Ribbons

Okay, I promised a post about my fair winnings. To be honest, this feels a little like when I used to write my grandmother and tell her about every single present I got for Christmas. So instead I'll just show you a pictures of my ribbons. It was a good year. Here's a couple of highlights:
So pleased this dress won after everything I went through. So glad I didn't give up and throw the completed smocked piece away. The judge commented "Your smocking compliments the fabric!" So glad she thought so since I bought the fabric to compliment the smocking!

I made this dress for someone at church who was in her sister's wedding. I'm so pleased it also won a big ribbon. I will admit though that I think I was the only entry in Wedding garments. That said, I once was the only entry in Tailored Garments and I only got a red ribbon because that's what I deserved. So if they didn't feel like it was champion worthy, well then I wouldn't have gotten the ribbon.

All the kids did really well and Macy won a champion ribbon in Children's Candy for some chocolate fudge she made. Recipe came right off the back of the Marshmallow Fluff jar. Maybe it was the Trader Joe's Belgium chocolate that put it over the top. Claire's first entry of chocolate chip cookies won first place in children's and adult's. I have never been able to do that. Maybe since I helped her a bit, you could say I almost won a blue ribbon in cookies. I did get a blue ribbon for my Lemon Poppy Seed muffins, even though I forgot to put the almond and vanilla extract in the glaze. My cheesecake was undercooked and so it did not even get judged and there was a big "Undercooked. DO NOT SELL" written on it's tag. How embarrassing. See, after the judging they cut up half the cakes, take half the cookies, etc. and sell them to support 4-H. I only know about my cheesecake, because I had to pick up my spring form pan bottom. Oh well, there is always next year.

Ben and Eleanor each received a ribbon for all of their photography entries which is very difficult. None of the rest of us were able to do that. In fact poor Trent got no ribbons on his pictures and only received 7th place for his toilet. I was surprised. This year's toilet was so much better than last years which placed 4th. Oh well, go figure.
Here's a picture of some of the ribbons I've earned over the past few years. I have a lot more little ribbons, but I think they're in my hope chest. I keep wondering what to do with them. For now they're in a drawer with some yarn and other knitting/crocheting supplies.

As I was going through the ribbons, I made some observations (please forgive that the photos are sideways, I was too lazy to take the extra steps to rotate).
Here is the very first champion ribbon (Adult Tailored Garment-Men's Sport coat) I ever earned.
Last year the above ribbon was the champion ribbon. Not the Grand Champion or even Best of Show, but just champion. Now granted it was the special 60th anniversary year of the fair, but still.

It was even bigger than the Best of Show ribbon.

This how the progression used to look.

Now there's no difference between the grand champion and the champion ribbon. In fact the Best of Show ribbons are still a bit smaller than their lesser prizes. Funny!

In case you were wondering, I've already started on my preemie blankets for "You Be the Judge." Two are completed (crocheted) and I have material to make some "quilted" ones as well. I'm hoping to win the most made contest again. It will be tougher this year since I really irritated some people who thought they were a shoe in with 40 pillowcases. Ben was pleased because we received a special prize of Miniature Golf tickets just for him since he challenged me to make so many. Me? I won a gift certificate to a nail salon. I was really hoping for a gift certificate to Jo Ann's since I am a horrible nail biter. I'm thinking I'll take the girls for a special manicure instead.

A day of firsts.

Monday was the first day of school. It was a good day and everyone enjoyed going back. It's Ben's last year of elementary school. That makes me a little sad. He's not sad at all. All he can talk about is middle school. Let's hope that enthusiasm continues when the reality of middle school hits next year.

It was an especially good day for Eleanor. Can you guess why?

She lost her first tooth on the first day of first grade!

Well, actually she didn't lose it at school, it was hanging by a thread all day, but as soon as she got home, we pulled that baby out! Now just three more wiggly teeth to go!

You be the Judge

I have fair results to post at a future date (our Internet has been out), but I'm excited to share that I won this year's most popular vote for the "You be the Judge" contest. I also won the contest for the most pillowcases entered and they wrote about me in our local paper. The link to the article is here.

A tale of three dresses (or more than you ever wanted to know about smocking, material and my quest for perfection)

In January, I decided to make my girls four matching smocked dresses to wear to their cousin's wedding in June. In the past I had been able to smock fairly quickly and felt like 6 months would be more than enough time to complete my project.

I went to the Smocking Bonnet to purchase 12 yards of Imperial microcheck in light pink. I also purchased about 6 yards of pink Imperial Batiste for lining. I had planned on making the dress on the cover of Sew Beautiful Issue 82 May/June 2002. My only problem is that I am a perfectionist and felt the compulsion to hand pleat the fabric so everything would be just right. Unfortunately it took me about a day to pleat one row. I worked doggedly at it, but by the end of February, I realized at the pace I was going, I would be done pleating by the end of May and would not have time to smock or construct the dresses.

I then decided to pleat white fabric to make inserts to go with the fabric I had purchased and smock the inserts with a combination of some of the pattern from the Sew Beautiful dress and a few others I liked. I worked hard, but the going was slow either because I have five children or I've become too much of a perfectionist. I finished one insert, without roses, when I realized my thread did not match the material I had purchased. While in the store it appeared to be a perfect match, after smocking, it appeared to be a bit too "peachy". Back to the drawing board.

It was now May and the wedding was drawing close. I decided the material would be perfect made into Simplicity 2918. I had more than enough material and I even found that I had trim that matched perfectly in my stash! Although the pattern did not call for the dress to be lined, I went ahead and lined them (with the pink batiste I had purchased as well) so the girls wouldn't need slips.

