Fun at the Fair!

It’s the end of August and that means it’s time for the great Minnesota get-together, otherwise known as the State Fair! Where else can you see Princess Kay of the Milky Way and her royal court get their heads carved in butter?

One of my favorite things to do at the fair is to see the many exhibits at the Creative Activities building. Each year a number of people who belong to my local EGA guild enter their stitchery in the fair. This year, as always, I found several of our members on the list of ribbon winners. One member won a sweepstakes prize for her stumpwork piece. This was a correspondence course a number of our members worked on this last year. It’s hard to really see the project in the photo as I had to take it through the glass, but trust me when I say it is truly lovely!

Another favorite stop is the Rosebud’s Cottage booth in Heritage Square. Each year their email subscribers receive a coupon for a free, special edition pattern designed by This n That just for the state fair. This year’s pattern was for a fun quilted and embroidered table centerpiece done in fall colors. I was told that a photo of the project will be put on the This n That blog after the fair ends on Labor Day, but the pattern is only available at the fair.

While at the booth I bought a new book called Fresh Fabric Treats. The projects use those Moda precut fabrics, though you could use any fabric at all from your stash. I linked to the book description on Amazon, but I must tell you that the book preview does not show the best projects from the book. I would venture to say that the projects they do show are the least “fun” ones from the book! 

I need another book like I need another toe, but I couldn’t resist this one! Included are very cute bags, a clear zippered supply pouch, a “book” for storing your in progress quilt blocks, and several other delightful patterns. I paid (gasp!) the full retail price of $21.95 and think it was a good buy.

In addition to going to the fair, I managed to finish reading The Lacemakers of Glenmara. I need to give it a rating of fair. I am told the story itself is loosely based upon a true incident that happened a number of years ago in Poland. It seems a group of ladies adorned lingerie with their lace to sell and the local church leadership thought it was somehow a problem and excommunicated them! This particular story happens in Ireland where a young lady from America travels to after losing her mother and breaking up with her fellow. The story isn’t a bad read, but the ending was somewhat abrupt. It seemed like the author needed to end the story and had to hastily get rid of a couple of the main characters with no warning. I would suggest borrowing this from your library if you would like to read it.