Let me tell you about my FAIR day.....

Monday was a FAIR day for me (and hubby). After I enjoyed some fun time with my neighborhood quilt group (Lakeside Ladies), he and I went to the Delaware State Fair. This post will be rather picture intensive....but before you look at them, let me remind you that time is FLYING and on Sunday morning at 6 a.m. my time (eastern time), the giveaway for the GO! cutter and dies will close. So...if you've not yet entered and want to be in it, click for the info on the sidebar here. (ONE entry per person so we keep it fair, okay?)

Now...take a trip to the State Fair with me......some photos will need no explanation!Yes...I did go see the quilts. The ones here were all made by 3 gals I know very well. Please excuse the framing of the quilts...all but one of them were hanging from the ceiling and I couldn't get a great angle on them.
First we have Lucy, who has only been quilting for about 5 years! She is a retired hairdresser. She dyes her own fabrics, sometimes paints on the fabrics AND does her own quilting (at first on her regular sewing machine and now she has a long-arm.) This first quilt won her a blue ribbon AND the judges' award this year. LOTS of her hand-dyed fabrics in this one AND she makes the design herself..yes...she just "happens" to be able to draw. Not TOO talented, is she??? (click to enlarge and appreciate it more)
Another of Lucy's quilts....yup...more of her hand-dyeds in THIS one,too. And, I'm sure you noticed ANOTHER blue ribbon and a scalloped border to add to the merriment!!!Gee...Lucy must be slipping...she only got a YELLOW ribbon on this next one. Now, you really need to click on this and LOOK at all those flowers behind this garden gate and know that she hand-dyed most of them in various shades so the flowers would all be shaded. Do you hate her yet??? LOL Wait...you might in a second when I tell you this next thing about her. When she had only been quilting about two years, she submitted a quilt (think it was a Baltimore album type quilt) to the Paducah AQS show...she was still quilting her things on her home machine then. AND...the quilt got accepted to Paducah. She didn't win there...thank goodness or WE would have all hated her for getting a quilt into the Paducah show just 2 years after she started quilting!!! LOL I hope you clicked on these photos to enlarge them. (Personally, I think the judges were NUTS for not awarding THIS quilt a blue ribbon in the watercolor quilt category...I meant to look at the winning one, but I doubt it held a candle to this one!)Next, we have two quilts from a local gal who is doing long-arm work for me lately....Jackie. She won a blue ribbon with this one. It's a LARGE quilt and space was at a premium, so they had it folded....which is a shame as it's STUNNING when seen in all its glory. But...you'll get the idea of how nice it is anyway. And here is a wall-hanging done by Jackie...it is so peaceful and pretty. I'd love to have it in MY house! Her quilting is always exquisite as she doesn't use a computerized long-arm...she does it all herself....deciding on what would look best and then just DOING it. All the quilts she does are very customized and wonderful.

Now the next gal, Joan, had a few quilts entered in this show and I thought I got all of them but find I only got one. Sorry, Joan. It was a pretty quilt, though (as were her others). You can't really tell from this photo, but this is actually a rag quilt of sorts.....very nicely-done!Needing a break from the sun, we went to the casino (one of our state's casinos is on the grounds of the State Fair) where I....so NOT a gambler (nor is hubby) spent a big $3 and came out $2.52 ahead on the penny machines!!! Hubby lost his $3. We had a nice supper in the cafe there and then went to see a group that we LOVE that does a lot of State Fairs. They are based in Dallas, Texas, and if you live in that area OR anywhere near a State Fair where they will appear, you should go see them. Their name is Vocal Trash....they are SO entertaining and energetic with music for lots of age groups...lots of percussion and great voices. We have followed them now for about 5 years and see them every chance we get. Nobody leaves their show without big smiles on their faces! I was persuaded to dance in front of the stage with their lead member and one of their dancers....NOT my usual thing to do and I would not go up ON the stage, but I had a blast right there at the foot of the stage. This last photo shows me and the lead guy (Steve) who is pointing at me and telling hubby to take my picture and saying to hubby, "Can you believe I got her up here to DO this??" IF any of you have already seen them and are fans of theirs, let me know. I know they go to the Pullayup fair in Washington state (probably didn't spell that right), the Missouri State Fair, the Iowa State Fair, the Colorado State Fair and the list goes one. If you can see some of their videos on You Tube, you will see what I mean about their energy level!!! Anyway.....I leave you with that photo of me dancing with them last night. Pretty funny, huh? (In case you don't recognize me, I am the chunky one in the black shirt...their lead guy is in the blue...48 years old and not an ounce of fat on HIM...could it have anything to do with the energetic shows he does??? Maybe I should travel with that group and get skinny!!! LOL)