So that leaves us with the single smocking insert that I had finished, but did not use after all. I added pink and yellow roses and I bought some fabric that I thought went perfectly in the store. Got it home only to discover that the smocking that had appeared too "peachy" with the previous pink fabric, now appeared too pink with the new fabric. Back to the fabric store. Many fabric stores it turns out. I finally purchased a piece of fabric from Capital Quilts my local quilting store. I wasn't keen on the fabric, but Macy really liked it. So we purchased three yards and turned it into this:
A variation of Maya's Heirlooms Annika dress. Although there is no yellow in the dress, the green really works with the yellow roses. Macy loves it and I do too.

Of course you would think that was easy once I got the fabric, but nooooo. I had to get material to make piping trim as all good heirloom dresses have it. So I bought some at the store which looked to be a perfect match. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. It was too "pink" and made my insert look too "peachy". Was this ever going to end? Well yes, it did. I amazingly enough found some perfect not too pink, not too peachy fabric at Hancocks and made my piping. Here's a close up:
What about that lonely piece of microcheck so lovingly hand pleated you ask? Well several times I just about pulled those pleating threads out, but I am so glad I didn't. I had been looking at Australian Smocking and Embroidery Issue No. 73 for smocking plate ideas for the above mentioned smocked insert when I remembered the baby dress on the cover. I thought the material I had hand pleated would be perfect for the dress and I was right. I had by chance pleated just the perfect number of rows. I also knew of someone that was pregnant and her baby would be the perfect recipient of this dress. (Now she just needs to have a girl.)

So I smocked. And smocked. And smocked some more. This was a hard plate and I didn't enjoy it at all. There were times I was ready to throw it away, but I plugged along.

I added the bullion roses, which were a bear in and of themselves. They turned out better than I thought, but I'm still not happy with them. I need more practice.

The finished project which I am so pleased with.

So in the end I ended up with 6 dresses, three fair entries and enough left over microcheck to make something else for someone else. In the process I almost lost my mind. Of course I kept saying, "never again, never again" but now that everything is entered . . .

Fair entries are in.

Yesterday and today we entered all the items we have sewn, baked, created, photographed, and decorated. Too many pictures (which I didn't have time to take), but I'll include a few.

Claire entered Chocolate Chip cookies and a pillowcase for "You be the Judge".

One of Eleanor's Photos

Eleanor entered:
brownies
a skirt made from Simplicity 9854
pillowcase for "You be the Judge."
2 photos
various drawings/paintings/etc. from art class and home this year

One of Macy's Photos

Macy entered:
chocolate fudge
skirt made from Simplicity 9854
pillowcase for "You be the Judge"
4 photos
Girl Scout SWAP collection
Lego sculpture
Clay mug made in Art this year
various drawings/paintings/etc. from art class and home this year.

One of Ben's Photos

Ben entered:
Two drawings.
pinewood derby car
5 photos
chocolate chunk/reeses peanut butter cup cookies
one pair of sleep shorts McCalls 9206
pillowcase for "You be the Judge"

One of Trent's Photos

Trent entered:
Three Photos
One decorated toilet:

"the playing field" complete with players, cheerleaders, goal posts and a ref.

"the jumbo tron"

As for me I entered:
5 photos

Salted White Chocolate chunk Oatmeal Cookies
Chocolate Chip Cheesecake
Mint Sandwich cookies
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins (of which I forgot to add vanilla and almond extract to my glaze-ugh!)
Skirt from Simplicity 9854
Bridesmaid dress made from New Look 6864 out of yellow linen
Claire's Dress from Simplicity 2918
Dress from McCalls's 8108

Powder Puff from AS&E Issue #73

Simplicity 2876 complete with bound buttonholes

Maya's Heirlooms Annika

124 pillowcases for "You be the Judge"
Three will be entered for the actual contest. These were for a separate contest for most pillowcases sewn. At the time I entered, I had indeed entered the most. I will find out by the end of the week if I was beat in that category or not!

The aftermath of a morning of non-stop baking. Oh how I love the fair!

Pictures for the fair-decision time

It's that time again. The fair is fast approaching and decisions must be made. It's very late and I need to go to bed, but first I need your help deciding on which photos will be entered this year in the fair. I can only enter five. The photos I have posted are at a lower resolution for ease of posting, the real ones will look better. Please let me know which ones you like best! Here are the choices:

For portrait-one person, posed or unposed (or something like that) we have the following contenders:

Kate eating an ice cream cone (Ben and Macy's favorite)

Eleanor with a pine cone bird feeder (Trent's favorite)

And a late contender, Eleanor eating a Slurpee.

No decisions here. I'm entering this one in portrait-two or more people. I'm pretty sure I will enter this one unless I take a better picture between now and the fair. I like it. The judges may not, but I do, so I'm entering it.

Next we have some strawberries. Like it. Entering it.

Next we have another choice. If I decide to enter a picture in the animal category do I go with:

Cuttlefish. One of my favorite animals.

Jellyfish (Ben and Trent's favorite choice).

Panda. (Macy's favorite)

Or do I not enter anything in the animal category and go with this Praying Mantis:

View one

Or View Two

Or here we have a photo from last year's fair:

This would be entered in "Photo from 2008 fair."

So I'm definitely entering a one person portrait-but which one? Definitely entering two or more person portrait. Definitely entering strawberries.

Then comes the hard/confusing/whatever part. Do I enter one animal photo (which one) and the praying mantis one (again which one)? Or one animal and tractors at the fair? Or praying mantis and tractors?

Decisions, decisions, decisions. I need to go to bed, but feel free to comment and let me know what you think!

Free Slurpee Day!