Fun at the County Fair

The biggest event of the year in my little rural area is the county fair.  Because I live in a rural area that still has farms, there are always a lot of 4-H events in which kids show off the animals they've raised that year.  There are horses, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, llamas, poultry and rabbits on show, with their proud owners standing by to give their pet pig a bath just before the judging.  There are rides, all sorts of foods, displays of baking, canning and crafts from photography to handwork, music, a tractor pull and a pig scramble (put a dozen women and greased pigs in a small area and stand back), etc.  It's lots of fun.  I usually take a quick visit to the poultry and rabbit displays and look at the hand crafts and this year I took a few photos.  The rabbit was one of the few awake when I ran through the exhibit this year early one morning.

Sadly there isn't much needlepoint on display.  There never is.  What you see is one piece of needlepoint (the blue purse) with a lot of crewel and cross stitch.  The counted thread piece two pictures to the left of the purple ribbon one is a Berlin woolwork-style counted thread design done on black Aida over one.  It was quite pretty, although very hard to see in the photo.

There is a lot of crewel and knitting in this photo, actually more crewel than I've seen in years.

One of the two Best in Show purple ribbons (one is given out in each age group, the quilt winner is in the Over Sixty Age category) is the quilt in the center of the piece. The hand quilting pattern was beautifully done but it doesn't show up in the photo.  Sadly, there are fewer quilts this year than usual but there is much more knitting.

Another better shot of the Best quilt plus a very nice counted thread piece frame to its left.  I ran into the counted thread piece's stitcher.  It is this design from Darleen O'Steen who lives over the mountain from us in the D.C. suburbs.

http://emlis.com/prayse_5.htm

Here's a better look at the other Best in Show piece, SharonG's Blue Purse.  Watson is inspecting the ribbons when I brought it home when the fair ended.  Yes, the piece is under glass.

My first Best in Show ribbon!  I wore it on the front of my t-shirt all day.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow

Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com

and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com