It's free to enter and I might just get some bragging rights (not to mention a pretty ribbon to hang on my wall ^_^).

I just enjoy the fair.  They have some really neat stuff on display and it always gets me thinking "Hey, I could make something like that!"  It's the best thing in the world for some inspiration :)